Mark Berent Profile

Mark Berent is admirably suited to have written his historical fiction five-book Vietnam airwar series for he lived each story He served four years and one day in the Vietnam War during the period from November until August As a captain he flew missions in the F- in from Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam While off duty he flew with FACs in their - aircraft to better understand the war He also spent much time with the Special Forces III Corps Mike Force including going on patrol with them in the Loc Ninh area Berent had earned his jump wings with the th SFG Bad Tolz Germany His next tour was as a major flying F- Ds out of Ubon Air Base in Thailand He flew over missions first as a flight commander in the Night Owl Squadron then as commander of the famous Wolf FACs Both units flew over North Vietnam and all of Laos Berent spent hundreds of hours over the Ho Chi Minh Trail both as a night strike pilot and as a fast FAC controlling strikes against guns and trucks he found on the Trail As a lieutenant colonel he served from from July to August first as assistant air attach then as air attach in the US Embassy Phnom Penh Cambodia While there besides flying hundreds of hours in the U and C gathering vital intelligence he also logged time with the Khmer Cambodian Air Force in their T- - UH- and AC- aircraft Additionally he spent much time with Khmer ground forces teaching them to use air power He earned Cambodian pilot and jump wings while there In January when the war was over in Vietnam for US forces all of the massive air power resources were made available for use in