Newman, Rick 1965-

PERSONAL:

Born 1965.

ADDRESSES:

Office—U.S. News & World Report, 1050 Thomas Jefferson St. N.W., Washington, DC 20007.

CAREER:

U.S. News & World Report, Washington, DC, writer and editor.

WRITINGS:

(With Don Shepperd) Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail, foreword by John McCain, Presidio Press/Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

A writer and editor for U.S. News & World Report, Rick Newman is experienced in reporting on military affairs, having covered the Pentagonfor seven years. His first book, Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail, was written with retired U.S. Air Force general Don Shepperd, who is also a former Misty Pilot. The Misty Pilots flew F-100's over Vietnam in what was officially called Operation Commando Sabre. (Their unofficial name—Misty Pilots—came from a favorite Johnny Mathis song). It was their perilous job to route out North Vietnamese forces by drawing enemy fire so that American bombers could then attack them from a safer distance. Newman and Shepperd talk about the brave and sometimes egocentric pilots who flew these missions, risking their lives while gaining little support from military brass who seemed indifferent and unwilling to provide adequate support for their missions. Several critics had high praise for Bury Us Upside Down, whose title comes from a bawdy pilots' song on how the enemy should bury American dead so that their posteriors might be easily kissed. Calling it a "taut, well-written account" about the aerial wars in Vietnam, a Kirkus Reviews contributor described the book as "a welcome addition to the military history of Vietnam." APublishers Weekly writer similarly lauded the title as a "thoroughly readable, absorbing history," whileWashington Post reviewer Kim Ponders praised the way the work "unfolds in crisp vignettes and remarkable detail."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2005, review of Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail, p. 1314.

Publishers Weekly, October 24, 2005, review of Bury Us Upside Down, p. 47.

Washington Post, May 18, 2006, Kim Ponders, "Unfriendly Skies," review of Bury Us Upside Down, p. C5.