Download or read book Magnificent Bastards written by Rich Hall and published by Abacus. This book was released on 2010-03-04 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comic genius Rich Hall introduces a series of magnificent bastards and lost souls in this hilarious collection of tall tales. Meet the man who vacuums bewildered prairie dogs out of their burrows; a frustrated werewolf who roams the streets of Soho getting mistaken for Brian Blessed; a smug carbon-neutral eco-couple; a teenage girl who invites 45,000 MySpace friends to a house party; the author of a business book entitled Highly Successful Secrets to Standing on a Corner Holding Up a Golf Sale Sign and a man whose attempts to teach softball to a group of indolent British advertising executives sparks an international crisis.
Download or read book The Magnificent Bastards written by Wayne Kyle Spitzer and published by Hobb's End Books. This book was released on 2018-11-29 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There was a single, sharp tap of the drums followed by a rapid succession of beats as the crushed velvet curtains spread and the audience gasped: for Tran had taken her position in the box and was even now being secured as Williams struck a gunfighter pose and his hand hovered next to his weapon. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think it goes without saying,” said the announcer over the speaker system, “Do not try this at home.” Williams relaxed his entire body even as his mind cycled through the calculations—altitude, the breeze, humidity, temperature, the curvature of the earth, the spinning of the earth … It was, like music, a largely mathematical proposition; a cold equation he’d had a gift for ever since he could remember, ever since he was a boy with a Daisy BB gun in the backyard of their southern California home. He focused on the knife blade as the balloons to each side of it warbled in the breeze. It was a funny thing, sharpshooting, so utterly unlike music, in that each time he did it he felt like he was doing it for the first time, felt like he was starting over from scratch. With music his fingers just automatically found the frets, just instantly knew where to begin and where to end; he never felt as though he were lost in a vortex of potentialities, never doubted his ability to perform. But sharpshooting was a different beast altogether. With sharpshooting he had to call on something outside of himself as well as from within—something which was not his to control. Something which either kissed him with its ghostly lips or turned away with perfect indifference—like love itself, he supposed. Or God. And then the drum taps stopped and he was alone with the breeze, and it was time to make the intuitive leap which would set the bullet in motion. And as he breathed out and drew his revolver and squeezed its trigger softer than he would a daisy, he knew, even before the crack! and the ka-chink! and the pop of the balloons, that the projectile had found its target. That it had found the slim blade and split like an atom—becoming two loaves rather than one—two soft but lethal slugs, which had spread like shrapnel in the Fresno heat and ruptured the red balloons—releasing their air in a vacuum-like rush and causing the audience to gasp and to cheer. And then his wife was there, having loosed her mock bonds and scrambled out of the tall wooden box (with its crushed velvet curtains and bulletproof glass), and she’d bowed to the audience before embracing him like the wind, and he had kissed her as he always did after completing their final act—when air raid sirens sounded and he looked at the sky, which had darkened with a storm front as fast-moving as it was inexplicable ...
Download or read book The Magnificent Bastards written by Keith Nolan and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2009-10-07 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 29, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army is spotted less than four miles from the U.S. Marines’ Dong Ha Combat Base. Intense fighting develops in nearby Dai Do as the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, known as “the Magnificent Bastards,” struggles to eject NVA forces from this strategic position. Yet the BLT 2/4 Marines defy the brutal onslaught. Pressing forward, America’s finest warriors rout the NVA from their fortress-hamlets–often in deadly hand-to-hand combat. At the end of two weeks of desperate, grinding battles, the Marines and the infantry battalion supporting them are torn to shreds. But against all odds, they beat back their savage adversary. The Magnificent Bastards captures that gripping conflict in all its horror, hell, and heroism. “Superb . . . among the best writing on the Vietnam War . . . Nolan has skillfully woven operational records and oral history into a fascinating narrative that puts the reader in the thick of the action.” –Jon T. Hoffman, author of Chesty “Real and gripping . . . combat with all the warts on.” –Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret.)
Download or read book Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue written by John McWhorter and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-10-27 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history. Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).
Download or read book Trigger Men written by Hans Halberstadt and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2008-03-18 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both a uniquely intimate look at what makes a sniper tick and a harrowing read filled with dramatic war tales, Trigger Men is a book about killing and what it takes to be the ultimate warrior. Hans Halberstadt takes readers deeper inside the elusive world of snipers than ever before, from recruitment and training to the brutality of the killing fields. Mixed into the thrilling narrative, for the first time ever in their own words, American combat snipers talk about what it is like to kill a man and what it takes to become one of the elite. Based on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews, Halberstadt gets inside the sniper mind and shows how Shadow Team confidence led to success that led to even more aggressive operations. Readers will learn how snipers think and interact as a team, how missions are planned and executed, how the weapons work, and even what happens when a bullet strikes its target.
Download or read book Hold High the Torch written by Kenneth W. Condit and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 716 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hold High the Torch, the first of a series of regimental and squadron histories by the Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, is designed primarily to acquaint the members of the 4th Marines, past and present, with the history of their regiment. In addition, it is hoped this volume will enlarge public understanding of the Marine Corps’ worth both in limited war and as a force in readiness. During most of its existence the 4th Marines was not engaged in active military operations, but service of the regiment in China, the Dominican Republic, and off the west coast of Mexico, was typical of the Marine Corps’ support of national policy. In many of its combat operations, the 4th Marines was only one element of a much larger force. In other instances, as in the Dominican Republic and China, the regiment was a subordinate unit in situations which were essentially political and diplomatic. Only so much of these higher echelon activities as are essential to an understanding of the 4th Marines story have been told. This is a regimental history and the focus is therefore on the 4th Marines.
Download or read book Viet Nam Vignettes written by Gerald R. Gems and published by Saint Johann Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Images from the Otherland written by Kenneth P. Sympson and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2002-12-11 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For two decades Sympson thought little of his tour of duty as a Marine artillery officer in Vietnam. But recovering from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer probably caused by exposure in Vietnam to Agent Orange, he saw a thread running through his later life and was flooded with memories of events he had never talked about. This book began as an exercise in self-therapy, an attempt to discharge the emotional burdens he had unknowingly carried for so many years. In August 1965 as a forward observer with the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, the author saw his first combat in Operation Starlite, the first large-scale ground combat operation in Vietnam. In March 1966, as the artillery liaison officer for the renowned Magnificent Bastards of the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, he fought in Operation Texas, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. For two hours, Sympson directed over 2,500 rounds of artillery fire nearly on top of Echo Company to drive back the Viet Cong who had trapped the Marines at the edge of a heavily fortified village. From the frontlines in Vietnam, this is a story of fear and dread, anticipation and boredomfrom a man who served in country.
Download or read book Con Thien written by James P. Coan and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2004-08-10 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Con Thien is a memoir/history of a much-beleaguered Marine outpost of the DMZ Throughout much of 1967, a remote United States Marine firebase only two miles from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) captured the attention of the world’s media. That artillery-scarred outpost was the linchpin of the so-called McNamara Line intended to deter incursions into South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army. As such, the fighting along this territory was particularly intense and bloody, and the body count rose daily. Con Thien combines James P. Coan’s personal experiences with information taken from archives, interviews with battle participants, and official documents to construct a powerful story of the daily life and combat on the red clay bulls-eye known as "The Hill of Angels." As a tank platoon leader in Alpha Company, 3d Tank Battalion, 3d Marine Division, Coan was stationed at Con Thien for eight months during his 1967-68 service in Vietnam and witnessed much of the carnage. Con Thien was heavily bombarded by enemy artillery with impunity because it was located in politically sensitive territory and the U.S. government would not permit direct armed response from Marine tanks. Coan, like many other soldiers, began to feel as though the government was as much the enemy as the NVA, yet he continued to fight for his country with all that he had. In his riveting memoir, Coan depicts the hardships of life in the DMZ and the ineffectiveness of much of the U.S. military effort in Vietnam.
Download or read book The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday written by and published by All American Books. This book was released on 2004-12 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bufalo's collection of stories, essays, and politically incorrect commentary by and about the Marines fighting terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan shows how troops feel about being in harm's way.
Download or read book Not As Lean Not As Mean Still a Marine written by Andrew A. Bufalo and published by All American Books. This book was released on 2004-11 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not As Lean, Not As Mean, Still A Marine! is the third installment of the Swift, Silent and Surrounded series. If you enjoyed the humorous sea stories, motivating narratives and blunt commentary in the previous volumes, you will love this one!
Download or read book Poison Gas written by James W. Hammond Jr. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1999-06-30 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The threat of poison gas, and other related biological warfare agents, holds our society hostage to the possible actions of terrorist groups or rogue states. This study hopes to convince policymakers and the general public that the bad reputation that surrounds the use of gas is largely the result of propaganda, misinformation, and oft-repeated half-truths. With proper precautions and discipline, neither the military nor society need fear gas as a weapon of mass destruction, wielded by dictators and cowards who utilize the loopholes in international agreements and flaunt world opinion. While not advocating the use of toxic gas in warfare, the author argues that education and common sense are the most effective tools to combat the gases that remain in arsenals around the world. After a discussion of the earliest uses of gas and other similar tactics in warfare, this book explains how our image of gas has been shaped by early pronouncements that branded it a treacherous and barbarous weapon. The fear of retribution, as well as political motivations, prevented the use of gas warfare in the Second World War, but its use resurfaced in later decades both in warfare and in combatting internal strife. The author details various types of gas and discusses the most effective measures to counter each one. He also chronicles the long history of attempts to outlaw gas, why these attempts have failed, and why such efforts are not likely to succeed in the future.
Download or read book The Leatherneck written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 950 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mired Glory written by Michael E. Dmytriw and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2015-05-15 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The setting for this fictional story is the civil war. It was by far a time of trial, pain and suffering; a time that America has still not healed from. But, it is not a story about heros and such; many books have been written about those famous characters by learned men. I am not one of those; I simply tell a story. I wanted to point out that I believe that the passions and emotions of turbulent periods transcend the boundaries of time. The emotions associated with warfare impact the people who fought and those that did not. I may be wrong in my conviction, but I dont think so. Its just a story.
Download or read book Hill of Angels written by Joseph C. Long and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2016 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph examines U.S. Marine and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) actions throughout much of the northern half of a region that became known as "Leatherneck Square," an area bounded by Con Thien and Gio Linh to the north--just below the demilitarized zone (DMZ)--and Cam Lo and Dong Ha to the south. The Battle of Con Thien also included activities within the DMZ north and west of Con Thien as far as the Ben Hai River. More than a dozen Marine operations were involved in varying degrees with the Battle of Con Thien. This account deals with the battle's most significant and costly operations: Operation Hickory (18-28 May 1967), Operation Buffalo (2-14 July 1967), Operation Kingfisher (16 July-31 October 1967), and Operation Kentucky (1 November 1967-28 February 1968). This text is appropriate for military historians, scholarly professionals, and military science students as well as veterans. Related products: Other products produced by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/922
Download or read book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon written by James Hibberd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The perfect read and perfect gift for Game of Thrones fans The official, definitive oral history of the blockbuster show from Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd, endorsed by George R. R. Martin himself (who calls it “an amazing read”), reveals the one Game of Thrones tale that has yet to be told: the thirteen-year behind-the-scenes struggle to make the show. Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon shares the incredible, thrilling, uncensored story of Game of Thrones, from the creators' first meetings with George R. R. Martin and HBO through the series finale, including all the on-camera battles, off-camera efforts, and the many controversies in between. The book also features more than fifty candid new interviews, rare and stunning photos, and unprecedented access to the producers, cast, and crew who took an impossible idea and made it into the biggest show in the world.
Download or read book The Body Burning Detail written by Bill Jones and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-09-10 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A poignant memoir that recounts the author's hair-raising--and occasionally hilarious--experiences as a young, not especially gung-ho Marine artilleryman in Vietnam. Gritty and disturbing, Bill Jones' unvarnished narrative probes the lasting physical and emotional wounds of war and offers a combat veteran's wry insight into the influence and relevance of America's long and indecisive misadventure.
