Over The Horizon

Ridenhour, Luke

ISBN 10: 1718971354 / ISBN 13: 9781718971356

Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018

Signed Copy . Signed by author on title page. Seller Inventory # N05Q-00886

Synopsis:

A deadly nighttime collision at sea in shark-infested waters; a tense cat-and-mouse encounter with a Soviet aircraft carrier just miles off the Russian coast; aerial engagements across the Korean peninsula against a squadron led by a charismatic South Korean wing commander known as the Scotch General.........For the sailors and aviators serving halfway around the planet on the fabled aircraft carrier Midway as the U.S. Navy’s foreign legion in the early 80’s, it was just another day in paradise.Over The Horizon is historical fiction based on several significant, but minimally reported, Cold War events in the western Pacific during 1980-1982. Such encounters never made the evening news, but to those in the Navy’s foreign legion, they were all too common. In October, 1973, with little fanfare, the United States Navy established its foreign legion on the far side of the planet. Baptized in the deep, cold waters of the Pacific Ocean, it was christened with a harmless, government-issued name: Overseas Family Residency Program. The innocent title allowed sailors’ families across fifty states to sleep peacefully as their loved ones served faithfully on the volatile tip of America’s sword.The Navy’s légion étrangère was based in Yokosuka, Japan, twenty-eight miles south of Tokyo, and its flagship was USS Midway, a World War Two vintage aircraft carrier. Few Americans knew her name, but America’s enemies certainly knew who she was, as did America’s presidents. Upon initial notification of a crisis halfway around the world, the first question the White House asked was always, “Where’s Midway?” Based around the USS Midway, a World War Two-era aircraft carrier, high risk adventures were commonplace with the U.S. Navy's unofficial foreign legion in the western Pacific in the early 80's. Fly the A-6 Intruder, an all-weather, low level attack jet so lethal it was never exported to any other country. Befriend Eli, a golf caddy whose lifelong dream was to see over the horizon, and a young Filipino child whose infectious grin was the basis for 'smiling girl village.'From its beginning, the Navy’s foreign legion began patrolling the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean on a nearly continuous basis, remaining ever vigilant far from her home of birth. The ship’s operating schedule was so grueling, in fact, that her unofficial motto was Semper Separatus — Always Separated.Life in the Navy’s foreign legion was never easy, and the price tag was often perilously high, but Midway Magic was always along for the journey…. ......somewhere over the horizon.

About the Author: A North Carolina native, Luke Ridenhour is a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. In addition to being designated a Naval Aviator, he earned the U.S. Army’s silver parachutist wings and the gold wings of a Naval Parachutist. He was the recipient of the 1989 David S. Ingalls Award, presented annually to the number one flight instructor in the Naval Air Training Command, and was designated a U.S. Navy Proven Subspecialist in Education and Training. During his career, he logged over 6,000 accident-free flight hours, the majority in the A-6 Intruder and A-4 Skyhawk. He logged 455 aircraft carrier landings, including 160 at night, in the Western Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and Caribbean theaters of operation. He is a centurion (100+ landings) on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) and a double centurion on the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41), and was formally recognized for flying a T-2 Buckeye jet with frozen flight controls over 120 miles to a safe landing.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Over The Horizon
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: 2018
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Very Good
Signed: Signed by Author(s)