Stephen Emerson was born in San Diego, California into a U.S. Navy family; his father was a career naval aviator and his mother a former Navy nurse. Steve and his siblings grew up on various Navy bases during the Vietnam War. His father served two combat tours in Vietnam flying the A-4 Skyhawk as part of Operation Rolling Thunder while flying off the USS Midway in 1965 with VA-22 and later as commanding officer of VA-146 flying the A-7 Corsair II while embarked on the USS Enterprise in 1969. Steve has extensive U.S. government experience and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations/Comparative Politics from the University of Florida. He is the author of four books on the Vietnam war: Air War Over North Vietnam, Vietnam’s Final Air Campaign, the Battle for Laos, and North Vietnam’s 1972 Easter Offensive.
Book Details
A compelling story of triumph and loss told through the eyes of a young boy
This is the story of the Navy pilots and families who served at Naval Air Station Lemoore during the Vietnam War. It follows my father’s service and my family’s experiences, but also tells the stories of his fellow pilots and their families, as well as our friends who grew up in Lemoore at that time. It is a narrative told through the eyes of a young boy—me—who grew up and came of age during that tumultuous era.