Ed Cobleigh
A graduate of Chattanooga High School and Georgia Tech is author of the top seller in the non-fiction war books genre on Amazon.com.
The second edition of Ed Cobleigh's book, War for the Hell of It: A Fighter Pilot's View of Vietnam, appeared in January. It offers a personal account of experiences drawn from 375 combat sorties and over 1,000 hours of combat time in an F-4D Phantom II fighter/bomber. His service earned Mr. Cobleigh two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal.
In the book Mr. Cobleigh describes his life in a war "filled with moral ambiguity and military contradictions." His experiences range from the carnage of a crash to the joy of flying through a star-studded night sky to his own dangerous addiction to risk. The thrills, fear and even the humor of life in a fighter squadron are all depicted in jargon-free, lyrical prose, said officials.
"The first edition of War for the Hell of It, which appeared in 2003, was a success for Penguin books, selling 6,100+ copies, but it left the story incomplete, unfinished," Mr. Cobleigh says. "I added more content and deeper insights in the second edition, aiming at an audience for whom clear perceptions of the Vietnam War are receding fast into the mists of history. The book examines what it was like flying and fighting in an unwinnable war, using unworkable tactics, for political leadership who refused to authorize or even define victory."
War for the Hell of It: A Fighter Pilot's View of Vietnam is available in paperback and as a Kindle download at Amazon.com. Published by Check Six Books of Paso Robles, CA, it was formatted by Wise Media Group of Morro Bay, CA.
Mr. Cobleigh was born in New Orleans and grew up in Chattanooga. After graduating from CHS in 1962, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and a master's degree in management at the University of Southern California. He completed a 25-year career in international marketing, retiring as vice president, international business development, for Raytheon Missile Systems Co.
Mr. Cobleigh is also the author of the literary aviation/adventure novel, The Pilot: Fighter Planes and Paris.
He and his wife, Heidi, reside in Paso Robles.