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John's Interests
General
"This is a riveting first person account of a pilot and his crew flying night missions in a C-123 over Laos during the Vietnam War. This book must be read by any one interested in the Vietnam War. The air war over Laos was a crucial though secret side show to Vietnam but it was just as brutal. I hated to put the book down because the story was so good."
-- Former Senator Bob Kerrey, president of The New School University Medal of Honor winner
"In 1970 a 24-year-old pilot flies over Laos with no identifying papers or patches. His Commander in Chief--Richard Nixon--denies his existence. Now for the first time, John Halliday takes you into the cockpit as he flies his dangerous top-secret missions. A gripping read."
-- James Bradley Author, Flags of Our Fathers & Flyboys
"This book goes right to the heart of how a pilot takes responsibility for an aircrew flying secret night missions over Laos during the Vietnam War and controls his fear in the face of terror as the tracers from enemy gunners probe the darkness, it describes the "Catch -22 "craziness of the air war over Laos, and the writer will have you sweating and squirming in the pilot's seat as he attempts to make a terrifying forced landing at night in the jungle mountains of Laos where no quarter is asked and none given. This book is among my top first person narratives of the Vietnam War."
-- Fred Downs, author of The Killing Zone.
"Halliday superbly conveys the complex thoughts experienced by combat pilots, and writes vividly of combat flying over Laos."
-- Col. Robert E. Stoffey, author of Cleared Hot!: A Marine Combat Pilot's Vietnam Diary
"Flying Through Midnight is a no-holds-barred account of the secret air war over Laos. John Halliday paints a compelling cockpit view of the action, but he also immerses his readers in layer upon layer of sensations and emotions associated with those dangerous nighttime missions. He takes us on a hell of a ride!" -Tom Yarborough, author of Da Nang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Gunsight View of Combat in Vietnam
Books
Review by Best-selling Author John J. Nance
Flying Through Midnight is Pulitzer material. This is Literature. There is genius at work here. This is the prequel to Cold Mountain, with airplanes…a 1970 time capsule. These never-been-told stories perfectly capture the insanity of war. This timeless loss-of-innocence saga is psychologically rich about people thrown into the chaos of war, their descent into the hell of battle, and their attempts to survive. The author gives us an armchair view of war from an armchair that could be blown up any second. Halliday grabs the reader by the throat on page one and never lets go.
"Flying Through Midnight is world-class…a masterpiece…right up there with The Da Vinci Code…The flying sequences are galvanizing...This is exactly what the marketplace is looking for...There hasn't been anything this good since Catch 22…This is the crucible of human warfare…As humane a story as can be told…And what characters! Naming one antagonist Colonel Desktop is a stroke of genius that instantly conveys everything about the character...Halliday takes the reader exciting places they've never been, and that's what makes a bestseller…Destined to earn several major awards, this Hollywood blockbuster written all over it…with the right screenwriter, the book could go into orbit.
"Flying Through Midnight should be required reading by every citizen to understand when we go to war, these things happen. But it's essential to emphasize this is not about Vietnam. Instead; this transcends any war as the 'Eternal Battle' that could as well have been set in the Crusades, and stands up against any book from the Civil War on."
About me: Flying Through Midnight
A Pilot’s Dramatic Story of His Secret Missions Over Laos During the Vietnam War
Like Jarhead and We Were Soldiers Once...and Young, John T. Halliday’s combat memoir is gripping, novelistic, and startlingly candid, taking readers through the devastating trials and hard-won victories of flying in the Vietnam War.
The year is 1970, and John T. Halliday has just landed in the middle of the Vietnam War, primed to begin his assignment with the 606 Special Operations Squadron. But there’s a catch: He’s stationed in a kind of no-man’s-land. No one on his base flies with ID, patches, or rank. Even as Richard Nixon firmly denies reporters’ charges that the U.S. has forces in Laos, Halliday realizes that from his base in Thailand, he will be flying top-secret black ops night missions over the Laotian Ho Chi Minh Trail.
A naïve yet thoughtful twenty-four-year-old, Halliday is utterly unprepared for the horrors of war. On his first mission, Halliday’s aircraft dodges more than a thousand anti-aircraft shells. Nothing is as he expected—not the operations, not the way his shell-shocked fellow pilots look and act, and certainly not the squadron’s daredevil, seat-of-one’s-pants approach to piloting. But before long, Halliday has become one of those seasoned and shell-shocked pilots, and finds himself in a desperate search for a way to elude certain death.
A powerhouse fusion of pathos and humor, brutal realism and intimate reflection, Flying Through Midnight is a landmark contribution to Vietnam War literature, revealing previously top-secret intelligence on the 606’s night missions. Fast-paced, thrilling, and bitingly intelligent, Halliday’s writing illuminates it all: the heart-pounding air battles, the close friendships, the crippling fear, and the astonishing final escape that made the telling of it possible.
J.T. Halliday is a retired Boeing 767 captain for American Airlines. He served in the military for twenty-six years and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. A decorated war hero, he logged more than 800 hours of combat time in Southeast Asia and the Gulf War. Halliday lives in Northern California. This is his first book.
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I just finished your book! It was great. What a ride. You had me crying like a baby on that victory pass arrival. I had to put it down several times to wipe my eyes, so that I could go on. Thanks for writing it and am glad you made it.
Did you end up with a silver star? And have you ever gone back to visit that strip?
They say it's your birthday....so happy birthday to you...they say it's your birthday...were gonna have a good time...Happy Birthday John, I hope this day is full of joy and peace...Celebrate your life with joy!! Much love....Addy
Just stopping by to wish you a happy birthday, John. Yeah, we’re all busy, but I’m never too busy to wish you well on the most important day of the year.
Hey, John. Just dropping by to say hi, and to give you a heads up on my blog. I use it for the sole purpose of posting my short stories. Perhaps there’s one you’ll enjoy.
Anyway, have a better one than yesterday, but not as good as tomorrow.
