"Col. Bob Stoffey was born in Coaldale, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. He served as a Marine Corps pilot for twenty-five years, having flown twenty-four different types of aircraft worldwide." Coaldale Alumnus, the Class of 1953

by Robert E. Stoffey (Author), James L. Holloway (Foreword)

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Amazon: Fighting to leave

by Col. Bob Stoffey (Author) "The steady drone of the four turboprop engines of theMarine Corps KC-130 transport aircraft from VMGR-152 abruptly changed..." (more)

Key Phrases: thick treeline, previous combat tour, defense wire, Hostage Uniform, North Vietnamese, Dash Two (more...)

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Amazon: Cleared Hot

The Coaldale native has written another critically acclaimed book about his experiences as a Marine Corps avaitor during the Vietnam War.

Fighting to Leave will debut next month 16 years after Bob's first book, Cleared Hot, which is still on the market by St. Martin's Press, was published. After it was first released, Cleared Hot made the New York Times best seller list.

If early indications are accurate, Fighting to Leave will be headed in that direction also.

Fighting to Leave details the complexity of the last two years of Americans fighting in Vietnam (1972-73), until the end of America's longest war in 1973, when we finally got our POWs home and withdrew, according to Stoffey, a Coaldale High School graduate. "Historically, it enlightens many readers that the American fighting ended in 1973 and the heavily-viewed newscasts of the fall of Saigon and associated evacuation of the American Embassy happened two-years later after all American military were removed from Vietnam in 1975," he explains.

"The bottom line," Stoffey added, "is that those, today, who think it's complex to get out of Iraq now, should read Fighting to Leave, which was more complex of a situation because of the requirement to get our POWs home."

Stoffey, now retired and living with his wife, Eleanor, in Carlsbad, California, served as a Marine Corps aviator for 25 years and flew 22 different types of airplanes and helicopters. His numerous military decorations include two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Navy-Marine Medal for Personal Heroism, 25 Air Medals, the Bronze Star, the South Vietnamese Medal of Honor, and the South Vietnamese Air Cross of Gallantry.

He served three combat tours in Vietnam and during his first two tours, 1965-1966 and 1969-1970, Stoffey flew 440 combat missions out of DaNang and Marble Mountain Airfields in South Vietnam. He was shot down twice.

His third combat tour was aboard the USS Oklahoma City as the Marine Air Officer and Assistant Amphibious Warfare Officer on the staff of the Commander, Seventh Fleet. The crucial and complex last two years of the war, following the 1971 withdrawal of major ground-fighting units under President Nixon's Vietnamization policy, are explained from the perspective of the Seventh Fleet, as it floated in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea.

As the South Vietnamese battled for survival, the U.S. Seventh Fleet was a significant supporting force; the mining of North Vietnam's waterways, concentrated shore bombardments, and air attacks were instrumental in leading to the negotiated end of America's war in Vietnam and the return of our POWs. In the words of Gen. Walter E. Boomer, USMC (Ret.) and former adviser to South Vietnamese Marines, Col. Stoffey's engaging recollections make Fighting to Leave an "action packed narrative....the only book that wraps up all the complex events that led to the end of our longest war."

Advance copies of the book drew rave reviews from some of our country's top military people.

"Bob Stoffey has written a truly superb book on the final phase of the Vietnam War," wrote Gen Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (ret.). "It is an insightful, well-written account by someone who lived it. Fighting to Leave is required reading for those who want to understand a war whose lessons are still being learned."

Vice Admiral Ed Briggs, USN (ret.) wrote: "It is, foremost, a graphic history of courageous boots on the ground, intrepid aviators, gallant sailors, their innovative leaders of the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps and their Republic of Vietnam comrades. They won the battles, yet the geopolitical structure failed to permit the unfettered offensive actions necessary for decisive victory or winning the peace. This is a book about the past, the present, and the future. We ought to take its message very seriously."

"Fighting to Leave is a much needed reminder of our nation's past mistakes. The parallels between the last years of the Vietnam War and the current War on Terror are striking. A must read for the new generation who thirst for high office, if we are to avoid 'Deja vu all over again!" Brig. General David M. Brahms, USMC (ret).

"Few have had the range of Vietnam combat experience, and fewer have had the perspective and personal involvement, that allow Bob Stoffey to convey the details of sea, air, and ground events in the final phase of the conflict," wrote Capt. Stu Landersman, USN (ret.). "His descriptions are not from libraries of academia but from those who have been there and done that."

After retiring from the Marine Corps, Stoffey worked for Rockwell International Microelectronics and Hughes Semiconductors and was vice president of a laser manufacturer before taking civilian retirement.

He and Eleanor still make frequent visits home, the most recent visit when they attended the Coaldale High School reunion last month.