Air Commando One

"Heine Aderholt and America's Secret Air Wars"

Air Commando One book cover

Fall, 1957
The CIA conducts the first of their airdrops of trained Tibetan partisans into Tibet in support of the National Volunteer Defense Army of Tibet's resistance against the Chinese.

Winter, 1966
Colonel Aderholt and the 56th Air Commando Wing begin their night raids along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Spring, 1975
Both Phnom Penh and Saigon have fallen. In Laos, tens of thousands of Hmong fighters and refugees, allies of U.S. forces, flee to Long Tieng air base, hoping for evacuation.

Nominated in 2000 for the Bancroft Prize for distinguished works in American history

"Heinie Aderholt is an authentic hero of the Cold War. Because that war was largely a clandestine experience, Heinie's exploits have until now been known to a rather limited circle of people who shared some of that experience with him. Warren Trest, an eminent historian of air warfare, has done the public an important service by pulling together most of the facts of Heinie's life in publishing this authorized biography of a true air warrior."

- William H. Sullivan, former ambassador, Laos, Philippines, and Iran

"Outspoken, profane, always pushing the limits of the bereaucracy, Heinie Aderholt was also the consummate leader and flyer. Warren Trest has done a superb job in making public this important story"

- The Journal of Military History

"This long-awaited biography of Brigadier General Heinie Aderholt will interest all Americans who have served in the armed forces or those who just want to know what military service is all about. General Aderholt did not lead by the book, but from the gut and from the heart. There is a big difference, as seen from reading his biography. Readers will also understand why it was such a great honor and privelige for those of us who served with and for Brigadier General Aderholt, and why he is known as 'Air Commando One'."

- Roland H. "Hap" Lutz, CMSGT, USAF (Retired)

published by the Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000