“There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots,” E. Hamilton Lee — 1949. Most pilots agree that this is good advice—especially those engaged in the more dangerous activities like fighter pilots and test pilots. But Mick Greene was not like most pilots. Far from it. In his new autography, he reveals the secret of how he survived to be both old and bold. His secret? Skill, courage, and luck. After reading his compact, well written, to-the-point book, readers will conclude that he had numerous opportunities to be bold, but not too many to grow old. A notable example occurred in Vietnam when he joined a special unit of high speed forward air controllers, call sign “Misty”, to coordinate our effort to choke off the flow of supply trucks along the Ho Chi Minh trail from North Vietnam to Viet Cong positions in the South. All pilots were volunteers and losses were exceptionally high. Doesn’t sound like much of an opportunity to grow old, does it?A particularly informative and touching part of the book describes the author and five other Misty’s return to Vietnam as tourists some thirty two years later. He was surprised by the friendliness and lack of rancor with which they were greeted. He also expresses optimism about Vietnam’s future, especially in a capitalistic society. (“letting the tiger out of the cage” as he put it.)

How to sum it all up? General Ron Fogelman USAF Ret., 15th Chief of Staff, USAF and a former Misty, read the book and said this about Greene’s Misty performance: ” For some, the experience was a once in a lifetime event…for others, like Mick, it was a special tour of duty in a lifetime of assignments and experiences that demanded extraordinary skills combined with a boldness seldom seen and little understood by most of the society he defended throughout his life. He is living proof that there really are “Old Bold Pilots”…and his story is worth the read.”

I couldn’t put it better.

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle