Run Run Cricket Run: America’S Secret War in Laos

Young American pilots feel the weight of destiny as they are tasked with shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. 1970 - the height of the Vietnam War. A group of young Forward Air Controllerss based in Thailand are assigned with supporting the Truck War and the People’s War in southern Laos, where the fate of the Vietnam War, and Laos’ very future, is being decided. Tasked with shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail - the North Vietnamese supply lines running into South Vietnam - literally stopping the constant stream of trucks in their tracks, these American airmen, call sign Nail, fly missions 24 hours a day. Daily they run the gauntlet of intense anti-aircraft fire to bring in accurate attacks by American fighter bombers. At night, streams of red tracers scream up from the ground, seeking the metallic flesh of their fragile craft. During the day, they search the skies for the telltale black puffs of smoke that reveal the self-destructive warheads of the North Vietnamese gunners. Even when tragedy befalls the group, they perserve with their mission. But will courage and dedication be enough? AUTHOR: Tom Thompson is a 1966 graduate of the United States Airforce Academy and the son of an Army Air Corps pilot who was killed flying in China in World War II. He is the recipient of two Distinguished Flying Crosses and thirteen Air Medals.