Above: Poster from Signet promotion brochure for KOREA BLUE.
Welcome to the KOREA BLUE page


     I am a retired United States Air Force Captain with twenty years military service.
           After high school, I joined the Marine Corps and served two years. Back home I
           went to the University of Nebraska at Omaha graduating with a BS in Journalism in
            1963. Seeing the war in Vietnam looming, I opted to join the Air Force. After officer training
            the Air Force decided my journalism degree made me a good candidate to become an aircraft
            maintenance officer. It was not a successful fit. However, I did gain close up experience with the
            F-4 Phantom and the F-105 Thunderchief fighter aircraft. After six years I finally convinced the
            Air Force to let me cross train into the Public Affairs career field.

            I served at bases in California, Okinawa, Arizona, Korea, the Philippines, Texas, and what I call
            my hardship tour -- 5 years at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu. For my last two years I went
            to Scott Air Force base in Illinois. In 1981, I retired and returned to Honolulu. In 1983 I moved
            to San Diego and have lived here ever since.

     KOREA BLUE is my Vietnam War novel. Despite volunteering three time, I never was assigned to
             Vietham, so my Vietnam novel is set in Korea during 1969. In addition to flying and fighting in
             the skies of Vietnam, KOREA BLUE is also a thriller -- a tale of murder and intrigue that takes
             to Osan Air Base in Korea.  Osan is the largest Air Force base in Korea, and was one of my all
             time favorite assignments.

            Approximately a third of KOREA BLUE recounts Mike Hunter's exploits as a fighter pilot flying
            the F-105 in combat in Vietnam. Nicknamed "The Thud," the F-105 was the largest single engine
            fighter ever built. Below are some depictions of those times.
 
 
 

                                                      F-105 bombs a key bridge in North Vietnam.

            In the air war the Thud was primarily used as a fighter-bomber against targets in North
            Vietnam. Those were some of the most dangerous missions flown by any combat pilot.
            Hunter flies the single seat version during his first tour and completed 100 missions.

                                                      Two SAM Hunters and and F-4E Weasel (two-seater
                                                      in the foreground) gas up before heading north to
                                                      strike targets in North Vietnam
 

            Volunteering for a second combat tour, Hunter is assigned to the Wild Weasels, the two-seat
            version of the F-105 that was designed to find and kill SAM missile sites. On his 69th mission
            Hunter and his backseater are part of a large attack against Thud Buster Alley, a key mountain
            pass on the Ho Chi Minh trail used to bring supplies from the north to enemy troops in the south.
            Lined with both Triple-A and SAM missile sites, it is responsible for taking out more F-105s than
            any other single target in the war.
 
 

                                                    A pair of F-105 fighters on a low level bomb run.

            Hunter's thud is shot down and his is severely wounded. If not for the valiant actions of his
            backseater and good friend Paul Crandell Hunter would have been captured or killed.

            The story opens with Hunter is in a military hospital, recovering from wounds about six  months
            after the shoot down. About to be released, he learns Paul Crandell has died in a "mysterious
            accident" at Osan Air Base in Korea. Certified to return to duty, but not to flying, Hunter wangles
            an assignment to Osan after his released from the hospital. Once there he sets out to learn the truth
            about his friend's death. That search takes Hunter on a dark journey that exposes a cabal of corrupt
            forces at work at Osan. Along the way, Hunter meets a new friend, a sinister military "spook," and
            a woman as maddeningly elusive as she is exquisitely beautiful.

            The final violent showdown takes place in the middle of a race riot. Hunter is pitted against
            deadly enemies who command the power of the blue military machine and won't hesitate to use it
            to stop his from revealing the truth.

            Fan reactions have been gratifying. Many have written to say that they feel the book is both a good
            action yarn and a realistic view at military life that's true to the spirit of the time and place.


           As you may have guessed, The Thud was my favorite airplane. The F-4 Phantom got more publicity
           and was a newer combat fighter suited to multiple roles, but when it came to high speed, low level
           bombing, The Thud was the weapon of choice.

           Okay, just one more F-105 picture -- from the U.S. Air Force Art collection: The Song Begins by
            William Phillips.

         KOREA BLUE is no longer in print.
However used copies are out there. Go to either:
Amazon.Com
MX Bookfinder
 For more information contact me at the e-mail link below
Links:
ZCap's Lair   My home page with links
Clark Air Base Scrapbook   A tribute to a great Air Force assignment

For comments or suggestions/or just tell tales, contact:
WEB MASTER:  Tom Utts
 zcap@usa.net

Update: 2003
 Copyright © 1996 Netscape Communications Corporation. Photo © PhotoDisc, Inc.