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He was shot down by a Surface
to Air Missile (SAM) north of Hanoi and spent the next six and a half years as a Prisoner of War. His book "2355 DAYS"
recounts those days as a POW. After release from North Vietnam, Spike separated from the Air Force and began a life in civil
aviation. From 1961 to the present, he has logged over twenty thousand hours in a variety of aircraft. In the seventies, Spike
flew in Florida and the Mediterranean where he met a lot of not so legal folks. His book, "THE BOYS WHO BRING IN THE
CROP" in based on those meetings. Spike flew float planes in Canada, Grumman amphibians in Thailand, DC-3s in Asia, Beaver
and Islander in Palau, sea-planes in the Philippines, plus he\'s the survivor of more than 50 ferry flights in all kinds of
planes. This book "SO YOU WANT TO BE A FERRY PILOT" describes some of the more exciting ferry missions. In July
of 2002, Spike left Asia where he'd lived since 1987 and moved back to the States, he now lives in southern California with
his wife, Lucille and daughter, Maebelyn. He's still flying planes and working on a couple more books.”
Major Spike Nasmyth is the author of 2,355 Days: A POW's Story; The Boys Who Bring in the Crop; and, So
You Want to be a Ferry Pilot.
The Library Journal said of
2,355 Days: A POW's Story, “This memoir of a prisoner of war in North Vietnam between 1966 and 1973 is
proof of the endless variety of the human species. Other personal histories that have come from these appalling surroundings,
like those of Everett Alvarez Jr. ( Chained Eagle, LJ 11/1/89), Geoffrey Norman ( Bouncing Back, LJ 8/90), and others, have
their own perceptions of imprisonment and torture by an implacable foreign enemy. Nasmyth recalls his brutal treatment and
isolation in a thoroughly individual way with intelligent but unvarnished insights and irrepressible humor. He catches an
authentic flavor in conversations remembered between prisoners; even the personalities those words reveal are wholly individual.
A lively memoir, valuable as a history of the POW experience, and for what it says about the human spirit.”
One reader of 2,355 Days:
A POW's Story said, “I read this book and was really impressed with the Authors take on his experience
as a POW. It is a one of a kind. As a Vietnam Vet of two tours and an Author of my own experiences there this one hit home.
Its honest, different, and refreshing. Not to take anything away from anyone who was a prisoner but this guy had an approach
and as they say today a paradigm that we would all do well to learn from. Im surprised the book is not more widely distributed
but then its not politically correct or down trodden. Its unique as Im sure the Author was and is today. Great book!”
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