Book picks similar to
Without Parachutes: How I Survived 1,000 Attack Helicopter Combat Missions in Vietnam by Jerry W. Childers
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Fire Base Illingworth: An Epic True Story of Remarkable Courage Against Staggering Odds
Philip Keith - 2013
The battle went on, mostly in the dark, for hours. Exposed ammunition canisters were hit and blew up, causing a thunderous explosion inside the FSB that left dust so thick it jammed the hand-held weapons of the GIs. Much of the combat was hand-to-hand. In all, twenty-four Americans lost their lives and another fifty-four were wounded. Nearly one hundred enemy bodies were recovered. It was one of the most vicious small unit firefights in the history of U.S. forces in Vietnam.As in his acclaimed book Blackhorse Riders, a finalist for the prestigious Colby Award, Philip Keith uncovers a harrowing true story of bravery and sacrifice by the men who fought valiantly to hold FSB Illingworth-a tale never-before-told and one that will not be soon forgotten.
Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir
John McCain - 1999
With candor and ennobling power, McCain tells a story that, in the words of Newsweek, "makes the other presidential candidates look like pygmies."John McCain learned about life and honor from his grandfather and father, both four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy. This is a memoir about their lives, their heroism, and the ways that sons are shaped and enriched by their fathers. John McCain's grandfather was a gaunt, hawk-faced man known as Slew by his fellow officers and, affectionately, as Popeye by the sailors who served under him. McCain Sr. played the horses, drank bourbon and water, and rolled his own cigarettes with one hand. More significant, he was one of the navy's greatest commanders, and led the strongest aircraft carrier force of the Third Fleet in key battles during World War II. John McCain's father followed a similar path, equally distinguished by heroic service in the navy, as a submarine commander during World War II. McCain Jr. was a slightly built man, but like his father, he earned the respect and affection of his men. He, too, rose to the rank of four-star admiral, making the McCains the first family in American history to achieve that distinction. McCain Jr.'s final assignment was as commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. It was in the Vietnam War that John McCain III faced the most difficult challenge of his life. A naval aviator, he was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and seriously injured. When Vietnamese military officers realized he was the son of a top commander, they offered McCain early release in an effort to embarrass the United States. Acting from a sense of honor taught him by his father and the U.S. Naval Academy, McCain refused the offer. He was tortured, held in solitary confinement, and imprisoned for five and a half years. Faith of My Fathers is about what McCain learned from his grandfather and father, and how their example enabled him to survive those hard years. It is a story of three imperfect men who faced adversity and emerged with their honor intact. Ultimately, Faith of My Fathers shows us, with great feeling and appreciation, what fathers give to their sons, and what endures.
Undaunted Valor: An Assault Helicopter Unit in Vietnam
Matt Jackson - 2019
From dodging enemy ground fire and RPGs, to constant mortar and rocket attacks on his base, Colonel Cory stared down the enemy to bring his fellow soldiers’ home.Join Colonel Cory as he recounts some of the most intense helicopter and ground combat of the Vietnam war from the eyes of a man who spent two combat tours there. From being shot down by enemy fire, to leading his air crew to repel an enemy assault, Colonel Cory’s firsthand accounts of the Vietnam War are awe inspiring. Awarded the Silver Star, and two Bronze Stars for Valor, Cory’s hair-raising accounts of what it was like to fly over the Jungles of Vietnam will make you feel as if you are right there with him.
Grab your copy of this gripping, true-life story of an American war hero today!!
Praise for Undaunted Valor – “If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to fly a helicopter in combat or what goes through the minds of those who do, you have to read this book. Incredible story of an American Hero!” – Author James Rosone of the Red Storm Series
The Red Baron
Richard Fox - 2014
What he found was misery. Sentenced to a meaningless staff position after losing his first battle, Richthofen joins the fledgling German air force and discovers his deadly talent for air to air combat. In the air, victory and renown come at the expense of other men’s lives and with a burden that grinds against his soul. To the soldiers and people of Germany, he was the pride of an empire. To his foes, he was the Red Baron. As wounds to his body and spirit mount, Richthofen learns that even heroes have limits. As the war enters the final stages, finding the strength to keep fighting will be his greatest battle.
Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War
Donna Moreau - 2005
Author Donna Moreau was the daughter of one such waiting wife, and here she writes of growing up at a time when The Flintstones were interrupted with news of firefights, fraggings, and protests, when the evening news announced death tolls along with the weather forecasts. The women and children of Schilling Manor fought on the emotional front of the war. It was not a front composed of battle plans and bullets. Their enemies were fear, loneliness, lack of information, and the slow tick of time. Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War tells the story of the last generation of hat-and-glove military wives called upon by their country to pack without question, to follow without comment, and to wait quietly with a smile. A heartfelt book that focuses on this other, hidden side of war, Waiting Wives is a narrative investigation of an extraordinary group of women. A compelling memoir and domestic drama, Waiting Wives is also the story of a country in the midst of change, of a country at war with a war.
What It is Like to Go to War
Karl Marlantes - 2011
In a compelling narrative, Marlantes weaves riveting accounts of his combat experiences with thoughtful analysis, self-examination and his readings -- from Homer to the Mahabharata to Jung. He talks frankly about how he is haunted by the face of the young North Vietnamese soldier he killed at close quarters and how he finally finds a way to make peace with his past. Marlantes discusses the daily contradictions that warriors face in the grind of war, where each battle requires them to take life or spare life, and where they enter a state he likens to the fervor of religious ecstasy.Just as Matterhorn is already being acclaimed as a classic of war literature, What It Is Like To Go To War is set to become required reading for anyone -- soldier or civilian -- interested in this visceral and all too essential part of the human experience.
Relentless
Dean Stott - 2019
Dean's story is inspirational.' - Levison Wood'Dean's relentless determination to help those who face many mental health battles is incredible and admirable - he's a hero to many.' - Bear GryllsFor readers of Ant Middleton, Jason Fox, Brian Wood, Bear Grylls and Billy Billingham comes the extraordinary, inspirational story of Special Boat Service soldier and adventurer Dean Stott.Everybody has heard the SAS motto that who dares wins, but special forces warrior Dean Stott also lives his life by another powerful mantra - that of the relentless pursuit of excellence. In 16 years of service, Dean rose to the top of Britain's fighting force, taking part of some of the most daring and dangerous operations in the war on terror, and then in the private security force, where missions included him singlehandedly evacuating the Canadian Embassy in Libya.But then, following a horrific parachuting accident, Dean's dream career was cut short, and his ethos was put to its toughest test. Just like the day when Dean's dad said that he could never make it as a soldier, Dean's doctors told him that he would never again perform at the elite level.To put it mildly, Dean disagreed, but even those that knew him were staggered by the mission that he set himself - the man who didn't own a bike would cycle the Pan American Highway, a 14,000 mile route that stretches from Argentina to Alaska, passing through some of the most dangerous countries in the world. A passionate mental health campaigner, Dean decided to up the stakes further by setting himself the task of raising a million pounds for charity. With two world records also in his sights, the stage was set for Dean to rediscover the tenacity, bravery, and downright doggedness that saw him rise to the top of the Special Forces. The final curveball arrived in the shape of a wedding invitation from his old friend Prince Harry - would he make it back in time for the royal wedding, or at all?Dean Stott is Relentless, and this is his story.
The Foot Soldier
Mark Rubinstein - 2013
The Foot Soldier brings you to the hell of jungle combat. Close your eyes and this novella takes you there. It conveys the terror and brutality of jungle warfare and their effect on the American riflemen--those who bore the greatest burden. It's every bit as compelling as The Things They Carried.
Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs Of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
Robin Olds - 2010
A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—and an ace with 12 aerial victories.But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend. He arrived in 1966 to find a dejected group of pilots and motivated them by placing himself on the flight schedule under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. Proving he wasn’t a WWII retread, he led the wing with aggressiveness, scoring another four confirmed kills, becoming a rare triple ace.Olds (who retired a brigadier general and died in 2007) was a unique individual whose personal story is one of the most eagerly anticipated military books of the year.
Nam-A-Rama
Phillip Jennings - 2003
Only the Few and the Proud know what fun Hell can be.Here it is, folks: "How the cow ate the cabbage" in the CLASSIFIED words of the President hisself [sic]. TOP SECRET stuff. EYES ONLY. If you want to know the real story (and you know you do)-Nam-A-Rama is Catch 22 meets "Apocalypse Now." It's the wildest, wackiest, saddest and truest war story ever told, because it's all made-up, which means it's all real-from the oatmeal dropped on the VC (the Marines won't eat it) to the naked movie star parachuting into Hanoi; from the jarhead who calls in air strikes from a Bangkok brothel to the "Sky-Kyke" who fills out the Marine Corps' diversity quota; from the businessmen demanding a long inventory-reducing war to the Pentagon brass hoping for a glorious medal-worthy one; from the locals who'll do anything for a Yankee dollar to the grunts nobody ever asked and never will. It starts and ends, like all the best adventures, in the air. Almost-Captain Gearheardt and his buddy, Almost-Captain Armstrong, are ferrying bodies (live in, dead out) for the CIA's Air America, but they have never forgotten their TOP SECRET orders, given when Gearheardt was delivering pizzas to the Oval Office for the CIA: Chopper into Hanoi and buy Uncle Ho a beer. Then either shoot his ass or shake his hand (the instructions get vague at this point). And so they do, Semper Fi, pausing only to get an aircraft carrier black-flagged for bubonic plague, have an affair with Mickey Mouse, cleverly decode the message sewn into a lusty spy's black panties, commandeer a Russian truck complete with a midget Chinese 'Uncle Sam,' avenge themselves on a Cuban torturer, and dutifully experience all the Honor and Glory of the next-to-the-next-to-last war that never (God forbid) made the Nightly News.And they do it all for laughs. Because if they were to stop laughing, where would the heartache end?Phillip Jennings' unpredictable novel of Vietnam is an American classic in the making, a not-so-longing look at the absurdity of a war in which the damned and the innocent share the same hootch, the same Commander-in-Chief, and sometimes even the same body-bag. You won't stop laughing, or thinking.
Secrets in the Dark
K.D. Michaels - 2020
One of the girls is rescued, but the other has disappeared into thin air and all trails lead to a dead end. Or so they thought. Alpha Squad never gave up hope that she would be found, in what condition, they didn't know.Now three years later, new evidence comes to light that blazes a trail to Tampa. With the help of Trident Security, their new found knowledge of what they are up against, Alpha Squad rushes to do whatever is necessary to find the missing girl and bring her home to the SEAL community who loves her. What wasn't expected was secrets that came to light that were better left in the dark. Friendships and a marriage are put to the test in this sequel. Can Pratt and Highlander's marriage withstand the secrets that were hid in the dark for long? Will Trident Security and Alpha Squad find the missing girl? Even the darkness seeks the light.
The Man in the Black Fur Coat: A Soldier's Adventures on the Eastern Front
Oskar Scheja - 2014
The Russian army was camped on the other side. When the signal came to begin Operation Barbarossa he and his comrades from the German Wehrmacht stormed over the River and began an assault that took millions of Germans deep into Russian territory. For some the journey was brief. For others, like Oskar, it would last for years, and the struggle did not end when the fighting was over. This is the story of one German soldier’s experience in combat and captivity. It is the story of bravery, despair, deception, and survival.
Melody Hill
Rick DeStefanis - 2015
Vietnam is a world away from Melody Hill, his home in the mountains of east Tennessee, and Duff quickly finds the clear moral lines of life back home are blurred in the glare of an enigmatic war. His CIA boss, who seems more rogue than company man, is dealing arms on the black market, while delivering a seemingly arbitrary and ruthless justice to the local populace. When Duff meets and falls in love with a beautiful young South Vietnamese woman, Lynn Dai Bouchet, he is left to his own instincts to decide if her advances are based on true affection or are merely a means of exploitation. Is she a Vietcong spy, as his CIA boss claims, or is she someone like himself, trying to do her part while making the best of a bad situation? Duff soon realizes he must get out before it’s too late, but only then discovers he is already trapped in a lethal game of cat and mouse.
Adrishya - True Stories of Indian Spies
EPIC Television's popular - 2017
Some remain invisible, away from direct combat and yet risk their lives to protect the honour of their king and country. These are the faceless heroes of war—the spies—who collect classified information about the enemy, skilfully helping the ruler and the government of the land to safeguard their own territory.Packed with action, Adrishya is a collection of India's greatest spy stories. It captures the lives of spies—extraordinary men and women—through the danger, the fear and the triumphs. It narrates their heroic acts and follows them as they travel through dangerous landscapes, slip into disguises and hoodwink enemy soldiers. Starting off with India's first spy from the Mahabharata to the RAW officials of the 1971 war, this book is a collection of real spy stories which will entertain and inspire at the same time.
Death of a Rebel: A Biography of Phil Ochs
Marc Eliot - 1979
Altho his recordings were never bestsellers & there were times when he was more greatly appreciated in the UK, Canada & the 3rd World than at home, the late Philip David Ochs was one of the few American folksingers, aside from Woody Guthrie & Bob Dylan, who wrote & performed his own songs. This singing journalist's earliest ballads--championing civil rights, pacifism & revolution, attacking unemployment & US foreign policy--dealt with the romance of politics. Later ones celebrated the politics of romance. Fascinated by night, death, drowning, James Dean & Elvis Presley, Ochs was only 36 when, after surviving an attack in Africa followed by a psychotic break, he hanged himself in 1976. Eliot's sympathetic, powerful biography 1st appeared in paperback in 1979. Newer editions contain an epilog that updates information on Ochs's family & friends, discusses the FBI's 13-year surveillance of him & offers a revised discography.