A fabulous biography from a seasoned war veteran and army aviator. The book covers the authors military deployment to Vietnam flying the OV-1 Mohawk, specialist reconnaissance army aircraft flying missions over Vietnam and Laos.
The book is very well written, it really pulls the reader in and gives the impression of living through the story. Once you pick it up you wont want to put it down!
Definitely one for the bookshelf, a real keeper. I look forward to reading the authors other books about his second deployment to Vietnam flying the AH-1G Cobra gunship helicopter.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say, this book surprised me a bit. After reading Spearhead earlier this year, I wasn't sure if I would find such a narrative history book any time soon. We Dared to Fly changed that thought for me. In this book, we follow the first tour of duty of a Vietnam Army pilot with the 131st. War stories always fascinate me and this was no exception. William Reeder Jr. told his story while also teaching the reader about what life was like during the Vietnam war. The writing was excellent, the story was (to my knowledge) accurate, and I greatly appreciated the follow up for the people we met in the story. I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking to learn more about American Armed Forced Aviation, the Vietnam War, or American War history in general. I am looking forward to picking up the other titles by this author.

“We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War,” by William Reeder Jr. (ISBN-10: 493085301; ISBN-13:978-1493085309), Publication Date: November 5, 2024), earns three stars.

This is a very personal and interesting memoir of a US Army aviator flying the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk during the Vietnam War. His mission was intelligence collection, collected via a set of different mission profiles, that caused him to fly low and slow in areas populated by a highly capable enemy. He related his story of aircraft qualification, his time in Vietnam, and the different individuals that shaped him, his skills as an aviator, and as an Army officer. It read more like a journal than a formal memoir, which I found to be particularly interesting…being in his head.

Sincere thanks to the author for his service, Lyons Press, for granting this reviewer the opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.