More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold  since it was first published   in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the  author and photographs taken by him during the   conflict, this  straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about  the helicopter war   in Vietnam. This is Robert Masons astounding  personal story of men at war. A veteran of more   than one thousand  combat missions, Mason gives staggering descriptions that cut to the  heart of the   combat experience: the fear and belligerence, the quiet  insights and raging madness, the lasting   friendships and sudden  deaththe extreme emotions of a "chickenhawk" in constant danger.