Thus far there have been precious few memoirs written by Yankee Station attack or fighter pilots. Thankfully we now have Stephen Gray's marvelous chronicle of flying combat over North Vietnam with the 'Rampant Raiders' of VA-212. Gray's book is not only a spellbinding, enjoyable memoir of the life of a Naval aviator circa 1967-69 but also literate and readily accessible to boot.

Initially serving as an EM flying in Sea King anti-submarine helos, Gray applied for the NavCad program and eventually trained to be a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk pilot. The first part of Gray's book details the training he underwent that transformed him into an attack pilot. He has a marvelous way with words. His descriptions of aviation tactics, weapons and training could have been full of 'pilot talk' but instead are simply and clearly presented. You don't need to have an aeronautical background to enjoy this book.

In January 1967 Gray, still green behind the ears, found himself assigned to Attack Squadron 212 led by the legendary Homer Smith. VA-212 was part of Air Wing 21 on board BonHomme Richard. Once on Yankee Station Bonnie Dick's air wing started flying the first missions of what became a record-breaking cruise. Flying more sorties than any other carrier air wing, Air Wing 21 dropped six million pounds of ordnance and downed a record number of North Vietnamese MiG fighters. The cost was heavy: fifteen pilots killed or captured, two of them from VA-212 including Homer Smith.

Gray's descriptions of that record-breaking cruise are gripping and well-done. He takes the reader inside the cockpit to give an intimate view of air combat.

Gray ends the book with BonHomme Richard returning stateside. Presumably there's a volume 2 in the wings covering his second Bonnie Dick cruise. One hopes so!

In summary, I can't remember when I have read a better written combat memoir than RAMPANT RAIDER. If you want to know what it was like to fly combat over North Vietnam circa 1967, buy this book. It's a great piece of writing; I'd give it six stars if that was allowed! Bravo Zulu, Mr. Gray!