Publication Details
Published 2013
Air America: Upholding the Airmen’s Bond examines the cost of flying in hazardous environments, resulting in the need for rescue capability, not just for Air America flights, but all US military flights over Laos and Vietnam.
Air America crews were not required to monitor military emergency radio calls, fly to the location of military personnel in distress, or place their lives at risk of enemy ground fire and possible capture. However, in their flying community, it was enough to know that a downed aviator was in trouble and that airmen should always come to the aid of other airmen. It was simply the Airmen’s Bond.
These documents include first person accounts of pilot rescues, Air America operations, the fall of Da Nang and Saigon, and pilot after-action reports. There are two related collections: Clandestine Services Histories of Civil Air Transport (CAT) and Stories of Sacrifice and Dedication: Civil Air Transport, Air America and the CIA.
View the declassified Air America FOIA documents.