Saving Bravo: The Greatest Rescue Mission in Navy SEAL History

Optioned for film by 20th Century Fox

The untold story of the most important rescue mission not just of the Vietnam War, but the entire Cold War: one American aviator, who knew our most important secrets, crashed behind enemy lines and was sought by the entire North Vietnamese and Russian military machines. One Navy SEAL and his Vietnamese partner had to sneak past them all to save him.

At the height of the Vietnam War, few American airmen are more valuable than Lt. Colonel Gene Hambleton. His memory is filled with highly classified information, and he knows secrets about cutting-edge missile technology that the Soviets and North Vietnamese badly want. When Hambleton is shot down behind enemy lines in the midst of North Vietnam s Easter Offensive, US forces place the entire war on hold to save a single man hiding amongst 30,000 enemy troops and tanks. Airborne rescue missions fail, killing eleven Americans. Finally, Navy SEAL Thomas Norris and his Vietnamese guide, Nguyen Van Kiet, volunteer to go after him on foot. Gliding past hundreds of enemy soldiers, it takes them days to reach a starving Hambleton, who, guided toward his rescuers via improvised radio code, is barely alive, starved, and hallucinating after eleven days on the run.

In this deeply-researched, untold story, award-winning author Stephan Talty describes the extraordinary mission that led Hambleton to safety. Drawing from dozens of interviews and access to unpublished papers, Saving Bravo is the riveting story of one of the greatest rescue missions in the history of the Special Forces.

Praise for Saving Bravo

“Saving Bravo is a meticulously researched and masterfully told war story that will capture you and take you deep into the darkest jungles of Vietnam. It won’t release you until you’ve sweated through every page of what indeed qualifies as the greatest rescue mission in Navy SEAL history.”
— Eric Blehm, New York Times bestselling author of Fearless, Legend, and The Only Thing Worth Dying For

“A gripping true story of unbelievable courage. Talty puts a tingle at the nape of your neck and a knot of horror in the pit of your stomach.”
— Captain Rich Phillips, author of the New York Times bestselling A Captain’s Duty

“A terrifying story of aviators shot down behind enemy lines. Saving Bravo gives us a fresh and insightful look into the chaotic rescue of Gene Hambleton deep in the jungles of Vietnam. A must read, packed with unsung heroes.”
— U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Michael Golembesky, New York Times bestselling author of Level Zero Heroes