Title: The Rescue of Boxer 22
Author: Jeffrey A. Chunglo
Publisher: Limelight Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-71679-451-3
Pages: 117
Genre: Non-Fiction
Reviewer: Arthur Thares
Hollywood Book Reviews
Stories like The Rescue of Boxer 22 are intriguing because they come from such a tumultuous time in U.S. history. It was a time when soldiers were drafted into war but were largely mistreated and ignored when they came back to a country they didn’t recognize anymore. It is only through the stories of people who were on the ground that we have any idea of the atrocities that were committed on both sides. Books like this one are vital to memorialize the bravery of our soldiers and remind ourselves not to repeat history.
The entire book takes place over only a few short days. When the pilots of Boxer 21 and 22 are shot down, a rescue mission is set in motion. However, the Vietcong weren’t going to make it easy for our boys to be rescued. The story is a harrowing one, and it is up to the reader to decide if it has a happy ending. If you are into history and especially war stories, you are going to enjoy this one. There is a fair amount of technical jargon in the book, but Chunglo does a decent job of explaining it for the layman.
The one area where this book could see a little improvement is its delivery. It’s understandable that it was written more to inform than to entertain, but it reads like a textbook in some cases. Often in the book, there are numerous procedural, “and then this happened” paragraphs, which can snap you out of a good book. Not every paragraph is like that, and there are plenty of gripping passages; it just would have been nice if it were a little more polished. On the other hand, this book includes actual pictures of some of the individuals in the story, along with the types of planes they were flying and the area where the crash took place. These pictures instantly make you connect with the people in the book and give you a better mental image of the incident.
If world history intrigues you, this is a book for you. We know so much about the general happenings of these wars, but stories like these give you a glimpse behind the curtain. This intimate view of the largest successful Air Force rescue is history that won’t be found in any history books. The information on these pages, combined with the pictures, helps to paint a vivid image of what went on over those few days, and how harrowing war is. Understanding history is an essential skill to have, and books like these give us a better understanding of the true history and not just what’s glossed over in high school social studies. With vivid detail and relentless pacing, Jeffrey A. Chunglo captures the intensity of aerial combat, the brotherhood of soldiers, and the lengths men will go to save their own.