Author: Frank W. Maresca
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466917059
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1001
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Book Description
How the author adapted to his new surroundings. The drama wrapped around the six hour pass obtained at Shanks to go home to see his folks. The trip across the tempestuous North Atlantic, and the nine days sick at sea! Time spent in a dingy campsite on a bleak coast of Wales, UK. Suffered from a nameless fear aboard the ill fated Leopoldville. Transported in 40/8s. In Liege's railyards was attacked by "Buzz Bombs". Slept in a private home for the night. Marched nearly all of the next day. His company was hit by its own artillery (friendly fire) with devastating consequences.
Author: Robert C. Plumb
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826219209
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
George P. McClelland, a member of the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry in the Civil War, witnessed some of the war’s most pivotal battles during his two and a half years of Union service. Death and destruction surrounded this young soldier, who endured the challenges of front line combat in the conflict Lincoln called “the fiery trial through which we pass.” Throughout his time at war, McClelland wrote to his family, keeping them abreast of his whereabouts and aware of the harrowing experiences he endured in battle. Never before published, McClelland’s letters offer fresh insights into camp life, battlefield conditions, perceptions of key leaders, and the mindset of a young man who faced the prospect of death nearly every day of his service. Through this book, the detailed experiences of one soldier—examined amidst the larger account of the war in the eastern theater—offer a fresh, personal perspective on one of our nation’s most brutal conflicts. Your Brother in Arms follows McClelland through his Civil War odyssey, from his enlistment in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1862 and his journey to Washington and march to Antietam, followed by his encounters in a succession of critical battles: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania Court House, the North Anna River, Petersburg, and Five Forks, Virginia, where he was gravely injured. McClelland’s words, written from the battlefield and the infirmary, convey his connection to his siblings and his longing for home. But even more so, they reflect the social, cultural, and political currents of the war he was fighting. With extensive detail, Robert C. Plumb expounds on McClelland’s words by placing the events described in context and illuminating the collective forces at play in each account, adding a historical outlook to the raw voice of a young soldier. Beating the odds of Civil War treatment, McClelland recovered from his injury at Five Forks and was discharged as a brevet-major in 1865—a rank bestowed on leaders who show bravery in the face of enemy fire. He was a common soldier who performed uncommon service, and the forty-two documents he and his family left behind now give readers the opportunity to know the war from his perspective. More than a book of battlefield reports, Your Brother in Arms: A Union Soldier’s Odyssey is a volume that explores the wartime experience through a soldier’s eyes, making it an engaging and valuable read for those interested in American history, the Civil War, and military history.
Author: Alex Kershaw
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307888002
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 466
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Book Description
The untold story of the bloodiest and most dramatic march to victory of the Second World War—now a Netflix original series starring Jose Miguel Vasquez, Bryan Hibbard, and Bradley James “Exceptional . . . worthy addition to vibrant classics of small-unit history like Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers.”—Wall Street Journal Written with Alex Kershaw's trademark narrative drive and vivid immediacy, The Liberator traces the remarkable battlefield journey of maverick U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks through the Allied liberation of Europe—from the first landing in Italy to the final death throes of the Third Reich. Over five hundred bloody days, Sparks and his infantry unit battled from the beaches of Sicily through the mountains of Italy and France, ultimately enduring bitter and desperate winter combat against the die-hard SS on the Fatherland's borders. Having miraculously survived the long, bloody march across Europe, Sparks was selected to lead a final charge to Bavaria, where he and his men experienced some of the most intense street fighting suffered by Americans in World War II. And when he finally arrived at the gates of Dachau, Sparks confronted scenes that robbed the mind of reason—and put his humanity to the ultimate test.
Author: Dave Barr
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781911512493
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Dave Barr knew from 12 years old he wanted to be a Marine. Following a series of menial jobs - including working at a shoe shiner in a barber's shop and in service stations - at 17 he joined the Marines before shipping out to Vietnam. This was his dream come true - flying as a helicopter gunner - and he ended the war with an impressive 57 Air Medals, one Air Medal for every 20 combat missions. After leaving the Marines, like many veterans, Dave found it hard to hold down a good job and stay out of trouble. It was then that he read about Israel. Always looking for a rush, Dave learnt to skydive before deciding to take his chances - emigrating illegally to Israel. He was inducted into the Israeli Army and then the Paratroopers, where the training was difficult - involving long tough marches, as well as learning Hebrew. After serving his time, he left Israel - and back in the USA, Dave was stuck in a rut and ready for his next adventure. This is the second volume of Dave's memoirs. Just as rich and colourful an account as the first instalment, the book portrays a professional soldier's view of the 'sharp end' of war. Following on from his time in the Israeli Army paratroopers, Dave travelled to Rhodesia and fought alongside the Rhodesian Light Infantry. His next assignment was with the South African Defence Force in operations in South West Africa and Angola. Then came the fateful day and near fatal injuries as a result of a land mine explosion. Almost a year later following 20 operations and Dave was finally allowed back onto active duty and doing what he did best, being a soldier.
Author: Doug Stanton
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476761914
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
A portrait of the American recon platoon of the 101st Airborne Division describes their sixty-day fight for survival during the 1968 Tet Offensive, tracing their postwar difficulties with acclimating into a peacetime America that did not want to hear their story.
Author: GORDON WILLIAMSON
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
There are many biographies of former soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, many of whom had fascinating stories to tell, and several of whom were highly decorated. Few, however, can match Hans Sturm in his astonishing rise from a mere private in an infantry regiment, thrown into the bloody maelstrom of the Eastern Front, to becoming a glorified war hero whose role brought him into direct regular contact with Prominenten of the Third Reich. This young man s fearless heroism in combat earned him some of Germany s highest military awards, and yet he was pugnaciously outspoken about bullying and injustice. From striking a member of the feared Sicherheitsdienst in defence of a Jewish woman to refusing to wear a decoration he felt was tainted by its encouragement of inhumane treatment of enemy partisans, Sturm repeatedly stuck to his moral values no matter what the risk. But even when the war was finally over, his travails did not end: he was held in a number of Soviet labour camps, before finally being released in 1953. Hans Sturm: A Soldier s Odyssey on the Eastern Front is an engaging reconstruction of events based on exchanges of correspondence and reminiscences between the author and Hans Sturm himself. It vividly portrays not only a German soldier s experience on the Eastern Front, but the intriguing trajectories that success in the battlefield yielded for him at home under the Nazi regime.
Author: Jonathan Shay
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439125015
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356
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Book Description
In this ambitious follow-up to Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. Seamlessly combining important psychological work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics. In Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the story of the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture: danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. He also explains how veterans recover and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics.
Author: Adrian Carton de Wiart
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848849184
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
The legendary British Army officer recounts his experiences in the Boer War and both World Wars in this memoir with a foreword by Winston Churchill. Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart had one of the most extraordinary military careers in the history of the British Army. His gallantry in combat won him a Victoria Cross and a Distinguished Service Order, as well as an eyepatch and an empty sleeve. His autobiography is one of the most remarkable of military memoirs. Carton de Wiart abandoned his law studies at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1899 to serve as a trooper in the South African War. During World War I he served both in British Somaliland and on the Western Front, where he lost his left eye to a bullet at the Battle of Somme. He went on to serve as a liaison officer with Polish forces, narrowly escaping the German blitz at the outbreak of World War II. He was part of the British Military Mission to Yugoslavia, taken prisoner by the Italian Army, and made numerous attempts at escape. He spent the remainder of the war as Churchill’s representative in China. The novelist Evelyn Waugh famously used Carton de Wiart as the model for his character Brigadier Ben Ritchie Hook in the Sword of Honour trilogy. In this thrilling autobiography, the legendary officer tells his own remarkable story.
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 030738604X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 482
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Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A "gripping book about this extraordinary man who lived passionately and died unnecessarily" (USA Today) in post-9/11 Afghanistan, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air. In 2002, Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of American patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, a legend was born. But the real Pat Tillman was much more remarkable, and considerably more complicated than the public knew. Sent first to Iraq—a war he would openly declare was “illegal as hell” —and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was driven by emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, and masculine pride, and he was determined to serve his entire three-year commitment. But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers. Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman’s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman’s family and the American public for five weeks following his death. During this time, President Bush used Tillman’s name to promote his administration’ s foreign policy. Long after Tillman’s nationally televised memorial service, the Army grudgingly notified his closest relatives that he had “probably” been killed by friendly fire while it continued to dissemble about the details of his death and who was responsible. Drawing on Tillman’s journals and letters and countless interviews with those who knew him and extensive research in Afghanistan, Jon Krakauer chronicles Tillman’s riveting, tragic odyssey in engrossing detail highlighting his remarkable character and personality while closely examining the murky, heartbreaking circumstances of his death. Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer’s storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war. This edition has been updated to reflect new developments and includes new material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Author: Peter Duffell
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526730588
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 405
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Book Description
A British general’s memoir of serving with these famed Nepalese warriors: “An inspiring journey, delightfully related.” —Times Literary Supplement It is 1814 and the Bengal Army of the Honourable East India Company is at war with a marauding Nepal. It is here that the British first encounter the martial spirit of their indomitable foe—the Gurkha hill men from that mountainous independent land. Impressed by their fighting qualities and with the end of hostilities in sight, the Company begins to recruit them into their own ranks. Since then these lighthearted and gallant soldiers have successfully campaigned wherever the British Army has served—from the North West Frontier of India through two World Wars to the contemporary battlefields of the Falklands and Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, with well over one hundred battle honors to their name and at a cost of 20,000 casualties. Here, Peter Duffell separates fact and myth and recounts something of the history, character, and spirit of these loyal and dedicated soldiers—seen through the prism of his service and campaigning as a regular officer in the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles, as the Brigade of Gurkhas Major General and as Regimental Colonel of the Royal Gurkha Rifles.
