Tail-End Charley: Stories from an American fighter pilot in World War II


James E. Brown - 2017
    Brown tries to fake to his flight instructor that he has flown before. On his twenty-first birthday, Brown is on his way home after logging eighty-five missions in a P-47 fighter over Italy, France, and Germany. Brown’s stories surrounding his training and combat experiences in World War II reveal brushes with death, continuous peril and, ultimately, a coming of age for a young man whose freshman year in college becomes instead a heroic engagement with one of the fiercest enemies his country has ever encountered. Ever dutiful to the mother who tells him to “write it down, Jamie,” Brown notes his experiences in the journal she provides and adds detail later to deliver a firsthand account of life as a pilot in the final months of combat within the European Theater. Serving as Tail-End Charley – the last man out – in most of the missions he flew, Brown’s job was to record results for the interrogation officers afterward. But Brown offers much more insight in this memoir. Follow his triumphs and travails with colleagues who become lifelong compatriots during an indelible period in American history.

Dustoff 7-3: Saving Lives Under Fire in Afghanistan


Erik Sabiston - 2015
    Complete opposites thrown together, cut off, and outnumbered, Chief Warrant Officer Erik Sabiston and his flight crew answered the call in a race against time, not to take lives—but to save them.   The concept of evacuating wounded soldiers by helicopter developed in the Korean War and became a staple during the war in Vietnam where heroic, unarmed chopper crews flew vital missions known to the grateful grunts on the ground as Dustoffs.   The crew of Dustoff 7-3 carried on that heroic tradition, flying over a region that had seen scores of American casualties, known among veterans as the Valley of Death. At the end of Operation Hammer Down, they had rescued 14 soldiers, made three critical supply runs, recovered two soldiers killed in action, and nearly died. It took all of three days.

Widow Maker: A Novel of World War II


E.R. Johnson - 2012
    The B-26--dubbed Widow Maker by the press and the aircrews who flew her--was one of the most controversial aircraft produced in the United States during the war. These young men find themselves confronted not only with doubts about the airplane they are given to fly, but also the sometimes fatal choices made by a military organization unprepared to employ them in combat. Against the setting of World War II Europe, the heart and minds of these young men are revealed as they are forces to make a swift and frequently terrifying journey into manhood. The differences between them, seemingly irreconcilable at first, fade away as they form the ancient bond between men whose lives must depend upon one another in combat. But even after these young Americans make the transition into seasoned warriors, they are still faced with the grim reality that some of them will survive--and some will not.

The Vizag Sabotage: A spy thriller inspired by true events


Saurav Anand - 2019
    He was an employee of Hindustan Shipyard limited which is building India’s nuclear submarine fleet. This is the fourth submarine engineer in the last twelve months who perished under mysterious circumstances. Navy leadership gets suspicious about a covert sabotage operation being carried out by an unknown enemy, to slow down India's attempt at acquiring a potent nuclear deterrent platform. After deliberations at different levels, an Intelligence Bureau agent is sent to Vizag to work as an undercover operative. What secrets will she uncover? Will she become the next target of an enemy spy ring? Would the Indian Navy exact revenge from a belligerent enemy?

The Berets / The Generals / The New Breed / The Aviators


W.E.B. Griffin - 1991
    This volume includes books 5-8.Book V, The BeretsBook VI, The GeneralsBook VII, The New BreedBook VIII, The Aviators

Bomber!: Famous Bomber Missions of World War II


Robert Jackson - 1980
    

RedCon 1: Memoirs of a Fallujah Marine


Michael Scot Smith - 2014
    Most of them are honorable, but in the end, they are just attempts.Michael S. Smith’s memoir, on the other hand, is the reality of modern combat.Gear up and settle in, but don’t get too comfortable—you’re joining a platoon of United States Marine Corps scouts as they make their way through a pre-deployment workup, a transition to the Middle East, and ultimately into Operation Al Fajr, an assault to retake Fallujah, Iraq. It will be the largest and deadliest American battle since Hue City, Vietnam. The memoir is a microscopic and unwavering look at personal interactions, struggles, nightmares, and scars of the men in the platoon, its 1st Section in particular. They grow from an untested unit into a seasoned group of combat veterans. In addition to life amid the horrors of death and destruction, Smith also delivers the hilarity lost in most accounts of war, which the men must maintain in order to keep their sanity.You’re going to be frightened as you slug it out with the enemy, but with that come unwavering friendships forged in battle and the irrefutable honor in the defense of freedom.

Lancaster: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber


Leo McKinstry - 2009
    Yet without the Lancaster, Britain would never have been able to take the fight to the German homeland. Highlights the scale of the bomber`s achievements, including the famous Dambusters attacks. With its vast bomb bay, ease of handling and surprising speed, the mighty Lancaster transformed the effectiveness of the Bomber Command. Whilst addressing the political controversy surrounding the bombing offensive against Germany, Leo McKinstry also weaves individual tales into this compelling narrative. Rich characters are brought to life, such as Roy Chadwick the designer, who taught himself engineering at night school and Sir Arthur Harris, the austere head of the Bomber Command. This is a rich saga, a story of triumph over disaster and the history of an iconic plane.

Service With the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers: Four Years with the Iron Brigade


Rufus R. Dawes - 2012
    Gen. McClellan: “What troops are those fighting in the Pike?” Maj. Gen. Hooker: “General Gibbon’s brigade of Western men.” Maj. Gen. McClellan: “They must be made of iron.” And so, during the Battle of South Mountain, a prelude to the Battle of Antietam, this brigade earned its famous title as the “Iron Brigade”. Once McClellan had heard of their actions during the Second Battle of Bull Run, where they were facing off against a superior force under Stonewall Jackson, he is said to have stated that they were the “best troops in the world.” Rufus R. Dawes was a captain with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, that along with 2nd and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the 19th Indiana, Battery B of the 4th U.S. Light Artillery, and later in the war the 24th Michigan, formed the Iron Brigade. Although only in his early twenties at the beginning of the war he rapidly became an important leader in the famous brigade and by the end of the war was brevetted as a brigadier general for meritorious service. One of his most famous actions was on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg when he led a counterattack on the confederate forces under Brigadier General Joseph R. Davis and forced the surrender of more than two hundred enemy soldiers. Service With the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers records in brilliant detail all of the actions that he and his regiment were involved in, including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. Yet this book is not simply an account of the military activities that took place as he also recorded his feelings and moods, and included details about daily camp life and individual soldiers. Rufus Dawes derived all of the books material from his diaries and letters. He realized the value of a statement made at the moment as to his experiences, and he appreciated fully the treacherous nature of memory. He believed contemporaneous expression in letters and diaries provided material of historical value. He had the material and the ability to write a superb history of the grueling service of this famous regiment, but he felt that the story of his personal experiences and impressions written at the time would be of greater value, and so this book is not only account of the regiment, it is also a very personal account of one man’s view of the Civil War. This book deserves to be read and enjoyed by all who wish to hear more about this brutal but fascinating conflict and to get to the heart of what the soldiers saw and thought. Rufus R. Dawes was a military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war he became a businessman, Congressman and author. His book Service With the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers was first published in 1890. He passed away in 1899.

Angles of Attack, An A-6 Intruder Pilot's War


Peter Hunt - 2002
    For the next six weeks, Hunt executed dozens of bombing missions into Kuwait and Iraq, including all-weather low-level attacks, A-6 Intruder missions so hazardous that they would never be flown in combat again. Whether Hunt was dropping laser-guided bombs on precision targets, supporting the Marines on the ground, or conducting attacks along the infamous “highway of death,” America’s mission was clear – to force the invading Iraqi army out of Kuwait.Operation Desert Storm - America’s first full-scale conflict since Vietnam - proved to the world that the U.S. military was still battle-ready after decades of Cold War and set the stage for military interventions for years to come. Hunt’s gripping depiction of A-6 Intruders in combat is a thought provoking account of what America asks of her military every day.This…Gulf War memoir is excellent; it really does put the reader in the cockpit...Peter Hunt’s enthusiastic account is one of the best of the type this reviewer has read in recent years. Peter Mersky, The Hook – Journal of Carrier Aviation Book Review, February 2003.

The Fighting Captain


Alan Burn - 1993
    Without the convoys no supplies; without supplies certainly no Second Front. Captain Frederic Walker RN devised and employed tactics which were the only sure means of combating and ultimately defeating the U-boat Wolf packs, but it was only when the Lords of the Admiralty came to employ these tactics that the U-boats were finally defeated.No one did more to regain control of the North Atlantic than Captain Walker. His relentless battle with the U-boat Wolf packs, amounting almost to a personal duel with Admiral Donitz, is an epic saga which has long deserved a larger page in the story of our nation's history, though he did achieve the rare distinction of winning the DSO and three bars. Alan Burn, who served under Walker, brilliantly recaptures the feeling of those dramatic days - the sheer bloody hell of the Atlantic weather, the ever-present menace of the lurking U-boats, but above all the quite remarkable and indomitable spirit which Walker managed to inspire in all who served in the ships under his command. Not only the citizens of Liverpool, where Walker is still revered as a local hero, but all who hold freedom dear will appreciate this well-merited tribute to a largely unsung hero who did as much as any man to preserve that freedom.

Valkyrie: The North American Xb-70: The Usa's Ill-Fated Supersonic Heavy Bomber


Graham M. Simons - 2011
    . . [with] new information, photographs and first-hand accounts." --FlypastDuring the 1950s, plans were being drawn at North American Aviation in Southern California for an incredible Mach-3 strategic bomber. The concept was born as a result of General Curtis LeMay's desire for a heavy bomber with the weapon load and range of the subsonic B-52 and a top speed in excess of the supersonic medium bomber, the B-58 Hustler. However, in April 1961, Defense Secretary McNamara stopped the production go-ahead for the B-70 because of rapid cost escalation and the USSR's newfound ability to destroy aircraft at extremely high altitude using either missiles or the new Mig-25 fighter. Nevertheless, in 1963 plans for the production of three high-speed research aircraft were approved and construction proceeded. In September 1964 the first Valkyrie, now re-coded A/V-1, took to the air for the first time and in October went supersonic.This book is the most detailed description of the design, engineering and research that went into this astounding aircraft. It is full of unpublished details, photographs and firsthand accounts from those closely associated with the project. Although never put into full production, this giant six-engined aircraft became famous for its breakthrough technology, and the spectacular images captured on a fatal air-to-air photo shoot when an observing Starfighter collided with Valkyrie A/V-2 which crashed into the Mojave Desert."Well-illustrated with numerous diagrams and black and white photographs, the book provides an interesting insight into one of the so-called 'white elephant' projects of the 1960s." --Jets Monthly

Black Star


Robert Gandt - 2003
    But with a beautiful defector of dubious loyalties guiding him, Maxwell's mission could take a wrong turn at any moment...

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!

The Bomber Boys: Heroes Who Flew the B-17s in World War II


Travis L. Ayres - 2005
    But nothing offered more fatal choices than being inside a B-17 bomber above Nazi-occupied Europe. From the hellish storms of enemy flak and relentless strafing of Luftwaffe fighters, to mid-air collisions, mechanical failure, and simple bad luck, it?s a wonder any man would volunteer for such dangerous duty. But many did. Some paid the ultimate price. And some made it home. But in the end, all would achieve victory. Here, author Travis L. Ayres has gathered a collection of previously untold personal accounts of combat and camaraderie aboard the B-17 Bombers that flew countless sorties against the enemy, as related by the men who lived and fought in the air?and survived.