Taking Fire: The True Story of a Decorated Chopper Pilot


Ron Alexander - 2002
    With an unswerving concern for every American soldier trapped by enemy fire, and a fearlessness that became legendary, Ron Alexander earned enough official praise to become the second most decorated helicopter pilot of the Vietnam era. Yet, for Ron, the real reward came from plucking his fellow soldiers from harm's way, giving them another chance to get home alive.In Taking Fire, Alexander and acclaimed military writer Charles Sasser transport you right into the cramped cockpit of a Huey on patrol, offering a bird's eye view of the Vietnam conflict. Packed with riveting action and gritty "you-are-there" dialogue, this outstanding book celebrates the everyday heroism of the chopper pilots of Vietnam.

Pakistan: At the Helm


Tilak Devasher - 2018
    

The Pentagon Papers


Neil Sheehan - 1971
    'The Washington Post' called them "the most significant material in American history" and they remain relevant today as a reminder of the importance of a free press and First Amendment rights. 'THE PENTAGON PAPERS' demonstrated that the government had systemically lied to both the public and to Congress.THIS INCOMPARABLE VOLUME INCLUDES:• The Truman and Eisenhower Years: 1945-1960 by Fox Butterfield• Origins of the insurgency in South Vietnam by Fox Butterfield• The Kennedy Years: 1961-1963 by Hedrick Smith• The Overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem: May-November, 1963 by Hedrick Smith• The Covert War and Tonkin Gulf: February-August, 1964 by Neil Sheehan• The Consensus to Bomb North Vietnam: August, 1964-February, 1965 by Neil Sheehan• The Launching of the Ground War: March-July, 1965 by Neil Sheehan• The Buildup: July, 1965-September, 1966 by Fox Butterfield• Disenchantment: October, 1966-May, 1967 by Hedrick Smith• The Tet Offensive and the Turnaround by E.W. Kenworthy• Analysis and Comment• Court Records• Biographies of Key FiguresWith a brand-new foreword by James L. Greenfield, this edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning story is sure to provoke discussion about free press and government deception, and shed some light on issues in the past and the present so that we can better understand and improve the futureRUNNING TIME ⇒ 37hrs.©2018 Neil Sheehan, E.W. Kenworthy, Fox Butterfield, Hendrick Smith (P)2018 Brilliance Audio, Inc., all rights reserved.

Black April: The Fall of South Vietnam, 1973-75


George J. Veith - 2011
    Yet a complete understanding of the endgame—from the 27 January 1973 signing of the Paris Peace Accords to South Vietnam’s surrender on 30 April 1975—has eluded us.Black April addresses that deficit. A culmination of exhaustive research in three distinct areas: primary source documents from American archives, North Vietnamese publications containing primary and secondary source material, and dozens of articles and numerous interviews with key South Vietnamese participants, this book represents one of the largest Vietnamese translation projects ever accomplished, including almost one hundred rarely or never seen before North Vietnamese unit histories, battle studies, and memoirs. Most important, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of South Vietnam’s conquest, the leaders in Hanoi released several compendiums of formerly highly classified cables and memorandum between the Politburo and its military commanders in the south. This treasure trove of primary source materials provides the most complete insight into North Vietnamese decision-making ever complied. While South Vietnamese deliberations remain less clear, enough material exists to provide a decent overview.Ultimately, whatever errors occurred on the American and South Vietnamese side, the simple fact remains that the country was conquered by a North Vietnamese military invasion despite written pledges by Hanoi’s leadership against such action. Hanoi’s momentous choice to destroy the Paris Peace Accords and militarily end the war sent a generation of South Vietnamese into exile, and exacerbated a societal trauma in America over our long Vietnam involvement that reverberates to this day. How that transpired deserves deeper scrutiny.

One Crowded Hour


Tim Bowden - 1995
    This is the story of Neil Davis, the celebrated combat cameraman in Vietnam.

War For the Hell of It: A Fighter Pilot's View of Vietnam


Ed Cobleigh - 2005
    With well-crafted prose that puts you into the Phantom's cockpit, Cobleigh vividly recounts the unexplainable loss of his wingman, the useless missions he flew, the need to trust his reflexes, eyesight, and aggressiveness, and his survival instincts in the heat of combat. He discusses the deaths of his squadron mates and the contradictions of a dirty, semi-secret war fought from beautiful, exotic Thailand. This is an unprecedented look into the state of mind of a pilot as he experiences everything from the carnage of a crash to the joy of flying through a star-studded night sky, from the illogical political agendas of Washington to his own dangerous addiction to risk. Cobleigh gives a stirring and emotional description of one man's journey into airborne hell and back, recounting the pleasures and the pain. the wins and the losses. and ultimately, the return.

American Photobooth


Nakki Goranin - 2008
    The author documents the invention, technological evolution, and commercial history of the photobooth with illustrations culled from 25 years of collecting.

The Cat From Hue: A Vietnam War Story


John Laurence - 2001
    He was judged by his colleagues to be the best television reporter of the war, however, the traumatic stories Laurence covered became a personal burden that he carried long after the war was over. In this evocative, unflinching memoir, laced with humor, anger, love, and the unforgettable story of Mé a cat rescued from the battle of Hue, Laurence recalls coming of age during the war years as a journalist and as a man. Along the way, he clarifies the murky history of the war and the role that journalists played in altering its course.The Cat from Huéi> has earned passionate acclaim from many of the most renowned journalists and writers about the war, as well as from military officers and war veterans, book reviewers, and readers. This book will stand with Michael Herr's Dispatches, Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War, and Neil Sheehan's A Bright, Shining Lie as one of the best books ever written about Vietnam-and about war generally.

Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from Wartime PTSD


Christal Presley - 2012
    . . an important part of the still unhealed wounds of war. Christal has given as much of her heart to this story as her father gave to his country."—Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, activist, and educator "Thirty Days with My Father is an important addition to the literature of trauma psychology, shining a beacon of hope for transformation and healing."  —From the Foreword by Edward Tick, PhD, author, War and the Soul and founding co-director, Soldier's Heart "To me, post-traumatic stress disorder was just a bunch of words. All I knew was that it had something to do with my father's brain, and he seemed to be going crazy. And I knew it was bad because my mom told me that if anyone found out how sick he was, they'd come and take him away forever, and they'd take me away too, and she couldn't live like that. If he had to be that sick, I wanted him to have something everybody could understand. So I picked brain cancer."—From Thirty Days with My Father When Christal Presley's father was eighteen, he was drafted to Vietnam. Like many men of that era who returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he was never the same. Christal's father spent much of her childhood locked in his room, gravitating between the deepest depression and unspeakable rage, unable to participate in holidays or birthdays. At a very young age, Christal learned to walk on eggshells, doing anything and everything not to provoke him, but this dance caused her to become a profoundly disturbed little girl. She acted out at school, engaged in self-mutilation, and couldn't make friends. At the age of eighteen, Christal left home and didn't look back. She barely spoke to her father for the next thirteen years.To any outsider, Christal appeared to be doing well: she earned a BA and a master's, got married, and traveled to India. But despite all these accomplishments, Christal still hadn't faced her biggest challenge—her relationship with her father. In 2009, something changed. Christal decided it was time to begin the healing process, and she extended an olive branch. She came up with what she called "The Thirty Day Project," a month's worth of conversations during which she would finally ask her father difficult questions about Vietnam. Thirty Days with My Father is a gritty yet heartwarming story of those thirty days of a daughter and father reconnecting in a way that will inspire us all to seek the truth, even from life's most difficult relationships. This beautifully realized memoir shares how one woman and her father discovered profound lessons about their own strength and will to survive, shedding an inspiring light on generational PTSD.

Battle of Tarawa - World War II: A History from Beginning to End (World War 2 Battles Book 13)


Hourly History - 2019
     Free BONUS Inside! “It’s hell out there” was how one Marine described the assault on Tarawa, the U.S. Navy’s first amphibious landing in World War II’s arduous Pacific Campaign to bring the Empire of Japan to its knees. In 76 hours of fighting, the Marines lost nearly as many men as had died during the six months of the Guadalcanal campaign. Military intelligence had failed to take into account the reefs around Betio, the target of the assault, or the low tides which prevented transport vehicles from bringing the Marines safely to shore. As Marines were forced to wade 700 yards from the stranded vehicles to the shore, many of them were shot by enemy fire or drowned from the weight of their packs. When Americans back home saw the photographs of the bodies in the waters around Tarawa, they were horrified to realize that the route to Japan and victory would be strewn with the bodies of their young soldiers. Discover a plethora of topics such as The Road to Tarawa Preparing Tarawa's Defenses The First Day of the Battle Eyewitness Account of the Betio Landing The Lessons and Legacy of Tarawa And much more! So if you want a concise and informative book on the Battle of Tarawa, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!

100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World


Nick Yapp - 2007
    These moments are crystallised in images that leap from the page revealing joy, anger, despairsand triumph. An insightful text by photography historian Nick Yapp supports these images, which are accompanied by journals, excerpts and 'on-site' notes that offer the backstory of the image and how it was captured.Major events that have shaped our erascaptured in the book include, from the Getty historic archive, the 1848-9 revolution and riots in Europe; President Lincoln's assassination in 1865; the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889; the Potemkin Mutiny (1905) that launched the Russians Revolution; the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916; the Wall Street crash of 1929; Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938; the Bristish leaving India in 1947; through to the dawn of the new millennium in 2000.The National Geographic archives are used to illustratescultural geography, the changes in landscape, contemporary conflicts, Native America, and the civil rights movement among others, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Scott and Amundsen reaching the South Pole in 1911; the Lascaux cave paintings discovered in 1940; the first heart transplant in 1967; the Chernobyl disaster of 1986; the cloning of sheep in 1997; the Twin Towers attack of 2001; and the global warming debate of 2007. The wonder of this book is in illustrating how an entire event or age can be captured in a single image - whether it be of a peasant's tears, two heads of state sharing a secret, or the triumph of an Olympic champion. Politics, war, crime, exploration, fashion and fads all make up these one hundred days: From the California Gold Rush of 1849 to the finished structure of the Three Gorges Dam in 2006.

Band Of Strangers: A WW2 Memoir of the fighting in Normandy and "The Bulge"


James K. Cullen - 2018
    Cullen is a retired business executive and veteran of The Battle of The Bulge. During the second world war, as an army staff sergeant, he trained infantrymen for battle, then volunteered to go to Europe and enter the trenches himself. He was awarded four battle stars—Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, and Germany, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, Combat Infantry Badge, and the Belgian fourragère of 1940. Once the war ended, he returned to life as a civilian. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University on the GI Bill. Mr. Cullen has been married to the love of his life for over fifty years. He has two children, and five grandchildren. He is active in veterans' groups, including the Battle of the Bulge Group, and has participated in a reenactment of the Battle of The Bulge with a group of WWII re-enactors in Washington state. James K. Cullen is 95 years old. Band Of Strangers is his first book.

Sgt. Rock: Last Warrior Standing


Rocky Olson - 2010
    Hundreds of American soldiers were being killed every week in that war ravaged country. Rocky Olson, a newly trained and indoctrinated American infantryman, was sent as a combat replacement into that maelstrom of politics, suffering, and death. He was given an "experienced" M-16, and was provided with endless opportunities to force "Sir Charles" to give his last full measure of devotion to the communist cause.This true, amazing, first-hand account of that brutal war has touched thousands.Book includes 29 original color photographs taken by the author during his tour of combat. Area of operation maps are also included.

A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam


James R. Ebert - 1993
    More than 60 Army and Marine Corps infantrymen speak of their experiences during their year-long tours of duty.

Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam


Mark Bowden - 2017
    The lynchpin of Tet was the capture of Hue, Vietnam?s intellectual and cultural capital, by 10,000 National Liberation Front troops who descended from hidden camps and surged across the city of 140,000. Within hours the entire city was in their hands save for two small military outposts. American commanders refused to believe the size and scope of the Front?s presence, ordering small companies of marines against thousands of entrenched enemy troops. After several futile and deadly days, Lieutenant Colonel Ernie Cheatham would finally come up with a strategy to retake the city, block by block and building by building, in some of the most intense urban combat since World War II.With unprecedented access to war archives in the U.S. and Vietnam and interviews with participants from both sides, Bowden narrates each stage of this crucial battle through multiple viewpoints. Played out over 24 days and ultimately costing 10,000 lives, the Battle of Hue was by far the bloodiest of the entire war. When it ended, the American debate was never again about winning, only about how to leave. Hue 1968 is a gripping and moving account of this pivotal moment.