Not too many helicopter books written from the pilot's perspective to begin with. So Mason has attained a kind of cult-hero status among our lot, simply because he seemed to have gotten so much of the technical stuff right. I can still recall the day back in, oh, 1970 or '71, sitting in my local public library while my wide-eyed, 15 year-old self eagerly read the chapter in which he quoted the Huey Pre-Start checklist. Riveting to me, even if it was not so to my friends.
But let's not forget that Mason turned into a real dirtbag drug-dealer afterward. So we must ask: Did Viet Nam make him that way? Or was he a dirt-bag even before he went over? I've known one or two helicopter pilots in my life. Some of them are quite dislikeable (heck, I may be one of them). It would not surprise me in the least if Mason was one of them. Words on a two-dimensional page can never adequately describe a three-dimensional person. Maybe the real Mason was not deserving of the high esteem to which he has typically been held.