Download or read book A Ranger Born written by Robert W. Black and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even as a boy growing up amid the green hills of rural Pennsylvania, Robert W. Black knew he was destined to become a Ranger. With their three-hundred-year history of peerless courage and independence of spirit, Rangers are a uniquely American brand of soldier, one foot in the military, one in the wilderness—and that is what fired Black’s imagination. In this searing, inspiring memoir, Black recounts how he devoted himself, body and soul, to his proud service as an elite U. S. Army Ranger in Korea and Vietnam—and what those years have taught him about himself, his country, and our future. Born at the start of the Great Depression, Black grew up on a farm at a time of great hardship but also tremendous national determination. He was a kid who toughened up fast, who learned the hard way to rely on his strength and his wits, who saw the country go to war with Germany and Japan and wept because he was too young to serve. As soon as the army would take him, Black enlisted. And as soon as he could muscle his way in, he became a Ranger. As a private first class in the 82d Airborne Division headquarters, Black withstood the humiliations of enlisted service in the peacetime brown-shoe army. When the Korean War began, he volunteered and trained to be an Airborne Ranger. In Korea, this young warrior, his mind and body bursting with the lusts of adolescence, grew up fast, literally in the line of fire. In clean, vivid prose, Black describes the hell of giving his all for a country that lacked the political resolve to give its all to a war against the North Koreans and the Chinese. If Korea was frustrating, Vietnam was maddening. The heart of this book is devoted to the years of action that Black saw in Long An Province starting in 1967. Black writes of the perplexity of collaborating with South Vietnamese officers whose culture and motives he never fully understood; he conjures up the sudden shock of the Tet Offensive and the daily horror of seeing fellow soldiers and innocent civilians slaughtered—sometimes by stray bullets, often by carelessness or treachery. Vietnam challenged everything Black had come to believe in and left him totally unprepared for the hostility he would face when he returned to a war-weary America. Written with extraordinary candor and passion, A Ranger Born is the memoir of a man who dedicated the best of his life to everything that is great and enduring about America. At once intimate in its revelations and universal in its themes, it is a book with profound relevance to our own troubled time in history.
Download or read book Rangers in World War II written by Robert W. Black and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2010-11-17 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the deadly shores of North Africa to the invasion of Sicily to the fierce jungle hell of the Pacific, the contribution of the World War II Ranger Battalions far outweighed their numbers. They were ordinary men on an extraordinary mission, experiencing the full measure of the fear, exhaustion, and heroism of combat in nearly every major invasion of the war. Whether spearheading a landing force or scouting deep behind enemy lines, these highly motivated, highly trained volunteers led the way for other soldiers -- they were Rangers. With first-person interviews, in-depth research, and a complete appendix naming every Ranger known to have served, author Robert Black, a Ranger himself, has made the battles of WWII come to life through the struggles of the men who fought to win the greatest war the world has ever seen.
Download or read book If I Were a Park Ranger written by Catherine Stier and published by Albert Whitman & Company. This book was released on 2019-04-01 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine serving as a park ranger for our U.S. National Parks! If you were a national park ranger, you'd spend every day in one of the most treasured places in America. You'd wear a special uniform, a hat, and a badge—but sometimes you might also need snowshoes or a life jacket. Maybe you'd track the movements of wild animals. You could help scientists make discoveries. You might even be part of a search and rescue team! You'd have an amazing job protecting animals, the environment, and our country's natural and historical heritage, from the wilds of Denali to the Statue of Liberty.
Download or read book One Ranger written by H. Joaquin Jackson and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2011-08-29 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A retired Texas Ranger recalls a career that took him from shootouts in South Texas to film sets in Hollywood. When his picture appeared on the cover of Texas Monthly, Joaquin Jackson became the icon of the modern Texas Rangers. Nick Nolte modeled his character in the movie Extreme Prejudice on him. Jackson even had a speaking part of his own in The Good Old Boys with Tommy Lee Jones. But the role that Jackson has always played the best is that of the man who wears the silver badge cut from a Mexican cinco peso coin, a working Texas Ranger. Legend says that one Ranger is all it takes to put down lawlessness and restore the peace: one riot, one Ranger. In this adventure-filled memoir, Joaquin Jackson recalls what it was like to be the Ranger who responded when riots threatened, violence erupted, and criminals needed to be brought to justice across a wide swath of the Texas-Mexico border from 1966 to 1993. Jackson has dramatic stories to tell. Defying all stereotypes, he was the one Ranger who ensured a fair election—and an overwhelming win for La Raza Unida party candidates—in Zavala County in 1972. He followed legendary Ranger Captain Alfred Y. Allee Sr. into a shootout at the Carrizo Springs jail that ended a prison revolt and left him with nightmares. He captured “The See More Kid,” an elusive horse thief and burglar who left clean dishes and swept floors in the houses he robbed. He investigated the 1988 shootings in Big Bend’s Colorado Canyon and tried to understand the motives of the Mexican teenagers who terrorized three river rafters and killed one. He even helped train Afghan mujahedin warriors to fight the Soviet Union. Jackson’s tenure in the Texas Rangers began when older Rangers still believed that law need not get in the way of maintaining order, and concluded as younger Rangers were turning to computer technology to help solve crimes. Though he insists, “I am only one Ranger. There was only one story that belonged to me,” his story is part of the larger story of the Texas Rangers becoming a modern law enforcement agency that serves all the people of the state. It’s a story that’s as interesting as any of the legends. And yet, Jackson’s story confirms the legends, too. With just over a hundred Texas Rangers to cover a state with 267,399 square miles, any one may become the one Ranger who, like Joaquin Jackson in Zavala County in 1972, stops one riot. “A powerful, moving read . . . One Ranger is as fascinating as the memoirs of nineteenth-century Rangers James Gillett and George Durham, and the histories by Frederick Wilkins and Walter Prescott Webb—and equally as important.” —True West “A straight-shooting book that blow[s] a few holes in the Ranger myth while providing more ammunition for the myth’s continuation. . . . Reads more like a novel than [an] autobiography.” —Austin American-Statesman
Download or read book Rangers in Korea written by Robert W. Black and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2002-03-26 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Army Rangers have fought in every war the U.S. has waged from Roger's Rangers in 1756 to the LRRPs of Vietnam. During the Korean War, the Rangers succeeded in making the first combat jump in Ranger history, destroying enemy headquarters, and inflicting the first defeat on Communist Chinese forces. This is their story.
Download or read book Sua Sponte written by Dick Couch and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sua Sponte Latin for “Of Their Own Accord” The 75th Ranger Regiment’s Motto Army Rangers are not born. They are made. The modern 75th Ranger Regiment represents the culmination of 250 years of American soldiering. As a fighting force with our nation’s oldest and deepest tradition, the Regiment traces its origins to Richard Rogers’s Rangers during the prerevolutionary French and Indian War, through the likes of Francis Marion and John Mosby, to the five active Ranger battalions of the Second World War, and finally, to the four battalions of the current Ranger regiment engaged in modern combat. Granted unprecedented access to the training of this highly restricted component of America’s Special Operations Forces in a time of war, retired Navy captain Dick Couch tells the personal story of the young men who begin this difficult and dangerous journey to become Rangers. Many will try, but only a select few will survive to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment. Sua Sponte follows a group of these aspiring young warriors through the crucible that is Ranger training and their preparation for direct-action missions in Afghanistan against America’s enemies, anywhere, any time, and under any conditions. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS
Download or read book The Born Queen written by Greg Keyes and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Greg Keyes has crafted a brilliant saga of magic, adventure, and love set against a backdrop of clashing empires and an ancient, reawakened evil. Now, with The Born Queen, Keyes brings his epic to a masterly close, gathering the strands of plot and character into a stunning climax that both completes and transcends all that has gone before. The Briar King is dead, and the world itself follows him to ruin. Aspar White, wounded and tired, must embark on one last quest to save the forest and the people he loves, but he has little hope of success. Anne Dare at last sits on the throne of Crotheny, but for how long? The Church, now led by the corrupt and powerful Marché Hespero, has declared a holy war against her, giving the king of Hansa the pretext he needs to unleash his vast might on the young queen and her unready army. But Hansa is the least of Anne’s worries. The Hellrune, war seer of Hansa, strikes at her through vision and prophecy. The Kept–last of the elder Skasloi lords–weaves his own dark webs. Anne’s teacher and ally in the sedos world might also be her worst enemy, and Anne’s own mounting strength compels her toward madness. Surviving these dangers and mastering her eldritch abilities are merely prelude to the real struggle. There are many–some with power matching or even exceeding Anne’s own–who are willing to kill in order to seize control. For whoever sits upon the throne will have the ultimate command to bring about the world’s salvation–or its apocalypse.
Download or read book Texas Ranger Captain William L Wright written by Richard McCaslin and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William L. Wright (1868-1942) was born to be a Texas Ranger, and hard work made him a great one. Wright tried working as a cowboy and farmer, but it did not suit him. Instead, he became a deputy sheriff and then a Ranger in 1899, battling a mob in the Laredo Smallpox Riot, policing both sides in the Reese-Townsend Feud, and winning a gunfight at Cotulla. His need for a better salary led him to leave the Rangers and become a sheriff. He stayed in that office longer than any of his predecessors in Wilson County, keeping the peace during the so-called Bandit Wars, investigating numerous violent crimes, and surviving being stabbed on the gallows by the man he was hanging. When demands for Ranger reform peaked, he was appointed as a captain and served for most of the next twenty years, retiring in 1939 after commanding dozens of Rangers. Wright emerged unscathed from the Canales investigation, enforced Prohibition in South Texas, and policed oil towns in West Texas, as well as tackling many other legal problems. When he retired, he was the only Ranger in service who had worked under seven governors. Wright has also been honored as an inductee into the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame at Waco.
Download or read book Ranger Games written by Ben Blum and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A gloriously good writer...Ranger Games is both surprising and moving...A memorable, novelistic account."—Jennifer Senior, New York Times Intricate, heartrending, and morally urgent, Ranger Games is a crime story like no other Alex Blum was a good kid, a popular high school hockey star from a tight-knit Colorado family. He had one goal in life: endure a brutally difficult selection program, become a U.S. Army Ranger, and fight terrorists for his country. He poured everything into achieving his dream. In the first hours of his final leave before deployment to Iraq, Alex was supposed to fly home to see his family and beloved girlfriend. Instead, he got into his car with two fellow soldiers and two strangers, drove to a local bank in Tacoma, and committed armed robbery... The question that haunted the entire Blum family was: Why? Why would he ruin his life in such a spectacularly foolish way? At first, Alex insisted he thought the robbery was just another exercise in the famously daunting Ranger program. His attorney presented a case based on the theory that the Ranger indoctrination mirrored that of a cult. In the midst of his own personal crisis, and in the hopes of helping both Alex and his splintering family cope, Ben Blum, Alex’s first cousin, delved into these mysteries, growing closer to Alex in the process. As he probed further, Ben began to question not only Alex, but the influence of his superior, Luke Elliot Sommer, the man who planned the robbery. A charismatic combat veteran, Sommer’s manipulative tendencies combined with a magnetic personality pulled Ben into a relationship that put his loyalties to the test.
Download or read book American Warrior written by Gary O'Neal and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-05-14 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic story of one of America's greatest soldiers, Ranger Hall of Fame member Gary O'Neal, who served his country for forty years Chief Warrant Officer Gary O'Neal is no ordinary soldier. For nearly forty years, he has fought America's enemies, becoming one of the greatest Warriors this nation has ever known. Part Native American, O'Neal was trained in both military combat and the ways of his native people, combining his commitment to freedom with his respect for the enemy, his technical fighting skills with his fierce warrior spirit. From his first tour in Vietnam at seventeen to fighting in both Gulf wars, O'Neal was nothing less than a super soldier. A minefield of aggression bordering on a justice-seeking vigilante, O'Neal kept fighting even when wounded, refusing to surrender in the face of nine serious injuries and being left more than once. O'Neal earned countless military honors as a member of the elite Army Rangers corps, a founding member of the legendary first Department of Defense antiterrorist team, a member of the Golden Knights Parachuting Team, and more, devoting his life to training the next generation of soldiers. His unbelievable true stories are both shocking and moving, a reminder of what it means to be a true American hero. In O'Neal's own words, he "wasn't born a warrior"—life made him one. American Warrior will serve as inspiration for American men and women in uniform today, as well as appeal to the countless veterans who served their country alongside O'Neal.
Download or read book A True Ranger written by Gary S. Zaboly and published by . This book was released on 2004-10-01 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American frontier in the 1730s was a dangerous place to be. Life was hard for white settlers and marauding Indians would as soon scalp as trade with them. Into this harsh environment was born Robert Rogers, a boy who would grow up to be a brilliant leader of men and become one of the most charismatic, if flawed characters of his era. Over the course of his colorful career, Rogers was a frontiersman, farmer, trapper, Ranger leader, Indian fighter (and friend), speculator, merchant, London socialite and commandant of the most important fur trading post in the West of the 1760s. It was during the French and Indian War that he set down the Rangers' "Standing Orders" on survival and guerilla warfare, which was to prove his lasting legacy and is still used by US Special Forces today. He also fraternized with the highest-ranking officers of the British Army in North America and was twice received at Court in England. And, as if all this weren't enough, he launched a search for the elusive Northwest Passage (as immortalized in the film of that name starring Spencer Tracey) but his many successes were often counterbalanced, and sometimes ruined, by a variety of personal challenges that seemed to be always nipping at his heels. This remarkable man, who ended his years in penury in London, is as little understood today as he was in his own time and has long deserved a comprehensive and fair biography. Gary Zaboly's minutely researched book seeks to remedy this omission, presenting a dispassionate and accurate account of Rogers' rollercoaster life, without recourse to moral judgment.
Download or read book Jesus Was an Airborne Ranger written by John McDougall and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Raid that Rescued Us. The Mission that Defines Our Lives. You are trapped behind enemy lines. You feel it every day. Powerful forces want to destroy you and those you love. Completely surrounded, you see no means to escape. Sadly, the Jesus we often picture is too timid to help—more like a daytime talk show host than a dangerous Rescuer. Who would follow—much less risk everything—for such a leader? Get ready to see Jesus like you’ve never seen him before—a battle-scarred Combatant who stared death in the face and won. This is no Sunday-school Jesus, meek and mild. This is the Warrior Christ who has descended from the heavens, defeated the Enemy, and rescued humanity. Now, he calls us to continue his mission and fight for others—our families, our communities, and the world. In Jesus Was an Airborne Ranger, Army Chaplain John McDougall offers an alternative to the soft, gentle caricature of Jesus. Only the Warrior Christ can impact our broken world. And only in following him can you find the life of purpose you’ve always wanted. SUIT UP. It’s time to enter the fight with the first and greatest Airborne Ranger. The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
Download or read book The Ranger written by Ace Atkins and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-06-09 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE FIRST NOVEL IN ACE ATKINS’ NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING QUINN COLSON SERIES. “In Quinn Colson, bestselling author Ace Atkins has created an American hero in a time when we need him.”—C. J. Box After years of war, Army Ranger Quinn Colson returns home to the rugged, rough hill country of northeast Mississippi to find his native Tibbehah County overrun with corruption, decay, meth runners, and violence. His uncle, the longtime county sheriff, is dead. A suicide, he’s told, but others—like tomboy deputy Lillie Virgil—whisper murder. In the days that follow, it’s up to Colson to discover the truth, not only about his uncle, but about his family, his friends, his town, and himself. And once it’s discovered, there’s no going back for this real hero of the Deep South.
Download or read book We Are the Rangers written by Stan Fischler and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring exclusive interviews with the greatest players in team history, this is the definitive story of this Original Six franchise, told by the men who built it. Rangers legends—from Frank Boucher and Babe Pratt to Mark Messier, Henrik Lundqvist, and John Tortorella—tell of their experiences with the team to make a comprehensive oral history of the New York Rangers. This collection of first-person accounts is a must-have, perfect for any hockey fan.
Download or read book Hurricane Katrina Rescue written by Kate Messner and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this historical adventure for middle grade readers, a dog travels through time and rescues a family in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, arrives in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approaches and residents start to evacuate the city. Ranger meets Clare Porter, who is searching for her grandmother. Once Ranger helps Clare find Nana, he takes shelter with them at their home in the Lower Ninth Ward, and they wait for Clare’s father to return from the gas station. But there’s no sign of him as hours pass and the weather gets worse. The wind picks up and rain pours down. And when the levees break, floodwaters dangerously rise, and Clare and Nana are separated. Can Ranger help Clare navigate the flooded streets to safety and back to her family? Praise for the first book in the Ranger in Time series: “This excellent story contains historical details, full-page illustrations, and enough action to keep even reluctant readers engaged.” —School Library Journal “The third-person narration expertly balances Ranger’s thoughts between the appropriately doglike (squirrels! bacon!) and the heroic (Ranger’s drive to find and protect).” —Kirkus Reviews “McMorris’s richly rendered illustrations heighten the plot’s many moments of danger and drama, and Messner incorporates a wealth of historical details into her rousing adventure story.” —Publishers Weekly
Download or read book Dan Mesa Arizona Ranger written by Dan Sears and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2011-08-10 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dan Mesa knows men like him are a vanishing breed. Once upon a time, he was a rodeo cowboy. He served in Viet Nam and the first Gulf War. He believes a man should stand up for himself and what he believes in, which is why hes good at teaching high school. In the classroom, Dan expects nothing less than respect, and he will not back down. Just like the time he ran across a bank robbery In his Arizona hometown, Dan witnesses a ranger get shot in the shoulder by one of the robbers fleeing the scene and he immediately runs to the aid of the fallen officer. Who knew just a few steps could change a mans life forever? The Arizona ranger deputizes Dan and tells him to prevent the criminals escape. Having been in combat before, Dan doesnt hesitate, and thirty minutes later, hes a true Wild West hero. Turning in his teaching boots, Dan becomes an official member of the Arizona Rangers, where he can expect action, adventure, and some serious danger. The days of Wyatt Earp may be over, but that doesnt mean all the bad cowboys are gone. Dan is ready to track them down and face them, head-to-head. A teacher becomes a law man, and it only took a couple heroic steps to change the history of the Grand Canyon State forever.
Download or read book The Texas Rangers in Transition written by Charles H. Harris and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2019-04-25 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Official Texas Ranger Bicentennial™ Publication Newly rich in oil money, and all the trouble it could buy, Texas in the years following World War I underwent momentous changes—and those changes propelled the transformation of the state’s storied Rangers. Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler explore this important but relatively neglected period in the Texas Rangers’ history in this book, a sequel to their award-winning The Texas Rangers and the Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade, 1910–1920. In a Texas awash in booze and oil in the Prohibition years, the Rangers found themselves riding herd on gamblers and bootleggers, but also tasked with everything from catching murderers to preventing circus performances on Sunday. The Texas Rangers in Transition takes up the Rangers’ story at a time of political turmoil, as the largely rural state was rapidly becoming urban. At the same time, law enforcement was facing an epidemic of bank robberies, an increase in organized crime, the growth of the Ku Klux Klan, Prohibition enforcement—new challenges that the Rangers met by transitioning from gunfighters to criminal investigators. Steeped in tradition, reluctant to change, the agency was reduced to its nadir in the depths of the Depression, the victim of slashed appropriations, an antagonistic governor, and mediocre personnel. Harris and Sadler document the further and final change that followed when, in 1935, the Texas Rangers were moved from the governor’s control to the newly created Department of Public Safety. This proved a watershed in the Rangers’ history, marking their transformation into a modern law enforcement agency, the elite investigative force that they remain to this day.
