As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of cold war confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering & achievement against fantastic odds. Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists & engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. Filled with telling personal anecdotes & high adventure, with narratives from the CIA & from Air Force pilots who flew the many classified, risky missions, this book is a portrait of the most spectacular aviation triumphs of the 20th century.

    Historian/novelist Foote's masterly work has been culled from his critically acclaimed three-volume narrative of the Civil War.

    The literature they read as youngsters was anti-war and cynical, portraying patriots as suckers, slackers and heroes. None of them wanted to be part of another war. They wanted to be throwing baseballs, not handgrenades; shooting .22s at rabbits, not M-1s at other young men. But when the test came, when freedom had to be fought for or abandoned, they fought (from the Prologue).

    The first three volumes of the author's Marine saga, Semper Fi, Call to Arms, and Counterattack, are published together in a World War II epic reaching from Shanghai to Guadalcanal.

    Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets.

    Marine Corps. The thoughts contained here are not merely guidance for action in combat but a way of thinking. This publication provides the authoritative basis for how we fight and how we prepare to fight. This book contains no specific techniques or procedures for conduct. Rather, it provides broad guidance in the form of concepts and values. It requires judgment in application. Warfighting is not meant as a reference manual; it is designed to be read from cover to cover. Its four chapters have a natural progression. Chapter 1 describes our understanding of the characteristics, problems, and demands of war. Chapter 2 derives a theory about war from that understanding. This theory in turn provides the foundation for how we prepare for war and how we wage war, chapters 3 and 4, respectively.

    A Marine aviator, an Army paratrooper and demolitions expert, and a non-com radio man are on an impossible mission for the OSS - sabotaging the resupply of German ships and submarines - by any means necessary! First Lieutenant Cletus Frade is fresh from Guadalcanal. He teams up with Second Lieutenant Anthony Pelosi and Sergeant David Ettinger for the most critical OSS operation of the war. Under the direction of the mysterious Colonel Loman, they venture into a simmering stew of German and Allied agents, collaborators, and government security thugs, of men and women hiding their pasts and plotting their futures - all in supposedly neutral city of Buenos Aires.

    First published in hardcover on the battle's fiftieth anniversary in 1994 and drawing on materials not previously available, it blends history with human drama to give a real sense of what happened--despite the mammoth scope of the battle. Every facet of naval warfare was involved in the struggle that engaged some two hundred thousand men and 282 American, Japanese, and Australian ships over more than a hundred thousand square miles of sea. That Tom Cutler succeeded at such a difficult task is no surprise. The award-winning author saw combat service aboard many types of ships during his naval career, and as a historian and professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College, he has studied the battle for many years. Cutler captures the milieu, analyzes the strategy and tactics employed, and re-creates the experiences of the participants--from seaman to admiral, both Japanese and American. It is a story replete with awe-inspiring heroism, failed intelligence, flawed strategy, brilliant deception, great controversies, and a cast of characters with names like Halsey, Nimitz, Ozawa, and MacArthur. Such an exciting and revealing account of the battle is unlikely to be equaled by future writers.

    Defense analyst Howard R. Simpson was an eyewitness.238 pages; 28 B&W Photos; 2 maps

    The station is in a quiet area, and the company commander thinks this will be a good opportunity for Lt. Tom Conroy ("K Company") to exercise his first independent command. Tom worries about whether his men, hard cases like Link Hayward, will obey him. Then Indians attack the station, and Tom's worries get a whole lot more serious.

    

    Marines’ Dong Ha Combat Base. Intense fighting develops in nearby Dai Do as the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, known as “the Magnificent Bastards,” struggles to eject NVA forces from this strategic position.Yet the BLT 2/4 Marines defy the brutal onslaught. Pressing forward, America’s finest warriors rout the NVA from their fortress-hamlets–often in deadly hand-to-hand combat. At the end of two weeks of desperate, grinding battles, the Marines and the infantry battalion supporting them are torn to shreds. But against all odds, they beat back their savage adversary. The Magnificent Bastards captures that gripping conflict in all its horror, hell, and heroism.“Superb . . . among the best writing on the Vietnam War . . . Nolan has skillfully woven operational records and oral history into a fascinating narrative that puts the reader in the thick of the action.”–Jon T. Hoffman, author of Chesty“Real and gripping . . . combat with all the warts on.”–Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret.)

    All of Sergeant John Burford's missions with F Company, 58th Infantry were deep in hostile territory. As leader of a six-man LRRP team, he found the enemy, staged ambushes, called in precision strikes, and rescued downed pilots. The lives of the entire team depended on his leadership and their combined skill and guts. A single mistake—a moment of panic—could mean death for everyone.Whether describing ambushes in the dreaded A Shau Valley or popping smoke to call in artillery only yards away from his position, Burford demonstrates the stuff the LRRPs are made of—the bravery, daring, and sheer guts that make the LRRPs true heroes. . . .

    Wade's lifelong experience in the Far East enabled him to survive and understand his captors.

    They lived and made this history, and much of it is told in their own words. The material contributed by these men of the 101st Airborne Division, the Armor, Tank Destroyer, Army Air Force , and others is tailored meticulously by the author and placed on the historical framework known to most students of the Battle of the Bulge. Pieces of a nearly 60-year-old jigsaw puzzle come together in this book, when memoirs from one soldier fit with those of another unit or group pursuing the battle from another nearby piece of terrain.

    Captured American soldiers had been held at the notorious Cabanatuan prison camp for more than 33 months. Emaciated and ill from brutal mistreatment, a mere 511 POWs remained from the 25,000-strong force that MacArthur had been ordered to abandon on February 23, 1942.On the morning of January 28, 1945, a small band of Army Rangers set out on an audacious and daring rescue effort: to penetrate 30 miles into Japanese controlled territory, storm the camp, and escape with the POWs, carrying them if necessary.William B. Breuer recounts in searing, meticulous detailbased largely on interviews with survivorsthe hellish battles of Bataan and Corregidor; the horrors of the Bataan death march; and the harrowing efforts of guerilla fighters. A classic of its kind, The Great Raid tells the full story of this episode with a breadth and depth of detail that goes far beyond other accounts including Hampton Sides's best-selling Ghost Soldiers. The Great Raid is a thrilling true-life adventure story and an inspiring testament o American heroism and grit. And as retired four-star General Barry McCaffrey asserts in his introduction, The Great Raid is an "important book for our current military and political leaders to read."

     Major General Orde Wingate, DSO and two bars, who had created and personally led the Chindits, was killed in an air accident in 1944, at the height of the second Chindit campaign. General Slim joined the world-wide tributes paid to Wingate: but by 1956, to the distress of the Chindits, in his book Defeat Into Victory, Slim was dismissive of Wingate. What had happened to change Slim's mind so completely? David Rooney examines the life and achievements of a maverick soldier who inspired loyalty in some, hostility in others. Rooney's thoughtful and diligent research throws new light on Wingate’s intriguing character, discovers why Slim changed his mind, and discloses details of the vendetta by which the military establishment, in the years after his death and following the viciously critical attack in the Official History, attempted to destroy Wingate’s reputation. Rooney draws a balanced portrait of a military mind of daring originality, deserving of a better letter. This seminal work of military history is not only an insightful portrait of a unique British commander, but it is essential reading for anyone interested in the Second World War, special forces and the history of the British Army. Praise for Wingate and the Chindits. ‘His current book is, therefore, an exercise in setting the record straight… Rooney is presenting an unabashed case for the defense, and he does so with skill. Every student of the Burma campaign will want to examine this book carefully.’ (Raymond Callahan, author of Churchill and His Generals and Burma 1942-45) ‘David Rooney's Wingate and the Chindits: Redressing the Balance … attempts to redress the balance in favour of Wingate and to counter the unfair reputation he has acquired, in Rooney's view, among the military establishment.’ (History Today)

    Leonhard introduces a bold new theory that focuses on time as the critical component that controls all other aspects of war. Well-grounded in history, Leonhard's work is certain to take its place as a classic theory of war according to James R. McDonough, who wrote the foreword.

    Collection of military conflicts across the ages in which extraordinary courage was displayed against impossible odds.

    Charged with the responsibility of escorting huge formations of B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers on daylight raids deep into Germany, the P-51 pilots of the various fighter groups within the 'Mighty Eighth' went head to head with the cream of the Luftwaffe's fighter squadrons for control of the skies over the Third Reich.

    . . much of it written from the vantage point of the airplanes cockpit!\nTold in an anecdotal format, this new book is richly marbled with the salt air of fleet experience. Perhaps the F-14 programs greatest success is its overwhelming acceptance by the youngsters in the fleet. Anecdotes about the Tomcat legend abound . . . expecially in the chapters devoted to its employment by the fleet in the oceans of the world.\nOf particular interest are the chapters dealing with the sale of Tomcats to Iran and the subsequent integration of the airplane into Irans armed forces. On-the-scene eye witness accounts provide a unique perspective of this fascinating aspect of the Tomcat story.\nTOMCAT! contains over 150 photographs, most in color and never bfore published, and most of them taken by Tomcat aircrews with hand-held cameras. These provide a fascinating backdrop for the oral history contained in the book.\nThis is not a garden variety history about an airplane. It is a sometimes heart-stopping stroy of how a controversial airplane finally made it into the hearts and minds of the fleet . . . after stumbling at the starting gates of an outmoded defense acquisition system. It is the story of the best air supremacy fighter in the world!\nRear Admiral Paul Gillcrist, USN (Retired), commanded a fleet fighter squadron on three carrier combat deployments to the Tonkin Gulf during which he flew 167 combat missions over Vietnam. For these he was awarded seventeen combat decorations. In his thirty-three year flying career as a fleet pilot and Navy test pilot as well, he flew 71 different U.S. and foreign tactical airplanes including the U.S. Air Forces F-104, F-105, F-106, F-15, F-16, YF-17 and F-20. He flew the Navys F-4, F-5, F-8, F-11, F-14 and F/A-18 as well as several key foreign tactical airplanes. During his carrier flying career, which spanned an amazing twenty-seven years, he commanded a fighter squadron, a carrier air wing and was the wing commander for all Pacific Fleet fighter squadrons. He flew from sixteen carriers, and in his last flying assignment accumulated over four hundred flight hours in the Tomcat culminating, at age 51, in becoming the first flag officer to land the Tomcat on an aircraft carrier - the U.S.S. KITTYHAWK on 21 October 1980. The author of FEET WET, Reflections of a Carrier Pilot, Admiral Gillcrist is eminently qualified to write the F-14 story!

    Ironically, the methods developed by Bruchmuller ultimately were rejected by the German Army of World War II, but they were taken up and applied with a vengeance by the emerging Red Army. The Soviets further developed Bruchmuller's principles and incorporated them into their doctrine, where they remain to this day. Through Soviet doctrine, they have become fundamental to the practice of many other armies. Bruchmuller's influence in shaping the former Soviet Army has also been mirrored in the shape of those armies designed to oppose it.

    The place - the skies over Baghdad. Around the world, people are glued to their TV screens as, for the first time in history, CNN takes readers live to the battlefield. Blobs of green light -antiaircraft fire - reach into the sky trying to bring down the attacking aircraft. Crosshairs settle on the door of a bunker, soon to be followed by an explosion.

    First as peter pilot and then as full-fledged aircraft commander, W.T. Grant routinely flew McGuire rig extractions under enemy fire, inserts into combat zones exploding with mortar shells, and night operations in the enemy-infested A Shau Valley. Though the 17th Assault Helicopter Company eventually became B Compnay, 101st Aviation Battalion, the Kingsmen will always be remembered for their courage....

    For 26 days during May and June 1968 the 1st Australian Task Force fought a series of actions around Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, north-east of Saigon.

    But from 1933 to the end of World War II, the German aviation industry was at the cutting edge of design excellence and technology, producing a series of high-performance classic designs that would have a dramatic effect on the aircraft of the future.Among the many planes described and illustrated here are such outstanding types as: -- Focke-Wulfe craft-- Heinkel fighters and bombers-- Messerschmidt attack planes and transports-- Revolutionary Junker designs-- Early jet fightersThis book describes these feats of aviation engineering. Every warplane that Hitler's Luftwaffe flew in front line combat is featured, with rare photographs, detailed artwork, and comprehensive descriptions. Here are the planes that form the foundation of modern military flying and weaponry.

    in chemistry watched with horror the preparation for the inevitable invasion of his country. In the face of advancing German troops, his passion for freedom and his growing hatred of Hitler led him and a group of his friends into the resistance movement and five years of privation, danger, and, for some, torture and death, at the hands of the Gestapo. This dramatic memoir traces Herman Bodson’s transformation from a pacifist and scientist to, in his own words, “a cold fighter and a killer” in the Belgian underground, an expert in explosives and sabotage. Serving first in the OMBR (Office Militaire Belge de Resistance), he later formed a group of underground fighters in the Belgian Ardennes. They undertook blowing up military trains and installations-including the sabotage of a bridge which resulted in the deaths of some six hundred German soldiers-cutting German communication lines, and rescuing downed American fliers. Bodson also served as a medical aide to an American military doctor at Bastogne in the crucial days of the Battle of the Bulge. The powerfully told narrative follows him through the liberation of Belgium and his postwar efforts with the Belgian Special Force to unmask traitors and bring them to justice. This, then, is the story of a man who gets caught up in a war and rather quickly becomes an efficient and clandestine killer, avenging the Nazi murder of a comrade in arms and revolting against an intolerable regime. It is also the story of the heroic resistance movement-how it came to be and how it fought bravely for the cause of human dignity and freedom. Bodson’s honest and absorbing inside account of the underground effort in occupied Belgium adds much to the record of World War II and provides insight into the intellectual and emotional responses that have led to the birth of underground movements in many nations. It is a compelling story of a people united in a comradeship in the defense of freedom.

    Now a war correspondent who served in the Pacific and Europe tells their incredible stories. Photos and maps.

    Now, in a tough, clear-eyed account, he recaptures the raw courage and sacrifice of American soldiers fighting a savage and desperate battle for survival.

    Here, the authors explain in detail how to plan or prevent an ambush, apply ambush techniques to 60+ special situations and analyze 40+ real ambushes to see why they succeeded or failed.

    And now, Tony could see the confusion in Claire Henderson's eyes, could see her struggle with the same nightmare images that had haunted him for years. Claire Henderson had saved his life, and it was time to return the favor.

    The book captures the unique espirit-de-corps of the Vietnamese Paratrooper and hs U.S. Airborne Advisors in words and photographs. The Red Beret wre the backbone of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam. the book contains historical highlights, medals, awards, citations combat jumps, action photographs, personal stories, and 50th anniversary references.

    A monumental and comprehensive book on the East Pakistan crisis, Kamal Matinuddin's in-depth research provides a clear and candid view into the disintegration of the house that Jinnah built.

    Compiled from eyewitness accounts, each chapter reveals a startling act of heroism performed by a wide variety of mammals—including dogs, cats, a bear, and a donkey. Ranging from the Afghan wars of 1879 through World War I and World War II, maps and a wealth of archive photographs are used to place each inspirational tale in the context of the battle or campaign in which they occur. Uncovering new research and featuring previously classified material, these memorable accounts embrace history while celebrating the valiant deeds of man’s many, furry friends.

    Thirty magnificent color plates, with expert accompanying text, illustrate hundreds of uniforms and individual garments and pieces of equipment of the glory days of British Army full dress, the uniforms most likely to be encountered on model soldiers and in antique prints.

    An introductory narrative explains the evolution of fighter tactics over western Europe and how it led to defeat of the once feared Luftwaffe. Day-by-day accounts of all the major combat missions undertaken by USAAF and US Navy aviation units throughout the war.

    Army. "There is no predecessor or parallel to Fisher's book. . . . (This) meticulously researched and critically insightful history is a long-overdue corrective".--Professor Russell Weigley. 16-page photo insert.

    He traveled through much of the Middle East during and after the Gulf War, watching the bombs fall on Baghdad and waiting for Scuds in Tel Aviv, inspecting the gold bathroom fixtures installed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the empire's temporary palace in Kuwait City and dining with Kurdish chieftains in remote mountain camps in northern Iran.When ground war in Iraq began, Michael Kelly rented a four-wheel-drive Nissan Safari, borrowed some camouflage pants and gas-proof rubber gloves, and set off across the desert, where he was mistaken for an advance party of the American Army and surrendered to by a batch of bewildered Iraqi soldiers. In Kuwait after the liberation, he listened to horrific tales of torture and rape, and walked among the grotesque remains of the bombed-out retreating Iraqi army on the roads home. Later, when Kelly went to Kurdistan, he hiked into forbidden Iraqi territory and then traveled with various guerrilla bands at war with Saddam Hussein. He got out of Iraq by swimming across a river into Turkey in the company of smugglers. Kelly's story is witty, moving, and dramatically compelling, at once superb reporting and the very best travel writing. By avoiding the human story of the Gulf War, he has given us an indispensable piece of our history."Restrained yet explosive dispatches from the front . . . Kelly demonstrates a keen eye for the telling detail, a well-developed sense of irony . . . courage and enterprise."--National Magazine

    Specially selected to show important terrain features, types of equipment and weapons, living and weather conditions, military operations, and details of life in the front lines, they reveal every aspect of the US serviceman's unforgettable experience.

    Extensive, detailed and authorative there is no comparable account available. The many maps, tables and diagrams of the original have been removed to make version readable on a Kindle. For the full version which is available in PDF form go to the USMC Military history site

    Schwarzkopf, while the 101st was the lightning. This is the story of the Screaming Eagles - the hell-bent, heliborne soldiers of the 101st who hurled the lightning bolts. The first one struck to begin the air war, a daring night raid which punched a hole in Iraq's radar fence for allied bombers to light up the sky over Baghdad on January 17, 1991. This white knuckle raid was recorded from beginning to end through the pilots' infrared cameras. Actual dialogue from the tapes provides a chapter of fascinating authenticity. The five month run up to the hundred-hour ground war is fascinating in and of itself. The 101st pitched thousands of Arab tents for a base (Fort Camel) from where they would cover a front as large as the combined areas of Vermont and New Hampshire to block an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia. Through dozens of interviews and hundreds of army videos never publicly viewed, the peculiar experiences of Desert Shield are described in many voices, from corporals to generals. The unique privations of the theater are described, where for the first time alcohol and local women were absent from war, replaced by the umbilical cord of mail, and the gripping memory of a time when the 101st drove convoys along freeways lined by tens of thousands of cheering Americans. The role of Vietnam veterans harboring memories of jungle warfare is described as they run the desert war, as is their collective vow that never again would victory on the battlefield be nullified. That opportunity for unconditional victory came in the first dawn of the ground war. Like some rampaging cyclone, the 101st touched down in the EuphratesValley, landing brigades throughout an area the size of the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Far ahead of the allies' tanks, the Screaming Eagles strangled Iraq's lifeline into Kuwait - in the space of a single day. Darting hundreds of miles during the hundred hours, they were poised to le

    Hundreds of reminiscences, flight data, service records, and vintage photos-many never-before published-fill what will become the standard reference on the subject. Examine the plane's design origins, its use in Vietnam, and its serial codes. A remarkably complete survey of every operating unit, and illustrations and diagrams capture every aspect of the plane's distinguished service. 288 pages, 314 b/w illus., 8 1/4 x 11.

    Based on a diary he kept throughout his captivity, this story, told without bitterness, reveals a man who refused to give way to despair. He also recounts how he revisited Japan and met his former captors.

    

    From the infantryman's foxhole to the fighter pilot's cockpit, Dickson explores the origins, meanings and context of a volatile and violent vocabulary.

    He covers the important and previously unexplored air aspect of a famous land battle. Those who thought they were thoroughly familiar with Hitler's last offensive will find a wealth of new information here, including exclusive interviews with war-time airmen, over 100 rare photos, the unknown story of German MIAs, Luftwaffe jets and other secret weapons, losses in men and aircraft for both sides from government archives, aircraft performance comparisons, and the innovations in tactics and technology that made victory for one side possible and defeat for the other side inevitable.Through all the facts and figures, Danny Parker weaves a compelling narrative about the airmen on both sides in the last desperate days of World War II, about their conflicts with the enemy and among themselves as they stood on the brink of victory -- and defeat. As the end of the war drew near, Allied leaders were divided between British and Americans, air and ground commanders, and advocates of strategic and tactical air operations. On the German side, Luftwaffe leaders Hermann Göring and Dietrich Peltz sought to obey every order to the bitter end, while Luftwaffe fighter commander Adolf Galland struggled to save his last reserves of young pilots from a final and futile slaughter.Danny S. Parker is a former research consultant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Battle of the Bulge, and is the author of "Ten Percent Chance of Victory: The Last Operation of the German Airborne," and The Battle of the Bulge. He is highly regarded by veterans, historians, and active-duty military personnel.

    Forty-six double-page maps create a dynamic picture of a continent in flux and reveal the ebb and flow of political fortunes in unprecedented clarity. In addition, 200 subsidiary maps provide essential background by highlighting the key events which led to each major shift in Europe's political development. If you want to trace and understand the growth and contraction of Roman Europe, the rise of Russia, the fragmentation and unification of Germany or the heyday of Bohemia or Poland or Serbia or Hungary, this is the book for you.

    Fred Sheehan, a soldier who participated in the campaign, tells the story of this largely neglected battle, whose purpose was to open the road to Rome. The unopposed January 1944 landing of 40,000 Allied troops seemed to promise easy victory. Yet a month later, with their number increased to 120,000, the Allies were no nearer Rome and were desperately fighting to hold there own against the German forces of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.

    Palmer's engaging narrative explores the futile efforts to forge a peacetime military force in the wake of the revolutionary war, to ultimate success a decade later. Maps. Bibliography. Index.

    An American airman's eight months with the Dutch underground

    Their stories are sometimes spectacular, often quiet and almost commonplace accounts of men and women striving to maintain dignity and decency in the face of the ruthless, total power of the Nazis.

    The forms and practices of navies and maritime strategy are analysed through the development of eight historical and contemporary topics drawn from the First and Second World Wars, the Cold War and post-Cold War period .

    Yet having called for 100,000 volunteers, he got by the time of his death over 3,000,000.

    Relying on his own letters home and recollections he penned just after his discharge, Webster gives a first hand account of life in E Company, 101st Airborne Division, crafting a memoir that resonates with the immediacy of a gripping novel. From the beaches of Normandy to the blood-dimmed battlefields of Holland, here are acts of courage and cowardice, moments of irritating boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror, and pitched urban warfare. Offering a remarkable snapshot of what it was like to enter Germany in the last days of World War II, Webster presents a vivid, varied cast of young paratroopers from all walks of life, and unforgettable glimpses of enemy soldiers and hapless civilians caught up in the melee. Parachute Infantry is at once harsh and moving, boisterous and tragic, and stands today as an unsurpassed chronicle of war--how men fight it, survive it, and remember it.

    These interactions-sometimes hostile, sometimes surprisingly intimate-occurred during that one period between the mid-tenth and mid-eleventh century when Shi'ite Islam, not Sunni Islam, dominated the Muslim world. The ethnic and secretarian fragmentation that marks present-day Islam was already well in place at the end of the tenth century.