Download or read book Taking Fire written by Kevin O'Rourke and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2013-09-28 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American military special operations forcesÑRangers, SEALs, and othersÑhave become a well-recognized and highly respected part of our popular culture. But whom do these elite warriors look to in their times of greatest need: when wounded on the battlefield, cut off deep behind enemy lines, or adrift in the expanse of the worldÕs oceans? They look skyward, hoping to catch a glimpse of their own personal guardian angel: a U.S. Air Force pararescue jumper (PJ) who lives, and sometimes dies, by the motto that others may live. Taking Fire provides an up-close look into the heroism and mystique of this little known segment of the Air Force Special Tactics community by focusing on one of the most dramatic rescues of the Vietnam War. It was June 1972 and Capt. Lynn Aikman is returning from a bombing mission over North Vietnam when his F-4 Phantom is jumped by an enemy MiG and shot down. He and his backseater Tom Hanton eject from their crippled aircraft, but Hanton lands near a village and is quickly captured by local militia. Badly injured during the ejection, Aikman lands some distance from the village, and there is a chance that he can be recovered if American rescuers can reach him before the enemy does. Now on the ground and drifting in and out of consciousness, Captain Aikman looks up and suddenly sees his guardian angel in the form of USAF Pararescue Jumper Chuck McGrath. As Sergeant McGrath is preparing to hook the downed pilot to a hoist line, he sees it fall to the ground. Hostile fire on the hovering Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter has damaged the hoist mechanism causing the operator to cut the line. While circling A-1 Skyraiders strafe the militia to keep them away from Aikman and McGrath, the helicopter crew races to come up with a plan. ItÕs getting dark, and theyÕll only have one chance. Taking Fire is an exciting, highly dramatic story of life and death over North Vietnam. Much more than a chronicle the events of 27 June 1972, the book gives the reader an up-close look at the little known world of the U.S. Air ForceÕs elite aerial rescue force.

Download or read book Fire In The Sky written by Eric M Bergerud and published by Westview Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A chronicle of the Pacific Air War in World War II draws on interviews with surviving veterans of all duties to paint a detailed look at the war in the sky.

Download or read book Touched with Fire written by Eric M. Bergerud and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1997-07-01 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant history of the land battles in the Pacific theater of World War II, with stirring personal accounts of the horrifying struggle between the Japanese and Allied forces. The horrors of WWII in the South Pacific extended far beyond the detonation of atomic bombs. In this revelatory portrayal of the lives of the regular infantrymen who struggled to contain the Japanese advance, Eric Bergerud has given us a compelling and chilling record of the incredible hardships endured by these soldiers, and the heroic efforts that resulted in the reversal of the course of the war. Bergerud spent hundreds of hours interviewing the last surviving veterans of this remarkable campaign, and he has placed their personal experiences at the center of his analysis of military strategy. “Aspires to do for the ground war in the South Pacific what Keegan achieved in Six Armies in Normandy.”—Los Angeles Times

Download or read book Command Of The Air written by General Giulio Douhet and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

Download or read book Air War on the Edge written by Bill Norton and published by Ian Allan Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never before has there been a book published on the aircraft, units and exploits of the Israel Air Force in such depth. Interest in the IAF has always been high and seldom are its aircrew and aircraft out of the world's headlines. Previous books have failed to satisfy, either being sensationalist and low on factual content, or lacking in fundamental research. Bill Norton has trawled through thousands of documents, reports, and illustrations to produce a work that is staggering in its depth and knowledge. Those that think they know the IAF will find a wealth of new material and countless previously published 'facts' re-evaluated and righted. Detailed type-by-type coverage supported by a barrage of photographs of the IAF from the mixed bag of aircraft of its formative days, through the Suez Campaign, the Six Day War, Yom Kippur and on to be a sophisticated, well-equipped force, arguably the most experienced in the world. Included for the first time are all of the badges and heraldry of the units of the IAF, in full color.

Download or read book Fire and Fury written by Randall Hansen and published by Anchor Canada. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Bestseller An enlightening and utterly convincing re-examination of the allied aerial bombing campaign and of civilian German suffering during World War II–an essential addition to our understanding of world history. During the Second World War, Allied air forces dropped nearly two million tons of bombs on Germany, destroying some 60 cities, killing more than half a million German citizens, and leaving 80,000 pilots dead. Much of the bombing was carried out against the expressed demands of the Allied military leadership. Hundreds of thousands of people died needlessly. Focusing on the crucial period from 1942 to 1945, and using a compelling narrative approach, Fire and Fury tells the story of the American and British bombing campaign through the eyes of those involved: military and civilian command in America, Britain, and Germany, aircrew in the sky, and civilians on the ground. Acclaimed historian Randall Hansen shows that the Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, was wedded to an outdated strategy whose success had never been proven; how area bombing not only failed to win the war, it probably prolonged it; and that the US campaign, which was driven by a particularly American fusion of optimism and morality, played an important and largely unrecognized role in delivering Allied victory.

Download or read book Fire for Effect written by John J. McGrath and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Bombers and the Bombed written by Richard Overy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An essential part of the literature of World War II.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post From acclaimed World War II historian Richard Overy comes this startling new history of the controversial Allied bombing war against Germany and German-occupied Europe. In the fullest account yet of the campaign and its consequences, Overy assesses not just the bombing strategies and pattern of operations, but also how the bombed communities coped with the devastation. This book presents a unique history of the bombing offensive from below as well as from above, and engages with moral questions that still resonate today.

Download or read book America in the Air War written by Edward Jablonski and published by Time Life Medical. This book was released on 1982 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Army Air Forces had only 1,100 combat-ready planes. No one could have imagined then that within the next four years the AAF would become the mighty weapon commemorated in the paintings reproduced on the following pages, or that it would have to scope to engage in what its commander, General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, described as a "global mission." Nevertheless, by 1944 the AAF had grown into 16 separate air forces stationed around the world, and its 1,100 planes had grown to nearly 80,000.

Download or read book The Great Air War written by Aaron Norman and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Great Air War is the first comprehensive account of the battle fliers, their planes, and their vital role in World War I. Aerial combat in "the war to end war" was an utterly unprecedented new chapter in military potential of the flying machine was unfathomed. It had been only a decade since Orville Wright had made history's first successful airplane flight. High- ranking officers in all countries dismissed the use of the plane for any purpose except possible reconnoitering. But as the war progressed, aviation technology boomed, the plane became a lethal weapon - and a new warrior breed was born. The story of these men - the now legendary heroes and their man-to-man encounters, their breathtaking victories and heartbreaking defeats is spellbinding: Aaron Norman seats the reader right in the cockpit beside the great aces and many less famous but equally courageous airmen. Some of the individual stories rank with the classics of adventure literature. Colourful biographies of the top aces of each nation, and their victory scores, are a feature of the Great Air War. The various war planes are described in detail: the Sopwiths, Nieuports, Fokkers, Spads, Albatroses, SE-5's, and performance, strong points and weaknesses. The incredible story of Count Zeppelin's terrifying if vulnerable dirigibles is recounted at length. It was with this giant craft that the German high command hoped to bring Britain to her knees, and the dramatic picture of these monsters hovering ominously in the night skies over England is one of the many high spots of the book. For its complete story of the monumental action as the seesaw battle went on for supremacy in the sky, and for its many anecdotal stories in human terms throughout, The Great Air War is superb reading; the book in its entirely is also of major importance as history, since the chronicle of World War I is incomplete without this first full coverage of the part played in it by ariel combat. The illustrations add to the comprehensive coverage. There are two 16-page inserts of photographs - 65 photos in all - and 54 side -view drawings of the planes. With full index, appendices and bibliography". - Publisher

Download or read book South Pacific Air War Volume 1 written by Peter Ingman and published by . This book was released on 2017-11 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, during which air operations by both sides became a daily occurrence. As Imperial Japanese Navy flying boats and landbased bombers penetrated over vast distances, a few under-strength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force put up a spirited fight. However it was the supreme power of aircraft carriers that had the biggest impact. Four Japanese fleet carriers facilitated the capture of Rabaul over a devastating four-day period in January 1942. The following month, the USS Lexington's fighter squadron VF-3 scored one of the most one-sided victories of the entire Pacific War. By March 1942 the Japanese had landed on mainland New Guinea, and the scene was set for a race to control Port Moresby. This is the full story of both sides of an air war that could have been won by either incumbent, but for timing, crucial decisions and luck. The two authors are uniquely qualified to tell this story. Raised in Port Moresby, Michael Claringbould is a globally-acknowledged expert on the New Guinea air war and Japanese aviation in particular. Peter Ingman is an acclaimed military history author specialising in the early Pacific War period.

Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Marked for Death written by James Hamilton-Paterson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-08-02 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dramatic and fascinating account of aerial combat during World War I, revealing the terrible risks taken by the men who fought and died in the world's first war in the air. Little more than ten years after the first powered flight, aircraft were pressed into service in World War I. Nearly forgotten in the war's massive overall death toll, some 50,000 aircrew would die in the combatant nations' fledgling air forces. The romance of aviation had a remarkable grip on the public imagination, propaganda focusing on gallant air 'aces' who become national heroes. The reality was horribly different. Marked for Death debunks popular myth to explore the brutal truths of wartime aviation: of flimsy planes and unprotected pilots; of burning nineteen-year-olds falling screaming to their deaths; of pilots blinded by the entrails of their observers. James Hamilton-Paterson also reveals how four years of war produced profound changes both in the aircraft themselves and in military attitudes and strategy. By 1918 it was widely accepted that domination of the air above the battlefield was crucial to military success, a realization that would change the nature of warfare forever.

Download or read book BLANKETS OF FIRE written by WERRELL KENNETH P and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1996-04-17 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the focus of World War II shifted to the Pacific in 1944, the Army Air Forces (AAF), equipped with the new, longer-range B-29 bomber, tried to shift strategic bombing tactics as well. Blankets of Fire describes the adjustments necessary to target Japan and places them in the context of overall AAF and wartime strategy. 58 photos.

Download or read book At Home and under Fire written by Susan R. Grayzel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-09 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the Blitz has come to symbolize the experience of civilians under attack, Germany first launched air raids on Britain at the end of 1914 and continued them during the First World War. With the advent of air warfare, civilians far removed from traditional battle zones became a direct target of war rather than a group shielded from its impact. This is a study of how British civilians experienced and came to terms with aerial warfare during the First and Second World Wars. Memories of the World War I bombings shaped British responses to the various real and imagined war threats of the 1920s and 1930s, including the bombing of civilians during the Spanish Civil War and, ultimately, the Blitz itself. The processes by which different constituent bodies of the British nation responded to the arrival of air power reveal the particular role that gender played in defining civilian participation in modern war.

Download or read book The Air War written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-08-02 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All is in turmoil as the world moves towards war. In Solarno, the spies watch each other and ready their knives, while Myna sees the troops muster at its border and emotions run high as it vows never to be enslaved again. In Collegium, the students argue politics, too late to turn the tide. In the heart of the Empire, new pilots have completed their secretive training, generals are being recalled to service and armies are ready to march. Their Empress, the heir to two worlds, intends to claim her birthright. And nothing – either within the Empire or beyond it – will stand in her way. A conflict is coming, the like of which the insect-kinden have never seen. Praise for the Shadows of the Apt series: ‘Reminiscent of much that’s gone before from the likes of Gemmel, Erikson, Sanderson and Cook but with its own unique and clever touch . . .Terrific’ Sci-Fi-London.com ‘Full of colourful drama and non-stop action’ FantasyBookCritic blog

Download or read book Into the Fire written by Duane P. Schultz and published by Westholme Publishing. This book was released on 2008-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Schultz recreates the great World War II battle of Ploesti, Romania, combining original research and interviews with survivors in order to capture the tension, drama, and heroics of the warring sides.