Book picks similar to
Women of Okinawa by Ruth Ann Keyso
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Blackdeath 23: My Journal as an Army Helicopter Pilot in Iraq
Robert Mills - 2014
Robert's daily journal will give you a realistic experience from his cockpit. His writings cover the entire spectrum, from the joys of simply receiving mail from home, living in harsh conditions, experiencing frequent enemy attacks, aircraft emergencies and losing a fellow pilot, to making the ultimate decision of pulling the trigger to end one life in order to save another. Robert states, "I never intended to write a book. It took over three years to complete. Some of it was extremely difficult to get through."
Friends of the Family
Tommy Dades - 2007
When they retired in the early 1990s, they left behind a pile of bodies—and for more than a decade, it looked like they were going to get away with it. As highly decorated NYPD detectives with access to the department's most sensitive information, they sold their badges to the Mafia—and became murderers for the mob. Eventually they retired to Las Vegas, believing they had put their lives of murder and mayhem safely behind them. And they would have lived happily ever after, if not for one dedicated cop at the end of his career and an assistant district attorney. Detective Tommy Dades and Brooklyn Assistant DA Mike Vecchione turned this seemingly unsolvable cold-blooded case into one of the great law-and-order stories in the annals of New York City. And for the first time, in this book, Dades and Vecchione tell the whole inside story of the investigation. For Detective Tommy Dades, the case began with a phone call from a distraught mother who just happened to mention an almost forgotten meeting that had taken place years earlier. Dades and Mike Vecchione had performed cold-case miracles before, but this one seemed impossible. Together, quietly and tenaciously, they began to uncover the hideous truth. A highly secret joint state and federal task force began building a body-by-body case against an incredible array of characters, from one of the most viciously insane Mafia bosses in history—who wanted to kill people he dreamed were plotting against him—to the one-eyed Jew who knew all the secrets. As the cold case got front-page-headlinehot, Dades and Vecchione encountered an unexpected obstacle: the federal prosecutor plotted to take the case—and those headlines—away from Brooklyn. For the first time, the two men who brought this incredible story to life reveal the epic confrontations that occurred behind the scenes and led to a stunning courtroom announcement—and came perilously close to destroying the case against the Mafia cops. Friends of the Family is the complete, inside story of the historic case that rocked the world of law enforcement.
Call Sign Dracula: My Tour with the Black Scarves April 1969 to March 1970
Joe Fair - 2014
It is a genuine, firsthand account of a one-year tour that shows how a soldier grew and matured from an awkward, bewildered, inexperienced, eighteen year-old country “bumpkin” from Kentucky, to a tough, battle hardened, fighting soldier. You will laugh, cry and stand in awe at the true life experiences shared in this memoir. The awfulness of battle, fear beyond description, the sorrow and anguish of losing friends, extreme weariness, the dealing with the scalding sun, torrential rain, cold, heat, humidity, insects and the daily effort just to maintain sanity were struggles faced virtually every day. And yet, there were the good times. There was the coming together to laugh, joke, and share stories from home. There was the warmth and compassion shown by men to each other in such an unreal environment. You will see where color, race or where you were from had no bearing on the tight-knit group of young men that was formed from the necessity to survive. What a “bunch” they were! ... then the return to home and all the adjustments and struggles to once again fit into a world that was now strange and uncomfortable. "Call Sign Dracula" is an excellent and genuine memoir of an infantry soldier in the Vietnam War.
Churchill and the Avoidable War: Could World War II Have Been Prevented?
Richard M. Langworth - 2015
Churchill, 1948: World War II was the defining event of our age—the climactic clash between liberty and tyranny. It led to revolutions, the demise of empires, a protracted Cold War, and religious strife still not ended. Yet Churchill maintained that it was all avoidable. Here is a transformative view of Churchill’s theories, prescriptions, actions, and the degree to which he pursued them in the decade before the war. It shows that he was both right and wrong: right that Hitler could have been stopped; wrong that he did all he could to stop him. It is based on what really happened—evidence that has been “hiding in public” for many years, thoroughly referenced in Churchill’s words and those of his contemporaries. Richard M. Langworth began his Churchill work in 1968 when he organized the Churchill Study Unit, which later became the Churchill Centre. He served as its president and board chairman and was editor of its journal Finest Hour from 1982 to 2014. In November 2014, he was appointed senior fellow for Hillsdale College’s Churchill Project. Mr. Langworth published the first American edition of Churchill’s India, is the author of A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, and is the editor of Churchill by Himself, The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill, The Patriot’s Churchill, All Will Be Well: Good Advice from Winston Churchill, and Churchill in His Own Words. His next book is Winston Churchill, Urban Myths and Reality. In 1998, Richard Langworth was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by HM The Queen “for services to Anglo-American understanding and the memory of Sir Winston Churchill.”
Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall-Of-Fame Career in Advertising
Phil Dusenberry - 2005
A good idea can inspire one commercial. But a good insight can fuel a thousand ideas, a thousand commercials. An insight gives you an entirely new way of thinking about your business. Consider just a few of the breakthrough insights that Dusenberry's agency, BBDO, has offered their clients over the years: That General Electric's unifying tagline should be ?We bring good things to life.? That Pepsi should be targeting the ?Pepsi Generation.? That Ronald Reagan's 1984 reelection theme should be ?Morning in America.? That Visa should compare itself with American Express, not MasterCard. Talk about moving the needle!Dusenberry argues that these brainstorms don?t come out of thin air, even at a world class organization like BBDO. They are actually the result of a rigorous and disciplined process of insight generation, one that any manager in any type of business can adopt. Dusenberry explains this process?Research, Analysis, Insight, Strategy, and Execution (RAISE)?in plain English. And he offers examples of some of the greatest business insights of our time, from the birth of Federal Express to the positioning of HBO."Moving the Needle" will help businesspeople get to the heart of their toughest problems.
Smoking Cigarettes, Eating Glass: A Psychologist's Memoir (SFWP Literary Awards)
Annita Perez Sawyer - 2015
In 1960, as a suicidal teenager, Sawyer was institutionalized, misdiagnosed, and suffered through 89 electroshock treatments before being transfered, labeled as “unimproved.” The damage done has haunted her life. Discharged in 1966, after finally receiving proper psychiatric care, Sawyer kept her past secret and moved on to graduate from Yale University, raise two children, and become a respected psychotherapist. That is, until 2001, when she reviewed her hospital records and began to remember a broken childhood and the even more broken mental health system of the 1950s and 1960s, Revisiting scenes from her childhood and assembling the pieces of a lost puzzle, her autobiography is a cautionary tale of careless psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, both 50 years ago and today. It is an informative story about understanding PTSD and making emotional sense of events that can lead a soul to darkness. Most of all, it’s a story of perseverance: pain, acceptance, healing, hope, and success. Hers is a unique voice for this generation, shedding light on an often misunderstood illness.
The New Arrival: The Heartwarming True Story of a 1970s Trainee Nurse
Sarah Beeson - 2014
There was such goodness here but there was a sadness I had never imagined before, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet …’On a hot summer’s day in 1969, fresh-faced 17 year old Nurse Sarah Hill arrives at Hackney General Hospital in London’s East End.Battered suitcase in hand, she takes eager steps in her white calf-length Mary Quant boots towards the towering sandy-grey building of the Nurses’ Home. Looking up at the rows and rows of little windows, full of nervous excitement, she couldn’t have guessed just what she was getting herself into …It’s the end of the swinging sixties, Britain is changing and the everyday life of the nurses and patients plays out against a backdrop of a failing government, strikes, immigration and women’s lib. Nurse Sarah Hill, together with her companions; the serious minded, politicised Maddox, the quick witted Lynch, who falls in love with an upper crust young doctor, golden girl Nursery Nurse Appleton, and ex-musical hall star turned midwife Wade are thrown in straight at the deep end, working long hours with few days off under the watchful eye of the stern matron.More than just a hospital, Hackney General was part of the community just as much as the Adam & Eve pub the staff frequent. A place where the poorly children of Hackney were nursed to health, a place where young nurses would discover just want they wanted from life, fall in love with shy photographers and grow into women. But it’s not all smooth sailing in Hackney: for every baby that goes home to its loving family another is abandoned, unloved, or never gets to go home at all.Funny, warm and deeply moving, Sarah Beeson’s poignant memoir captures both the heartache and happiness of hospital life and 1970s London through the eyes of a gentle but determined young nurse.
Nothing of Importance: A Record of Eight Months at the Front with a Welsh Battalion, October 1915 to June 1916
John Bernard Pye Adams - 1916
Nothing could have prepared him for the reality he ended up facing. Placing his focus on the day to day existence of the soldiers in the trenches, Adams presents a grim picture of mud-coated billets, relentless artillery barrages, working parties, training and the art of military sniping. Just as it would have been for the soldiers’ lives, Adams heightens his work with an emotive account of his first night patrol, the detonation of mines, battlefield duels and being wounded whilst out wiring in No Man’s Land. Understated and striving for truth over melodrama, Nothing of Importance is the original memoir of the First World War — the only record published while the conflict was still being fought — and the definitive account of trench warfare. Bernard Adams (1890-1917) was a British Army officer, joining 1 Royal Welsh Fusiliers as a Lieutenant in November 1914. He was the first of a triumvirate of authors who, for a time, served simultaneously in the same battalion: the second was Siegfried Sassoon, the third Robert Graves. Written whilst convalescing in 1916, he did not live to see it published.
The Jack-Roller: A Delinquent Boy's Own Story
Clifford R. Shaw - 1966
The Jack-Roller helped to establish the life-history or "own story" as an important instrument of sociological research. The book remains as relevant today to the study and treatment of juvenile delinquency and maladjustment as it was when originally published in 1930.
Salt, Sweat, Tears: The Men Who Rowed the Oceans
Adam Rackley - 2014
For 70 days he and his rowing partner ate, slept and rowed in a boat seven metres long and two metres wide, in one of the world's most extreme environments. This is his story of adventure, endurance and self-discovery.They were following in the wake of pioneers. In 1896 a pair of Norwegian fisherman crossed the 2,500 miles in a wooden fishing dory - and their record stood for 114 years. John Fairfax, a smuggler, gambler and shark hunter, was the first to complete the feat single-handedly in 1969. Others have followed; some have not survived the attempt. This is their story, too.
The Sum of My Parts
James Sanford - 2011
At first I tried to deny my condition (trying to treat a tumor with hot baths and ice packs). Eventually, I decided I would learn as much about my illness as possible while trying to keep my emotions on hold.What followed was an experience that finally forced me to deal with issues about my body that I had tried to ignore for decades. Along the way I dealt with a physician who gave me ridiculous advice and acquaintances who asked unbelievable questions. But I was also fortunate to be surrounded by people who supported me and doctors who helped me through the process.
They Call Me Assassin
Jack Tatum - 1980
He hits people with pile driver force. Running backs and pass receivers shudder with expectation as the charging free safety crashes into them. Surprisingly, Jack Tatum is a gentle man off the gridiron. Though he loves the combat, he hates the injuries that result, some permanently, and he has been responsible for his share. He also hates the cheap shot. Tatum says enforce the rules...cut down the injuries and allow the game to be played with some degree of civilized behavior. This is the only sport, except for boxing and hockey, where everyone is inevitably injured because the rules don't provide for adequate safety. The classic combat of the gridiron began for Tatum, an under-privileged kid, in Passaic, New Jersey, where he became just about the most celebrated football player that area of the country had every produced. Tatum makes no apologies for his roughness; but he says the wold picture and was strongly moved by the terrible accident which paralyzed Darryl Stingley after Tatum hit him in a pres-season game. In the book, Tatum evaluates the players, especially the quarterbacks, the coaches, his teammates, the fans and the total ambiance of the football experience in a hardhitting colorful style.
The Day I Died: My Astonishing Trip to Heaven and Back
Freddy Vest - 2014
He was dead before he hit the ground. One moment he was sitting on his horse. The next moment he was somewhere else--somewhere beyond description. He had moved on. Without travel, transport, angelic assistance, or the passage of time he was with Jesus, where he discovered firsthand that heaven is a real place and God is a real person and that death is not the end but the beginning of true life. In The Day I Died, Vest touches on the transformation from death to heaven and some of the benefits of finding oneself in that place, including:The unforgettable awareness of God’s presence The sense of His immeasurable love The freedom from the constraints of time The ease of communication with the Lord The peace and security that attend His presence The understanding that prayers are instantly heard by God.
World War One: The Unheard Stories of Soldiers on the Western Front Battlefields: First World War stories as told by those who fought in WW1 battles (Soldier Stories of World War 1 Book 2)
Various - 2016
Evocative and vivid descriptions of the early stages of the conflict populate these pages, from which the reader can gain lessons of the conditions of the stagnant front.Originally published in 1915, the set of tales within this book offer sobering accounts from various battlefields which took place during the early stages of the war. Although the war was not even halfway over by the time these stories found publication, the horrors of the conflict were already a fact of life, with casualties rapidly mounting on both sides.At that time public opinion hadn’t yet fully turned against the war, and in Britain – the nationality of all the soldiers here – the need for showing progress was essential to sustain civilian and military morale. All of the soldiers in these pages were already serving in their regiments, or had volunteered for service, when the war commenced. They were commonly professional soldiers, possessed of a natural – even ingrained - patriotism, and more accepting of the official narrative than the increasingly sceptical and fearful citizenry back home. There is however no doubt that many were already disillusioned, and that the stories here are taken from an already thinning group of soldiers still possessed of some shred of belief in the war as a noble, or even glorious, conflict.Despite the mood which underpins the pages here, one can read between the lines for a picture. The stories are honest: thing got worse between those elated first weeks wherein the French welcomed their allies so gladly, and the war that was to be over by Christmas 1914 was nowhere near ending, and it is in these stories that we witness the germinal seeds of disillusion and hatred of conflict. The majority of the illustrations which originally accompanied these accounts prioritise the heroism of their subjects, while a few offer a toned down presentation of the horrific battlefields. In this modern edition, we include a number of relevant photographic illustrations alongside the original drawings which accompanied the stories when they were first published. While the imagery of World War I is generally quite ingrained in our minds, these supplementary pictures are designed as on-the-spot reminders of how war was more than a century ago, as well as to provide demonstration of the weapons and technology of the era.
How an iPhone Made Me the Youngest Billionaairee
K SARAFF - 2015
Based on a true story where the author incurs many failures in life but believes that failure comes to those who deserve something bigger. He continuously fails in many entrepreneurial ventures but his attitude towards great sayings keeps him going. Despite not having the best of qualifications, he defies the rule and the common notion that only qualified make it large. Common beliefs of the masses have been challenged at every point.The mention of the business ventures he undertakes while in college and the problems solved by his early philosophical knowledge. Despite being discouraged by the non-entrepreneurial environment, he dares to rise against the wind. He has done something worth writing and written something worth reading! "Awesome book. Very well written. I recommend this book to every teenager as it would surely transform their lives and it will help them to create opportunities for themselves. We need young entrepreneurs in India."- Verified Purchase on Amazon.in"Amazing book.. i have no words in praise of this book..everyone should read this.. must read for everyone..i assure you, this will change your life.." Verified Purchase on Amazon.inAbout The AuthorK Sraff is an entrepreneur. He has undertaken various profit, non-profit ventures, most of which have been mentioned in the book. He has highlighted on a philosophy that "When you help others, the universe conspires to help you...!" which also sets the core theme of the book. How an iPhone Made Me the Youngest Billionaairee has sold thousands of copies in India and abroad. Widely appreciated with over 200+ ratings in Goodreads, 100+ reviews on Amazon. The book speaks not just about dreams, change, but urges the readers to implement what they conceive!