Download or read book The Outpost written by Jake Tapper and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-11-13 with total page 789 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The basis of the film starring Orlando Bloom and Scott Eastwood, The Outpost is the heartbreaking and inspiring story of one of America's deadliest battles during the war in Afghanistan, acclaimed by critics everywhere as a classic. At 5:58 AM on October 3rd, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating, located in frighteningly vulnerable terrain in Afghanistan just 14 miles from the Pakistani border, was viciously attacked. Though the 53 Americans there prevailed against nearly 400 Taliban fighters, their casualties made it the deadliest fight of the war for the U.S. that year. Four months after the battle, a Pentagon review revealed that there was no reason for the troops at Keating to have been there in the first place. In The Outpost, Jake Tapper gives us the powerful saga of COP Keating, from its establishment to eventual destruction, introducing us to an unforgettable cast of soldiers and their families, and to a place and war that has remained profoundly distant to most Americans. A runaway bestseller, it makes a savage war real, and American courage manifest. "The Outpost is a mind-boggling, all-too-true story of heroism, hubris, failed strategy, and heartbreaking sacrifice. If you want to understand how the war in Afghanistan went off the rails, you need to read this book." -- Jon Krakauer
Download or read book Untold Valor written by Rob Morris and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2011 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the men of the Army Air Corps in early World War II, the chance of surviving the obligatory twenty-five missions without death, injury, or imprisonment was one in three. In this groundbreaking book, Rob Morris has sought out remarkable but little-known stories of the air war from the men who lived and fought it. Based on hundreds of interviews with American veterans and their families, Untold Valor illuminates the courage of airmen whose exploits have until now remained untold. Read about Jewish aviators’ experiences as POWs in German camps. Learn about American airmen who were imprisoned, even killed, by the neutral Swiss and about two Air Corps enlisted men who changed U.S. policy toward liberated concentration camp survivors. Also discover the unusual story of Luftwaffe commander Herman Goering’s nephew, who flew B-17 missions against Germany. While some of the stories cover major events, most are about incidents and individuals misrepresented or overlooked by history books. Yet their efforts were vital, their lives forever changed. Detailed and moving, Untold Valor is certain to interest the serious air historian and the casual reader alike. With a foreword by the editor of B-17s Over Berlin.
Download or read book Untold Valor The Second World War in the Pacific written by Rob Morris and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2014-03-24 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Military author Rob Morris spent three years tracking down and interviewing veterans of the war in the Pacific, focusing on men who had undergone extreme combat, imprisonment, and/or or sinking. Each stand-alone chapter tells the reader, through the eyes of one to three survivors, what is was like to live through some of the greatest challenges of the Pacific War. From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, from Bataan to the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, each chapter of untold valour and against-the-odds survival tells an intensely personal tale of young Americans fighting for survival. The book is certain to interest anyone with interest in the Second World War, told with the intensely personal style and attention to background research that has become Morris's trademark.
Download or read book Unknown Valor written by Martha MacCallum and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. In honor of the 75th Anniversary of one of the most critical battles of World War II, the popular primetime Fox News anchor of The Story with Martha MacCallum pays tribute to the heroic men who sacrificed everything at Iwo Jima to defeat the Armed Forces of Emperor Hirohito—among them, a member of her own family, Harry Gray. Admiral Chester Nimitz spoke of the “uncommon valor” of the men who fought on Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of World War II. In thirty-six grueling days, nearly 7,000 Marines were killed and 22,000 were wounded. Martha MacCallum takes us from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima through the lives of these men of valor, among them Harry Gray, a member of her own family. In Unknown Valor, she weaves their stories—from Boston, Massachusetts, to Gulfport, Mississippi, as told through letters and recollections—into the larger history of what American military leaders rightly saw as an eventual showdown in the Pacific with Japan. In a relentless push through the jungles of Guadalcanal, over the coral reefs of Tarawa, past the bloody ridge of Peleliu, against the banzai charges of Guam, and to the cliffs of Saipan, these men were on a path that ultimately led to the black sands of Iwo Jima, the doorstep of the Japanese Empire. Meticulously researched, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, Unknown Valor reveals the sacrifices of ordinary Marines who saved the world from tyranny and left indelible marks on those back home who loved them.
Download or read book Road to Valour written by Aili McConnon and published by Phoenix. This book was released on 2013-06-20 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Italian SCHINDLER'S LIST, this is the inspirational story of Gino Bartali, who made the greatest comeback in Tour de France history and secretly aided the Italian Resistance during the Second World War. ROAD TO VALOUR is the inspiring, against-the-odds story of Gino Bartali, the cyclist who made the greatest comeback in Tour de France history and still holds the record for the longest gap between victories. Yet it was his actions during the Second World War, when he secretly aided the Resistance, rather than his remarkable exploits on a bike, that truly cemented his place in the hearts and minds of the Italian people. Based on nearly ten years of research, and including fascinating new interviews, this is the only book written that fully explores the scope of Bartali's wartime work. A breathtaking account of one man's unsung heroism and his resilience in the face of adversity, this is an epic tale of courage, comeback and redemption, and the untold story of one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Untold written by Courtney Collins and published by Penguin Group. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] page turner…Jessie, the heroine of this tale set in 1920s Australia, sets her own compass…The chase will leave you breathless.”—Good Housekeeping It is 1921. In a mountain-locked valley, amid squalls of driving rain, Jessie is on the run. Born wild and brave, by twenty-six she has already lived life as a circus rider, a horse and cattle rustler, and a convict. Yet on this fateful night she is just a woman wanting to survive—though there is barely any life left in her. She mounts her horse and points it toward the highest mountain in sight. Soon bands of men will crash through the bushland, desperate to claim the reward on her head. And in their wake will be two more men—one her lover, the other the law—each uncertain whether to save her or themselves. But as it has always been for Jessie, it is death, not a man, who is her closest pursuer and companion. And while all odds are stacked against her, there is one who will never give up on her….
Download or read book Beyond Valor written by Patrick K. O'Donnell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-08-30 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous books have promised to describe the combat experience of the World War II GI, but there has never been a book like Patrick O'Donnell's Beyond Valor. Here is the first combat history of the war in Europe in the words of the men themselves, and perhaps the most honest and brutal account of combat possible on the printed page. For more than fifty years the individual stories that make up this narrative -- shockingly frank reflections of sacrifice and courage -- have been bottled up, buried, or circulated privately. Now, nearing the ends of their lives, our WWII soldiers have at last unburdened themselves. Beyond Valor recaptures their hidden history. A pioneering oral historian, Patrick O'Donnell used his award-winning website, The Drop Zone, to solicit oral- and "e-histories" from individual soldiers. Gradually, working from within the community, O'Donnell convinced some of the war's most battle-hardened soldiers to tell their stories. The result is WWII seen through the eyes of the men who saw the most intense of its action. O'Donnell focuses on the elite units of the war -- the Rangers, Airborne, and 1st Special Service Force -- troops that spearheaded the most dangerous operations and often made the difference between victory and defeat. From more than 650 interviews O'Donnell has chosen oral- and e-histories that form a seamless story line, a pointillistic history of the war in Europe from the first parachute drops in North Africa through the final battles in Germany and the long trip home. It is the story of the war not discussed in polite company. O'Donnell presents the wreckage of entire battalions nearly annihilated, invisible personal scars, and haunting revelations of wartime atrocities. But more important are the men who recount lives risked without hesitation for comrades and cause, and those who did not return: the friends who died in their arms. Their stories remind all of us that victory came only at the highest price. Remembering the infamous cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc, bloody Omaha Beach, the bitter fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, and Hill 400 in the Hürtgen Forest, the soldiers reveal war as seen, heard, and smelled by the GIs on the front line. Also included is the unique story of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, and the trailblazing African-American "Experimental" Test Platoon that had to fight its own battle behind the lines. Beyond Valor captures the truths that exist among soldiers. It is one of the most inspiring accounts of the war ever produced.
Download or read book Betrayed Valor written by Anda Vranjes and published by Gatekeeper Press. This book was released on 2016-02-17 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The little known story of the largest rescue mission of World War II…Based on the testimony of hundreds of American Airmen comes a story of bravery, betrayal, and hope… By the summer of 1943, Hitler had ruthlessly occupied most of Europe. Determined to stop him, the Allies are stepping up their attacks on the Romanian Ploesti Oil Fields. For Lieutenant’s O’Donnell and Petrovich of the 15th Air Force, this flight was just one mission closer to ending this God forsaken war. However, when the Nazis attack, tragedy strikes and nothing is ever the same again. Back at the Allied base in Italy, Lieutenant Petrovich refuses to believe that O’Donnell is dead. Fighting his way through a merciless web of deception and governmental red tape, he is desperate to convince the Royal Air Force to approve a seek and find mission. Convinced that a mission would be suicide, they refuse. Stranded in Yugoslavia and unsure of what awaits him, O’Donnell is taken on a journey for miles through the mountains, hills and forests of Serbia. When he arrives, he is shocked at what he finds. Unsure of anything anymore, O’Donnell tries to survive behind enemy lines and finds himself fighting for a cause that he never thought would be his. Surrounded by tens of thousands of Nazis, an evacuation seems impossible and O’Donnell’s time is quickly running out. Based on actual events and one of the best kept secrets of US history, Betrayed Valor tells the story of one of the largest and most daring rescue missions of World War II-Operation Halyard.
Download or read book Where Valor Rests written by Rick Atkinson and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2015 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bittersweet, breathtaking, and deeply respectful, this commemorative book of Arlington National Cemetery traces the ceremonies and services that honor individual men and women who served the country. 220 photos.
Download or read book Ashley s War written by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, author of the New York Times bestseller The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, comes the story of a unique team of women who answered the call to get as close to the fight as the Army had ever allowed women to be, including one beloved soldier who was killed serving her country’s cause In 2010, the Army created Cultural Support Teams, a secret pilot program to insert women alongside Special Operations soldiers battling in Afghanistan. The Army reasoned that women could play a unique role on Special Ops teams: accompanying their male colleagues on raids and, while those soldiers were searching for insurgents, questioning the mothers, sisters, daughters and wives living at the compound. Their presence had a calming effect on enemy households, but more importantly, the CSTs were able to search adult women for weapons and gather crucial intelligence. They could build relationships—woman to woman—in ways that male soldiers in an Islamic country never could. In Ashley's War, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon uses on-the-ground reporting and a finely tuned understanding of the complexities of war to tell the story of CST-2, a unit of women hand-picked from the Army to serve in this highly specialized and challenging role. The pioneers of CST-2 proved for the first time, at least to some grizzled Special Operations soldiers, that women might be physically and mentally tough enough to become one of them. The price of this professional acceptance came in personal loss and social isolation: the only people who really understand the women of CST-2 are each other. At the center of this story is a friendship cemented by "Glee," video games, and the shared perils and seductive powers of up-close combat. At the heart of the team is the tale of a beloved and effective soldier, Ashley White. Much as she did in her bestselling The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, Lemmon transports readers to a world they previously had no idea existed: a community of women called to fulfill the military's mission to "win hearts and minds" and bound together by danger, valor, and determination. Ashley's War is a gripping combat narrative and a moving story of friendship—a book that will change the way readers think about war and the meaning of service.
Download or read book Lasting Valor written by Vernon J. Baker and published by Bantam. This book was released on 1999-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lasting Valor tells of some of the most dramatic acts of courage attempted in the entire Mediterranean theater during WWII-acts that resulted in Baker's being awarded the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Cross. On April 15, 1945, as part of one of the last segregated outfits to go to war for the United States, Lieutenant Baker knew he and his men were being deserted when, during the battle for Castle Aghinolfo in Northern Italy, his white commander told him he was going for reinforcements. Caught three miles behind enemy lines, and with half their comrades in arms dead, they refused to turn and run. Although he was decorated for his efforts, the army quietly surpressed this action until 1997, when Baker was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. Lasting Valor also reveals Baker's early life. An orphan raised by grandparents in nearly all-white Cheyenne, Wyoming, he survived a rocky adolescence and went on to live in Father Flanagan's Home, and then to fight to join a segregated army. His years in the army are recounted, and give us a rare glimpse into the life of a World War II black infantryman. It is a powerful book; as "The Washington Post "praised: "Whites should read this book to learn of Baker's accomplishments against a background of severe prejudice. Blacks should read it for the heroism it reveals. Everybody should read it for the power of its narrative." "From the Paperback edition."
Download or read book Forgotten written by Linda Hervieux and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An utterly compelling account of the African Americans who played a crucial and dangerous role in the invasion of Europe. The story of their heroic duty is long overdue.” —Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation The injustices of 1940s Jim Crow America are brought to life in this extraordinary blend of military and social history—a story that pays tribute to the valor of an all-Black battalion whose crucial contributions at D-Day have gone unrecognized to this day. In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a unit of African-American soldiers, landed on the beaches of France. Their orders were to man a curtain of armed balloons meant to deter enemy aircraft. One member of the 320th would be nominated for the Medal of Honor, an award he would never receive. The nation’s highest decoration was not given to Black soldiers in World War II. Drawing on newly uncovered military records and dozens of original interviews with surviving members of the 320th and their families, Linda Hervieux tells the story of these heroic men charged with an extraordinary mission, whose contributions to one of the most celebrated events in modern history have been overlooked. Members of the 320th—Wilson Monk, a jack-of-all-trades from Atlantic City; Henry Parham, the son of sharecroppers from rural Virginia; William Dabney, an eager 17-year-old from Roanoke, Virginia; Samuel Mattison, a charming romantic from Columbus, Ohio—and thousands of other African Americans were sent abroad to fight for liberties denied them at home. In England and Europe, these soldiers discovered freedom they had not known in a homeland that treated them as second-class citizens—experiences they carried back to America, fueling the budding civil rights movement. In telling the story of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, Hervieux offers a vivid account of the tension between racial politics and national service in wartime America, and a moving narrative of human bravery and perseverance in the face of injustice.
Download or read book Voices of the Pacific written by Adam Makos and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of Spearhead and A Higher Call comes an unflinching, brutal, and relentless firsthand chronicle of United States Marine Corps' actions in the Pacific during World War 2. Following fifteen Marines from the Pearl Harbor attack, through battles with the Japanese, to their return home after V-J Day, Adam Makos and Marcus Brotherton have compiled an oral history of the Pacific War in the words of the men who fought on the front lines. With unflinching honesty, these Marines reveal harrowing accounts of combat with an implacable enemy, the friendships and camaraderie they found--and lost--and the aftermath of the war's impact on their lives. With unprecedented access to the veterans, rare photographs, and unpublished memoirs, Voices of the Pacific presents true stories of heroism as told by such World War II veterans as Sid Phillips, R. V. Burgin, and Chuck Tatum--whose exploits were featured in the HBO(R) miniseries, The Pacific--and their Marine buddies from the legendary 1st Marine Division. Includes rare photos
Download or read book Undaunted Valor written by Matt Jackson and published by Undaunted Valor. This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undaunted Valor recounts the battle that took place on Firebases 5 and 6 in Dak To that resulted in two men receiving the Medal of Honor.
Download or read book Beyond Valor written by Jon Erwin and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 12, 1945, a fleet of American B-29 bombers flew toward Japan. Their mission was simple: Stop World War II by burning the cities, factories, and military bases of the Japanese empire, thereby forcing an unconditional surrender. But it didn't go as planned. Beyond Valor is one soldier's extraordinary tale of bravery, faith, and devotion. Onboard one of the B-29s, the City of Los Angeles, a phosphorus bomb detonated inside the plane. Staff Sergeant Henry E. "Red" Erwin absorbed the blast of burning phosphorus and managed to throw the still-flaming bomb overboard before collapsing from the third-degree burns that covered his body. Breaking protocol, the plane diverted to a military hospital at Iwo Jima. President Truman quickly ordered that Erwin be awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest honor of the American military. Drawn from in-depth interviews with eyewitnesses and deep archival research, Beyond Valor tells the gripping story of Erwin's life--from his upbringing in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama to his enduring commitment to supporting veterans. Beyond Valor gives you a front-row seat to Erwin's amazing life and legacy. Along the way, you'll learn: How Erwin's childhood in Birmingham shaped his faith and his family How a split-second decision changed the course of his life The countless ways that Erwin chose to give back to his fellow veterans after he returned home Beyond Valor is about more than that fateful day in April 1945. It's a story of one man's journey from the ultimate despair to a place beyond service, beyond honor, and beyond valor: a life illuminated by the light of God's love.
Download or read book K 9 Korea written by J. Rachel Reed and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-04-17 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The men of the 8125th Sentry Dog Detachment had no idea what they would find when their ship docked at Incheon, Korea. The dogs in the unit seemed even more uncertain than the men: they could smell the terror in the place. Almost immediately, these soldiers came to rely on each other—man and dog alike—for safety, courage, and companionship. Yet in the end, the men of the 8125th could have never imagined the terrible and final sacrifice their canine companions would be forced to make. K-9 Korea is the heartrending story of American war dogs—the fearless, loyal, forgotten heroes of the Korean War.
Download or read book Immortal Valor written by Robert Child and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-06 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable story of the seven African American soldiers ultimately awarded the World War II Medal of Honor, and the 50-year campaign to deny them their recognition. In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during World War II, they recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 recipients. Despite the fact that more than one million African-Americans served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor. The omission remained on the record for over four decades. But recent historical investigations have brought to light some of the extraordinary acts of valor performed by black soldiers during the war. Men like Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machineguns, an observation post, and a German dugout. Or Sergeant Reuben Rivers, who spearhead his tank unit's advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded. Meanwhile Lieutenant Charles Thomas led his platoon to capture a strategically vital village on the Siegfried Line in 1944 despite losing half his men and suffering a number of wounds himself. Ultimately, in 1993 a US Army commission determined that seven men, including Baker, Rivers and Thomas, had been denied the Army's highest award simply due to racial discrimination. In 1997, more than 50 years after the war, President Clinton finally awarded the Medal of Honor to these seven heroes, sadly all but one of them posthumously. These are their stories.
