Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war in Vietnam. This is Robert Mason’s astounding personal story of men at war. A veteran of more than one thousand combat missions, Mason gives staggering descriptions that cut to the heart of the combat experience: the fear and belligerence, the quiet insights and raging madness, the lasting friendships and sudden death—the extreme emotions of a "chickenhawk" in constant danger.

    After high school she attended nursing school and then did something that would shatter her secure world for the rest of her life: in 1969, she joined the army and was shipped to Vietnam. When she arrived in Vietnam her idealistic view of the war vanished quickly. She worked long and arduous hours in cramped, ill-equipped, understaffed operating rooms. She saw friends die. Witnessing a war close-up, operating on soldiers and civilians whose injuries were catastrophic, she found the very foundations of her thinking changing daily. After one traumatic year, she came home, a Vietnam veteran. Coming home was nearly as devastating as the time she spent in Asia. Nothing was the same -- including Lynda herself. Viewed by many as a murderer instead of a healer, she felt isolated and angry. The anger turned to depression; like many other Vietnam veterans she suffered from delayed stress syndrome. Working in hospitals brought back chilling scenes of hopelessly wounded soldiers. A marriage ended in divorce. The war that was fought physically halfway around the world had become a personal, internal battle.Home before Morning is the story of a woman whose courage, stamina, and personal history make this a compelling autobiography. It is also the saga of others who went to war to aid the wounded and came back wounded -- physically and emotionally -- themselves. And, it is the true story of one person's triumphs: her understanding of, and coming to terms with, her destiny.

    This is his story, from the first day of the war to the last, of how he became one of history’s leading fighter aces. Starting out flying Spitfires for 416 (Canadian) Squadron and then for an RAF Eagle Squadron, Goodson transferred over to the Thunderbolts and Mustangs of the Fourth Fighter Group when the U.S. joined the war. Mixing it up with the Luftwaffe’s very best pilots accompanying bombing runs into the heart of Germany, Goodson scored thirty kills. But the “King of the Strafers” finally got shot down trying to attack a Me 163 rocket plane. Captured by the Gestapo and only hours away from execution, he managed to buy himself more time by showing the commandant how to blow smoke rings!—and was moved to Berlin, just as Allied bombers besieged the city… With breathtaking descriptions of aerial dogfights and vivid portraits of the men who fought, Tumult in the Clouds is a dramatic, gripping story of courage and sacrifice—and a stunningly personal account of war.

    However the 18 divisions that went over the top between Arras and St-Quentin on the morning of 1 July 1916, walked into a battle that has gone down in the annals of human conflict as the slaughterhouse of a generation. The author has written other books about the history of World War I, including, They Called it Passchendaele and The Roses of No Man's Land.

    

     Only since the Falklands campaign have the initials SBS become known to the public. Yet this clandestine formation of Britain’s armed forces has been in existence since the Second World War. Barrie Pitt, who himself served with the SBS, describes how the it came into being in 1941. How they fought with distinction in the Aegean, where one of their exploits inspired The Guns of Navarone. How they earned rapport in the Adriatic, in Greece and in Italy. How the SBS was reorganised in 1946 as part of the Royal Marines and has since played a role in Korea, Borneo and the Falklands. Equally interesting is the author’s report of the training and specialized skills required by the boat units, and the essential tasks facing them — infiltration from the sea, reconnaissance, sabotage, survival, resistance to interrogation, escape from captivity — and the expertise and determination to complete them. As Barrie Pitt's superb account of the formative years of this elite force shows, these qualities have been present from the very beginning. Barrie Pitt (1918-2006) was well known as a military historian and editor of Purnell’s History of the Second World War and History of the First World War. His publications include 'Coronel and Falkland', 'Churchill and the Generals' and 'The Crucible of War', a trilogy covering the North African campaign of the Second World War. He was born in Galway and later lived near Ilminster in Somerset.

    For everyone, the draft loomed large in our futures, so you could choose your branch of service or let the draft decide for you. This was the 60's. Fresh from sock hops and college freshman mixers, young men found themselves in a fight for their lives, from the Delta to the DMZ, on animal trails, numbered hills and in remote jungle outposts. Teenagers witnessed the unspeakable carnage of war while trying to understand the collision of emotions and insult to the senses that is combat. Thousands died there and many thousands more were wounded and maimed. So the hell of combat was replaced by the painful recovery in a military hospital. For me and thousands of others it was Great Lakes Naval Hospital at Great Lakes, Illinois.For Self and Country follows my many months of recovery along with the stories of the brave young men who surrounded me and sustained me with friendship, uncommon humor, and courage. This is a story of family, young love, and the magnificent care administered by the Navy doctors, nurses and revered Corpsmen. Great Lakes was a place of great pain but also recovery, not just from the physical damage we sustained but also the unseen emotional injuries everyone endured but rarely talked about. We helped each other in our recovery by talking to each other about our wartime experiences and how we would need to cope outside the insulated and protected hospital. Most of us had no expectation of surviving Vietnam; now that we had we were unsure what place we would have in civilian life.

    seapower. They remain both the most impressive and the most controversial of warships, often criticized for their size but always valued for the image of power they can project throughout the world.This account of U.S. carrier development, based on the internal files of the U.S. Navy, presents a complete evolutionary design history at a level of detail and accuracy never before approached. The author, a recognized authority on U.S. warships, uncovers the reason behind the issues behind the emergence of today's carrier, explaining the reasons for the periodic but always aborted attempts to trim back its dimensions. As a result, U.S. Aircraft Carriers is relevant to both current and future plans for new carrier construction.Norman Friedman points out many features of carrier design that have recurred over the years. For example, he shows how recent interest in the conversion of merchant hulls to limited-capability ASW carriers harks back to a major conversion program of the 1930s and to the escort-carrier program of World War II. Both programs are fully described here, as are those for the proposed VSTOL carrier, the sea-control ship, and the VSTOL support ship.This book treats the reader to detailed information on every U.S. carrier class, from the gigantic warships of the Nimitz class to the "side-wheeler" training carriers that operated on the Great Lakes during World War II. Included in this comprehensive history are flight deck plans, outboard profiles, sketches of major design studies, and descriptions of several unique carrier proposals that never got beyond the designer's table but still had a major influence upon contemporary design thinking.Here, too, is Friedman's lucid explanation of the changing function of U.S. carriers, from their origin as auxiliaries to their present role as the main components of the battle force. The post-World War II controversy over the role of carrier operations is also covered. Extensive appendices provide additional data on the carriers and synopses of developments in the design of their catapults and arresting gear.The talented draftsman A. D. Baker III has drawn carefully detailed scale profiles and plan views for each major class of carrier. Numerous photographs, many before never published, also complement the text.U.S> Aircraft Carriers is essential reading for those concerned with the future of the U.S. Navy. Naval historians and architects alike will find this the most comprehensive reference available on the subject and a fitting companion to Friedman's U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History.

    P. Willmott's three-volume history of the war in the Pacific, this work tells how Japan arrived at a situation in which war with the United States was the only means of ensuring long-term security and resolving her immediate problems of access to raw materials and of an unwinnable war in China.

    The Falklands conflict was supremely an "other ranks" war. Here, then, is their side of the story, recorded at the time by two front line journalists. In their own words, often profane, usually funny, always to the point, the men of the Falklands Task Force and those who accompanied them describe what it was actually like to fight an underdog's battle in an icy wilderness 8000 miles from home. Funny, moving, incisive, occasionally bitter, always humorously resigned, this is the story of one war which could be any war, a portrait of the British soldier, in all his mud-stained glory. Here's to him, wha's like him? Gey few, and a lot of them dead.

    Ideal for battlefield tours, the 43 two-color, full page maps highlight the critical military positions and communicate the changing nature of the war. The description accompanying each map enables the reader to relive the action of battle and sense the drama it held for the troops that fought in the world's first total war.The author exploreres the personalities of the commanders on each side and explains the rationale behind the battlefield decisions. In addition, each narrative details the strength of each side, the losses suffered, and the strategic consequences of the battles.The maps are divided into four groups, each of which constitute a chapter in the history of the war: the Amatuer War saw civilian volunteer armies slug it out at Bull Run and Shiloh; the Organized War saw the emergence of managers of war like George B. McClellan (who could administer, but who was loath to fight) as well as the rise of Robert E. Lee; the period of Confederate High Tide in 1863 saw Southern hopes crest only to collapse again after Gettysburg and Vicksburg; and ultimately the era of Total War witnessed the complete metamorphosis of the war from its chivalric beginnings to it emergence as the world's first unlimited war under the leadership of Grant and Sherman. A short introductory essay precedes each section, accompanied by contemporary photographs and drawings that portray America's greatest military conflict.

    

    Jacket tear, else VG

    The Emden sank two warships and sixteen merchantmen, captured four colliers, shelled the harbor at Madras and raided Penang. In the end seventy-eight British ships were required to run her down. Even being captured left the gallant crew undaunted.

    Maltby writes the most enjoyable biography of one of the most relevant men of Spanish history, the soldier-statesman 3rd Duke of Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo.

    Written by bestselling novelist James Webb, it has been hailed as a major work of our time and a stunning commentary of political and social life in America over nearly three decades. From the wars in Korea and Vietnam to antiwar protests in Washington and POW camps in Hanoi, from young love and parenthood to divorce and reconciliation, Webb's eye for detail, provocative insights, and subtle revelations have earned him the highest literary accolades. His convincing characters and gripping scenes fully engage the reader as the three Naval Academy graduates reevaluate their lives, their country, and the cost of success.

    Recounts the glorious exploits of the 761st Tank Battalion--a unit of Black soldiers that distinguished itself during World War II, suffering a fifty percent casualty rate.

    His absorbing tale describes the adventures of a thirty-day journey on a trans-Siberian train, the success of a long-sought-after inspection of a Soviet warship viewed through the haze of innumerable Vodka toasts, and the unease of state banquets with Stalin and Churchill. It also provides dramatic evidence of the contrasts of Soviet life with descriptions of elegant nights at the ballet accompanied by a beautiful agente provocatrice and memories of starving stevedores wolfing down scraps of raw meat thrown out by American ships. Filled with clever one-liners and complemented by numerous period photographs culled from the author's own collection, this reminiscence has enjoyed great appeal, since first published on 1983, with readers who like adventure and have an interest in the behind-the-scenes activities of the U.S. Navy and Soviet Union in the early 1940s.

    

    The dramatic battle on the Plains of Abraham not only set the course for the future of Canada; it opened the door to the independence of the American colonies some 20 years later. Stacey's account is regarded as the best ever written. This new edition contains all the text and the pictures of the previous edition, in a smart and generous new format.

    

    The air forces were there, as Norman Franks proves, detailing the outstanding achievements of the Allied pilots who had earlier had easy victories over the Polish, Dutch and Belgian air forces. The RAF’s achievement reminds us just how close Britain came to disaster in June 1940.

    Photographs of the battleground now and then are revealed, as is the grave of the most famous panzer commander.

    Having followed instructions, he made up his pack with "green side out" only to have the word changed, resulting in having to do it all over again, "brown side out."These are the titles of the sea-stories in four books, stories which accurately reflect the Marine Corps from 1950 to 1979, comical, sad, and stories to bring back memories of the older Marines and paint a vivid picture for the newer ones. You'll meet some real characters -- Monk Monaco, Trash Eleven, Russell Wilcox, and many others who served their Corps proudly -- and with a real sense of honor -- and humor.

    Marines gave birth to a legend in the halls of Montezuma in the nineteenth century, they added glorious luster to it with their heroism and victories against the Japanese in World War II. For this vivid, foxhole view of the Marines' war, Richard Wheeler draws extensively on frontline eyewitness accounts of Marines and combat journalists and backs up their stories with official U.S. action reports and captured Japanese materials. First published in 1983, the book has earned praise as a popular, one-volume history of all the battles fought by the Marine Corps in the Pacific campaign. The book describes in fascinating and exciting detail the heroic defense of Wake Island against an overwhelming enemy assault force. It traces the long bloody battle for Guadalcanal that brought the Marines their first victory and gave America and its allies control of the strategically important Soloman Islands. It follows the painful, island-by-island counterattack toward the Japanese homeland when the Marines created new legends at such places as Bougainville, Saipan, Tarawa, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Here are the remarkable exploits of the Marines holding off Japanese assault waves at Heartbreak Ridge, storming across coral reefs, and struggling up the slopes of Mount Suribachi to raise the Stars and Stripes. Some sixty-five photographs enhance the book, which is now available in paperback for the first time.

    The Kremlin strikes out for survival with the ultimate space weapon. IN THE UNITED STATES: A mole leaks vital secrets to the KGB. PROPHET, America’s satellite nuclear defense system, is suddenly completely vulnerable. HUNDREDS OF MILES ABOVE THE EARTH: The stage is set for the final confrontation. Only Shuttle pilot Christopher Leyland stands between the Soviets and their quest for global domination. Together with beautiful computer scientist Dr. Arielle Simmons, Leyland must stop ‘Nightsight,” the terrible brainchild of the Russian military establishment. In a frantic race against time, Leyland is catapulted into final, desperate combat in the untouched battleground of space. And the most precious prize of all hangs in the balance: Earth. About the Author Bart Davis is the author of ten novels, five non-fiction books, two feature films, and a wide range of print articles. He is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and Stony Brook University. Bart’s books have all been published internationally, translated into Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Norwegian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, German, Dutch, Portuguese, British, Spanish, and Korean. His novels include the five-book "Captain Peter MacKenzie" submarine series, and the bestselling A CONSPIRACY OF EAGLES. Bart has also written for the New York Times and NEWSDAY, and his work has appeared in “Psychology Today” and “People” magazine. Bart’s screenwriting credits include the feature film FULL FATHOM FIVE adapted from his novel; and the feature film LOVE OR MONEY. He lives with his family in New York.

    And they sat unpublished for more than fifty years, apparently ignored by a U.S. government that seemed indifferent to the atrocities the images documented."--Fort Worth WeeklyOn the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the twenty-three marines stationed in North China were at the peak of physical condition. They were young, brave men who were willing to die to defend their country. But on that day, they were forced to surrender to the Japanese and spent the rest of the war-all 1,355 days-as POWs. They didn't know the statistic that stated a marine was 17.5 times more likely to die in a Japanese prison camp than in battle-or that 38 percent of all Americans captured by the Japanese died in labor camps. But they were soon to find out on their own. The Secret Camera is the true story of how one North China marine struggled for survival. From his capture on Pearl Harbor Day, through the bombing of Nagasaki, Corporal Terence S. Kirk spent years as slave labor for the Japanese war machine. Watching himself and his fellow marines wither from strapping young men to mere skeletons, ravaged by starvation, abuse, and disease, he decided to make a difference-by recording the atrocities they all endured. With the help of a Japanese interpreter and a handful of other brave marines, Kirk managed to build a pinhole camera from scraps of cardboard, take a handful of photos, and then hide them away until the end of the war. These are the only photos ever taken inside a Japanese POW camp. A record of courage, faith, and ingenuity, his is a story of heroism, unimaginable adversity, and the will to survive.His photos sat unpublished for more than fifty years, ignored by a U.S. government that seemed indifferent to the atrocities the images documented. But Kirk would not let them languish, and this book is his legacy.

    

    Free of ideological bias, profound in its undertsanding, and compassionate in its human portrayals, it is filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interviews with participants-French, American, Vietnamese, Chinese: diplomats, military commanders, high government officials, journalists, nurses, workers, and soldiers. Originally published a companion to the Emmy-winning PBS series, Karnow’s defining book is a precursor to Ken Burns’s ten-part forthcoming documentary series, The Vietnam War. Vietnam: A History puts events and decisions into such sharp focus that we come to understand – and make peace with – a convulsive epoch of our recent history.