A true story, Bronco Pilots follows the career of a Marine Corps pilot alongside his friends, lovers and others in Naval Aviation Flight Training, in combat during the Vietnam War and the aftermath. His two closest friends called themselves “The Triumvirate” while serving two combat tours in Vietnam for a total of 27 months as H-34 helicopter and OV-10 Bronco pilots.
A compelling read, this book will take you on a journey of a young man who went to fight in the Vietnam war, set a World Aviation Record, and won the battle against alcoholism. John Pierson bares it all as he shares interesting stories about his life as a Marine pilot, husband, father and friend.
FORWARD
The memoir boom, which seemed to dominate the early 1990s, has slowed somewhat but remains a valued mirror on the times, events, and traumas all of us have experienced.
Many memoirs are clearly great reads but present a sugar-coated peek at the lives of the authors. Others are just wonderful exaggerations of nearly everything.
John “Goofy” Pierson’s is a warts-and-all page-turner taking us from Boy Scouting in rural Oklahoma to high school, college, and military football fields. The ebbs and flows of football were a major shaper of John’s life. He went to the University of Oklahoma to play football, transferred to the University of New Mexico because of football and much of his early military career involved football.
But this isn’t a sports memoir because in college he discovered a Marine Corps leadership program that took him from close-order drills to seats in the aircraft of war.
And like many of us growing up in the 50s and 60s, romance and, yes, sex were also prominent in John’s life when at the top of the charts was “Love Letters in the Sand” and later The Doors directing us to “Light My Fire!” And John lit some fires.
So, buckle up. Get a good grip. You’ll hold your breath as John’s helicopter takes Viet Cong machine gun fire from the jungles of Vietnam to the time, he found himself in the Juarez hoosgow wondering with booze-induced fear if he was going to get out of there alive.
You’ll find yourself becoming a member of the Brain Committee cheering for John, cautioning John and being so grateful that he survived to share this terrific story.
By Dennis A. Britton
May, 2023
Dennis Britton is a retired journalist. He spent 25 years at The Los Angeles Times where he was responsible for national, foreign, and business news. He was also editor-in-chief of both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Denver Post.
