Mark Berent

Biography

MARK BERENT

Lt Col Mark E. Berent, USAF (Ret), was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Cretin High
School in St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Thomas College. Later he graduated from Arizona State University under the Air Force Institute of Technology program with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Lt Col Berent began his Air Force career as an enlisted man, then progressed through the aviation cadet program. He attended pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi and then Laredo Air Force Base, Texas flying the T-6, T-28 and T-33 aircraft and then moved on to F-86s at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He served on active duty for 23 years until retirement in 1974. He began his operational flying career in the F-86 and F-100 flying at various posts throughout the United States and Europe. He later served three combat tours, completing 452 combat sorties, first in the F-100 at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, the F-4 at Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, and then in Cambodia for two years to fly things with propellers on them and, through a fluke in communications timing, to personally run the air war for a few weeks.

He has also served two tours at the United States Space and Missile System Organization (SAMSO) at Los Angeles, California working first in the Satellites Control Facility and later as a staff developmental engineer for the space shuttle. In his expansive career he has seen service as an Air Attaché to the United States Embassy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia and also as Chief of Test Control Branch at the Air Development and Test Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. He also served as an instructor at the Air Force's Squadron Officer School.

During his flying career he has logged over 4300 hours of flying time, 1084 of those in combat missions in the F-100, F-4, C-47 and U-10 over North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He has flown 30 different aircraft.

His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, Air Medal with twenty four oak leaf clusters, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, Cambodian Divisional Medal, and numerous Vietnam Campaign ribbons. He completed jump school with the Special Forces at Bad Tolz, Germany. Later, he jumped with and was awarded Cambodian paratrooper wings. He also flew with and received Cambodian pilot wings.

After leaving the Air Force he lived in Europe to establish and direct international operations for the sale of spares for combat aircraft. He has flown many foreign aircraft such as the Swedish Viggen and Royal Air Force Jaguar and Hawk. He also established Berent and Woods Inc, a firm that managed many aviation related activities.

Over the years he had published numerous articles for such publications as Air Force Magazine and the Washington Times and for 18 years wrote a monthly pilot/reporter column for the Asian Defense Journal. Under the name Berent Sandberg he and Peter Sandberg collaborated on three novels. He now has five Vietnam air war flying novels in print, Rolling Thunder, Steel Tiger, Phantom Leader, Eagle Station, and Storm Flight.

Berent states it is never too late for any endeavor: he published the first of his five books at age 58, ran his first Marathon at 59, bought a T-6 warbird and flew in airshows at 64, and rode in his first cattle roundup in Montana at 74.
……………
"Powerful!" --- Publishers Weekly

"The pride of the Air Force. The challenge of Vietnam."

"A taut, exciting tale of good men in a bad war. Berent is the real thing." --- Tom Clancy

"Rolling Thunder is terrific - a novel of exceptional authenticity that hits like a thunderclap. A decorated Vietnam pilot, Mark Berent knows planes and men and battle, and he whirls them around in a story of uncommon strength. I can't wait for his next book." --- W.E.B. Griffin, best-selling author of Brotherhood of War and The Corps

"Mark Berent writes with great authority and utter realism, immersing the reader in his characters' every sensation and emotion." --- Dale Brown, best-selling author of Flight of the Old Dog and Silver Tower

"The fighter pilot's war - you love it and hate it at the same time, and Mark Berent writes it that way." --- Stephen Coonts, best-selling author of Flight of the Intruder

"Berent tells it like it was!" --- Chuck Yeager

"The best Vietnam air novel I have read. Berent captures the essence of flying men at war, their agony, emotions, courage, and triumph." --- Brigadier General Robin Olds

Smashwords Interview

When did you first start writing?
I first started writing when I was in the United States Air Force. I had had some interesting combat experiences. I selected one about a Python mascot we had in An F-100 fighter squadron at Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam. I wrote it in a humorous style and was amazed when the Air Force Magazine accepted the article. Like all new authors I was quite excited to see my first byline. They then published two more articles I wrote about air combat on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

Shortly after that I retired from the Air Force and traveled internationally on assignment for the Air Force Magazine and the Asian Defense Journal as a pilot/reporter. During that time I wrote dozens of articles about various foreign military airplanes that I flew such as the Swedish Viggen, the Royal Air Force Jaguar and Hawk, the German Tornado and Fanjet, and trainers from Switzerland and Brazil.

During that time, I was living on a horse farm in Northern Virginia when I received a call from a literary agent in New York. He thought I should write a novel about my experiences in the Air Force during the Vietnam war. I put him off for several months because I really did not think I could write fiction.

Through circumstances, that I may relate here at a later date, I started to write. After all, I spent my Air Force career as a fighter pilot and we are known to take chances.
Who are your favorite authors?
I was a voracious reader starting as far back as I can remember, grade school probably. In later years I discovered John D MacDonald and WEB Griffin. Each influenced me in a different way. McDonald for his descriptive powers and Griffin for his episodic style.
For reasons I keep to myself, I have never been a Hemingway fan.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Mark Berent online

Where to buy in print

Series

WINGS OF WAR
Rolling Thunder
Price: $3.00 USD.
Steel Tiger
Price: $4.00 USD.
Phantom Leader
Price: $3.00 USD.
Eagle Station
Price: $3.00 USD.
Storm Flight
Price: $4.00 USD.

Books

Pretty Don't Win -- A Very Short Story of Minnesota Dirt Track Racing in the 50s
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 1,220. Language: English. Published: July 12, 2017 . Categories: Nonfiction » Sports & outdoor recreation » Motor sports
(3.00 from 1 review)
Young college freshman learn the dangers of untrained stockcar racing in the early 50s.
Lets Kill the Dai Uy (Tiếng Việt cho thuyền trưởng)
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 2,080. Language: Vietnamese. Published: November 16, 2013 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » War, Nonfiction » Biography » Military biography
This is the Vietnamese version of a hilarious tale of an Air Force combat fighter pilot in Vietnam who goes out on patrol with a special forces team he has supported many times from the air. Seeing the pilot is having a hard time keeping up, one of the Chinese mercenaries called Nungs, says to the team leader, "Let's kill the Dai Uy." Dai Uy is Vietnamese for captain.Read on to see what happened.
To War in Style
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 3,110. Language: English. Published: August 29, 2012 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » War, Nonfiction » History » Military » Military / Vietnam War
In January of 1973 we in the Defense Attaché Office in the American Embassy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, found ourselves in an unusual situation. In Vietnam, all US forces were ordered to cease fighting and that included air assets as well as the ground troops. Yet we had authorized air support until August 15. This article is about what occurred during that time.
Beyond the Clouds; Why I Became a Military Writer
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 2,300. Language: English. Published: June 14, 2012 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » Military » Military / Aviation, Nonfiction » History » Biography
Mark Berent is a well-known author of many Vietnam airwar books and articles. In this article he recounts the people and events that motivated him to write. As he says: "They're out there now, somewhere beyond our eyes, beyond the clouds, rolling and soaring in towering cathedrals flying beautiful airplanes that need only the fuel of their love. These are the men I honor...
Rho Magna, the Laotian War Dragon
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 3,800. Language: English. Published: May 17, 2012 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » War, Nonfiction » Psychology » Stress
Combat fighter pilot Mark Berent writes of a dragon-shaped karst mountain in Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail that bristles with physical and psychological danger. He writes of it as he first saw it on an F-4 FAC mission from Ubon RTAFB in 1969. Then he adds an excerpt from "Phantom Leader," one of his historical fiction books about war and politics in the Vietnam era.
Let's Kill the Dai Uy
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 1,940. Language: English. Published: March 28, 2012 . Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Military biography, Nonfiction » History » Military » Military / Vietnam War
This is a hilarious tale of an Air Force combat fighter pilot in Vietnam who goes out on patrol with a special forces team he has supported many times from the air. Seeing the pilot is having a hard time keeping up, one of the Chinese mercenaries called Nungs, says to the team leader, "Let's kill the Dai Uy." Dai Uy is Vietnamese for captain.Read on to see what happened.
The Graduate
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 2,230. Language: English. Published: April 1, 2011 . Categories: Nonfiction » Sports & outdoor recreation » Equestrian » General
"The Graduate" is a short story about a retired fighter pilot who, at 74, went back to college, Cowboy College, that is.
Ramrod the Combat Snake
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 2,710. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2011 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » War
Until the day a friendly FAC presented us combat pilots with a mascot, all any of us knew about snakes was that they were slimy creatures that could poison you, eat you, twist your bones, or crush you at their leisure. But that was before we came to know and love our squadron's resident reptile, whose name was ... RAMROD
Trolling for Guns on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 2,040. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2011 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » War
As the Vietnam war interdiction campaign spread to North Vietnam, Laos, and eventually Cambodia, the slow moving FACs in their small prop planes began to encounter intense ground fire. It was then, in 1967, that the jet FACs began to take over in high threat areas. A former commander of the famed 8th Tac Fighter Wing Wolf FACs poignantly reminisces about these men and the mission.
Night Mission on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 2,890. Language: English. Published: March 30, 2011 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » War, Nonfiction » Biography » Military biography
The weather, the built-in hazards of night refueling, target identification, and the mountains hiding in the dark are all enemies- and of course, there's the enemy, too. These pilots have a saying, "And if the big guns don't get you, the black karst will." But then back on top in the moonlight, a man finds brief moments to think his own thoughts before cracking a low ceiling back at home base.
Storm Flight
Series: WINGS OF WAR, Book 5. Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 184,620. Language: English. Published: November 26, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » War & military adventure, Fiction » Adventure » Men’s adventure
(4.00 from 1 review)
Storm Flight is touched off by a daring raid on the Son Tay prisoner-of-war camp that reveals some startling information. With American prisoners in terrible jeopardy and crucial national secrets in danger of being discovered, the characters we have met in Berent's earlier books are put to the ultimate test. They must call upon all their skill, leadership, guts, and strength.
Eagle Station
Series: WINGS OF WAR, Book 4. Price: $3.00 USD. Words: 141,960. Language: English. Published: November 26, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » War & military adventure
Eagle Station, fourth in his Vietnam War series, Berent raises the stakes, creating his most electrifying tale of war to date. Staring with a hair-raising cliffside helicopter rescue under heavy fire, and racing toward a climactic ground battle played out in the dark of night, engaging top secret USAF special operations gun ships, A Japanese-American overcomes prejudice and becomes a top pilot.
Phantom Leader
Series: WINGS OF WAR, Book 3. Price: $3.00 USD. Words: 156,820. Language: English. Published: November 26, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » War & military adventure
The men shifted and positioned themselves, holding their lances butt down. He drifted into them with alarming speed. Three miles away, his shot-up F-4 jet fighter carrying his dead backseater crashed into a low green hill, and exploded into a towering red and black fireball. He was Major Algernon A. "Flak" Apple, the first black Air Force fighter pilot to be shot down in North Vietnam.
Steel Tiger
Series: WINGS OF WAR, Book 2. Price: $4.00 USD. Words: 172,090. Language: English. Published: November 25, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » War & military adventure
USAF Major Court Bannister, SF LtCol Wolf Lochert, and USAF Lt. Toby Parker are at new posts: Bannister in Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB; Wolf Lochert at Lang Tri, Vietnam carrying out covert operations in Laos: Toby Parker in pilot training at Randolph AFB. A Russian fighter pilot trains North Vietnamese pilots. Israeli fighter pilots decisively defeat Egyptian forces in the 1967 war.
Rolling Thunder
Series: WINGS OF WAR, Book 1. Price: $3.00 USD. Words: 153,180. Language: English. Published: November 25, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » War & military adventure
(5.00 from 3 reviews)
Rolling Thunder is an historical novel about the decisive role politics played during the Vietnam war. Its characters range from men in the field to the Pentagon and the White House. Fighter pilots and Special Forces warriors try to do their best but are hampered by President Johnson, Secretary of Defense McNamara, and their staff members who despise the military.

Mark Berent's tag cloud

1127th field activities group at fort belvoir    ac130    ac130 spectre    ac130 spectre gunship    actors in combat    air force academy hazing    air war    air war vietnam    airwar vietnam    arizona    author biography    bien hoa    blue chip command post    bradshaw mountains    bull simon and dick meadows lead son tay pow rescue    butterfly bar saigon    cancer    caravelle hotel saigon    cattle drive    cessna skymaster o2 covey fac    chinese mercenary    cmt tv    cowboy    cuban torturer at hanoi hilton    dai uy    dogpatch pow camp    duck call donny    f100    f105 mig21 dog fight    f4 phantom    f4 phantom ubon rtafb night owl facs    fighter pilot    fink release pow collaborators    flight surgeons in vietnam    florida sheriff straightens out alcoholic pilot    flying adventures    forward air controller cessna o1 bird dog    four wheel drift    general westmoreland wants body count    green beret    gunships    hanoi jane fonda propaganda tom hayden    hh53 combat rescue    ho chi minh trail    ho chi minh trail pt76 tanks in the wire    horses    israeli air force defeats egyptian air force    james f low fink release program    jolly green hh3 helicopter pjs    karst    kissinger le duc tho paris peace talks    laos    linebacker b52 from anderson ab losses    long binh jail    mac contract stewardesses at clark afb philippines    marines at khe sanh    mike force    minnesota dirt track racing    minnesota stock car racing association    montana    night combat    night flying    night halo parachute jump    nkp nakhon phanom hh53 rescue    nung    oscar pig    oval office    pow john mccain and robby risner use tap code    python    racing    racing driver    raffles long bar singapore oriental hotel bangkok    reporters in vietnam at barry zorthians juspao five oclock follies saigon    rex hotel saigon    rocco wachman    round up    russian fighter pilots in hanoi    sac kc135 midair refueling    secret laos radar station at lima site 85 karst    shoot down five migs make ace    sky liner motel angeles city philippines    snakes    soloing an airplane    special forces    spectre gunship    stock car racing    stock cars    tan son nhut airport    trail riding    ubon    ubon rtafb    uso shows in vietnam    vientiane laos    vietnam    vietnam airwar    vietnam war nixon cambodia embassy phnom penh embassy gov kissinger war action kate webb air support    vietnam war protesters    war in vietnam    war mascots    wild weasel f105f attack sam sites    write about what you know    writing a story   

Smashwords book reviews by Mark Berent

  • Five Bullets on May 11, 2012

    An other-world warrior helps tunnel-rat Chez perform his duties under the Vietnam jungle floor. This is a very readable venture into paranormal involvement in the Vietnam war. Reviewed by Mark Berent, Vietnam vet and author of many Smash books and articles about Vietnam.
  • Working Undercover on June 14, 2012

    I hope former DEA agent Richard Holiman keeps on writing. His "Working Undercover" is a nail-biting account of his taking down a drug dealer in New Orleans. It starts with a phone call in the middle of the night and ends with a near-shootout in a motel room. In between Holiman explains how such a bust is set up and, unfortunately, how office politics can gum things up. Holiman has several neat turns of phrase such as when one of the drug dealers draws a .45, he says "it sucked the fun out of the room." The whole story makes the reader feel he is getting a personal debrief of a DEA operation. Mark Berent is the author of many Vietnam airwar books and articles on Smashwords.
  • Get Ready! on Oct. 09, 2014

    A Paratrooper’s Final Jump This poignant story takes the reader through the years from a paratrooper’s first jump to his final landing. This review is by Mark Berent, author the Vietnam airwar “Wings of War” historical series and many free articles available on all E-Books.
  • Death of a Hero, Birth of a Legend on Oct. 09, 2014

    A Soldier’s Fortune. Jim Morris, a combat veteran, writes with awe of the many men he has known and served with. While he regards them as true heroes, and they most certainly are, he would snort and scoff were anyone to refer to Morris himself as a hero, which he certainly is. In this essay he writes primarily of Rick Rescorla, a British fighting man who served in the SAS, Scotland Yard, northern Rhodesia, the U.S. Army, and, ultimately, security consultant for Dean Witter Morgan Stanley in the WTC. Prior to 9/11 Rescorla pushed and prodded to get his escape plan in place and practiced. This article explains the extraordinary results that saved thousands. This review is by Mark Berent, author the Vietnam airwar “Wings of War” historical series and many free articles available on all E-Books.
  • Chimps with Nukes on Oct. 09, 2014

    Timeless Truth Though written ten years ago during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Jim Morris, a soldier’s soldier, states the basic truth that since WWII sons and daughters of civilian leaders never deign to join the military. Interspiced with his own combat experiences, he makes the prophetic statement: “The notion that we, the United States, can create ‘a stable democracy’ in the Middle East strikes me as hubris of the highest order.” This review is by Mark Berent, author the Vietnam airwar “Wings of War” historical series and many free articles available on all E-Books.