On Warriors’ Wings

Book excerpt: "The book is a wonderment of research with its 37 pages of notes and 29 pages of bibliography. Napoliello supports his secondary sources with interviews with Army aviators who flew in Vietnam and with current-day members of Native American tribes." — The VVA Veteran On Warriors’ Wings traces the evolution of the Army policy to give names to major end items of equipment and specifically Native American tribal, warrior chiefs, and item to helicopters. Twelve Army helicopters saw combat in Vietnam, with eleven bearing Native American names. For each, David Napoliello’s work includes an examination of what capabilities were needed, its performance requirements, and the production of the fleet. Napoliello continues with a discussion on how the aircraft was used during its entire period of service in-country as opposed to a twelve-month snapshot of the experiences of a single aviator or a specific aviation unit. The capstone of each chapter is the story of the Native American tribe or warrior chief and how that history commends it for the naming of that particular helicopter. David also devotes a chapter to the experiences and memories of Native American veterans who served as pilots or crew members of those eleven aircraft. These are insightful, first-person accounts of their tours of duty in Vietnam and duties in aviation units while stationed there. Over two hundred Native Americans perished in Vietnam, nineteen of whom died while participating in aerial operations. The details of that final mission and loss are included in here, along with a listing of the other fallen warriors. On Warriors’ Wings concludes with a summary of the new Native American named helicopters that came after Vietnam and the progress the US military has made with regards to national recognition of Indigenous veterans. On Warriors’ Wings includes extensive illustrations and archival images of Native American veterans.