Dragon's Jaw

An Epic Story of Courage and Tenacity in Vietnam

By: Stephen Coonts, Barrett Tillman

Narrated by: Dan Woren

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

A riveting Vietnam War story - and one of the most dramatic in aviation history - told by a New York Times best-selling author and a prominent aviation historian

Every war has its "bridge" - Old North Bridge at Concord, Burnside's Bridge at Antietam, the railway bridge over Burma's River Kwai, the bridge over Germany's Rhine River at Remagen, and the bridges over Korea's Toko Ri. In Vietnam it was the bridge at Thanh Hoa, called Dragon's Jaw. 

For seven long years hundreds of young US airmen flew sortie after sortie against North Vietnam's formidable and strategically important bridge, dodging a heavy concentration of anti-aircraft fire and enemy MiG planes. Many American airmen were shot down, killed, or captured and taken to the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" POW camp. But after each air attack, when the smoke cleared and the debris settled, the bridge stubbornly remained standing. For the North Vietnamese it became a symbol of their invincibility; for US war planners an obsession; for US airmen a testament to American mettle and valor. 

Using after-action reports, official records, and interviews with surviving pilots, as well as untapped Vietnamese sources, Dragon's Jaw chronicles American efforts to destroy the bridge, strike by bloody strike, putting listeners into the cockpits, under fire. The story of the Dragon's Jaw is a story rich in bravery, courage, audacity, and sometimes luck, sometimes tragedy. The "bridge" story of Vietnam is an epic tale of war against a determined foe. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Stephen Coonts and Barrett Tillman (P)2019 Hachette Audio

At some point the political commentary is exhausting

I am a great fan of aviation history and I am very interested in hearing about the experiences of war fighters. I am a professor in national security studies and read (or listen to) any of the accounts I can get ahold of. One thing that becomes exhausting in many of these books is the very selective political commentary which seems more to cater to a particular reader rather than an objective accounting. I am not talking about anti-Johnson or anti-McNamara writing although as bad as their decisions were they continue to use hyperbole to make their point. What I am talking about are sections where they talk only about prominent modern democrats who evaded service in the conflict. Al Gore (who served), Bill Clinton (who was a Rhodes scholar) and a few others. And they can’t say just that Clinton went to England they had to say he did drugs and slept with English girls. Absent were the contributions of John Kerry, Bob Kerry, Max Cleland, and others. Also missing was Donald ‘not a fan of Vietnam’ Trump, or GWB’s air guard duty. Honestly none of this is even relevant to the story they are trying to tell, it only serves to highlight their bias which sort of makes you read (or listen) to this account with some additional skepticism. That skepticism is a disservice to the heroes that they are writing about.

In any case, these needling comments are, frankly, disappointing from two authors that I really like.

Way More Technical info than Mission Info

This book is not for a novice who has no idea about planes, engine parts, etc. It's extremely technical. I went into this thinking it would be about specific missions. It does hit on that, but not very often. It works around it more than anything. And just as you think it's going to delve into mission specifics, out comes a political bashing. We get it, the Washington bureaucrats made a mess of things. But it was thrown in at very random points. Dan Woren is a good pick here. I couldn't finish, though I tried.

Not what I expected

Enjoyed this account of the air war in Southeast Asia. This will be a nice addition to my collection.

Excellent Book

A well written and thorough analysis of one small part of the Air War over North Vietnam, pretty much encapsulating the reasons we failed. Coonts and Tillman pull no punches, and lay put the cases against both LBJ, as well as Robert McNamara and his "Whiz Kids"

Not what I expected

Steven Coonts writes page turners. I was looking for a story informed by history. Instead this is a dry historical account of the blunders of Viet Illustrated by a bridge. Refund please.