Author: George J. Despotis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781933370385
Category : Oral history
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Second World War was the largest armed conflict in human history. It transformed lives, cultures, and civilizations. The men who served as riflemen, truck drivers, medics, radio operators, clerks, factory workers provided the means to defeat fascism through tireless effort and heroic sacrifice. Their stories come to light in Victory Through Valor: A Collection of World War II Memoirs, a new book from Reedy Press. Collected and edited by Dr. George Despotis, Donald E. Korte, and Matthew Lary, this substantial volume truly captures the essence of America s unsurpassed generation. Filled with interviews of more than 100 World War II veterans and their wives, Victory Through Valor recounts the experiences of the combat troops and support personnel, as well as those who remained behind on the home front. It includes depictions of Basic Training, the trip across the Atlantic, D-Day landings at Normandy, the fighting during the Bulge, the subsequent surrender by Germany in May of 1945, and myriad moments in between. Our World War II veterans are vanishing, and along with them goes the opportunity to understand their unparalleled commitment and courage. Victory Through Valor illuminates their story and shows readers how a generation led us through one of the most serious crises in the history of mankind, to one of the greatest triumphs in American history. The book is published with the cooperation and encouragement of the Gateway Chapter of The Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge in St. Louis, Missouri.
Author: Aili McConnon
Publisher: Phoenix
ISBN: 9780753828144
Category : Cyclists
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Get Book Here
Book Description
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.
Author: Dwight Jon Zimmerman
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429988916
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 323
Get Book Here
Book Description
Uncommon Valor from Dwight Jon Zimmerman and John D. Gresham presents a fascinating look at six of our bravest soldiers and the highest military decoration awarded in this country. Since the Vietnam War ended in 1973, the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for valor, has been presented to only eight men for their actions "above and beyond the call of duty." Six of the eight were young men who had fought in the current war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. All of these medals were awarded posthumously, as all had made the choice to give their lives so that their comrades might live. Uncommon Valor answers the searing question of who these six young soldiers were, and dramatically details how they found themselves in life-or-death situations, and why they responded as they did. For the first time, this book also provides a comprehensive history of the Medal of Honor itself—one marred by controversies, scandals, and theft. Using an extraordinary range of sources, including interviews with family members and friends, teammates and superiors in the military, personal letters, blogs posted within hours of events, personal and official videos and newly declassified documents, Uncommon Valor is a compelling and important work that recounts incredible acts of heroism and lays bare the ultimate sacrifice of our bravest soldiers.
Author: Harrison, A. Cleveland
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 9781604737059
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book Here
Book Description
Thirty riveting months in the life of a common infantryman, one among the "citizen soldiers" who took the Allies to victory When drafted into the army in 1943, A. Cleveland Harrison was a reluctant eighteen-year-old Arkansas student sure that he would not make a good soldier. But inside thirty months he manfully bore arms and more. This book is his memoir about becoming a soldier, a common infantryman among the ranks of those who truly won the war. After the Allied victory in 1945, books by and about the major statesmen, generals, and heroes of World War II appeared regularly. Yet millions of American soldiers who helped achieve and secure victory slipped silently into civilian life, trying to forget the war and what they had done. Most remain unsung, for virtually none thought of themselves as exceptional. During the war ordinary soldiers had only done what they believed their country expected. Harrison's firsthand account is the full history of what happened to him in three units from 1943 to 1946, disclosing the sensibilities, the conflicting emotions, and the humor that coalesced within the naive draftee. He details the induction and basic training procedures, his student experiences in Army pre-engineering school, his infantry training and overseas combat, battle wounds and the complete medical pipeline of hospitalization and recovery, the waits in replacement depots, life in the Army of Occupation, and his discharge. Wrenched from college and denied the Army Specialized Training Program's promise of individual choice in assignment, students were thrust into the infantry. Harrison's memoir describes training in the Ninety-fourth Infantry Division in the U.S., their first combat holding action at Lorient, France, and the division's race to join Patton's Third Army, where Harrison's company was decimated and he was wounded while attacking the Siegfried Line. Reassigned to the U.S. Group Control Council, he had a unique opportunity to observe both the highest echelons in military government and the ordinary soldiers as Allied troops occupied Berlin. This veteran's memoir reveals all aspects of military life and sings of those valorous but ordinary soldiers who achieved the victory. A. Cleveland Harrison is an emeritus professor of theatre at Auburn University.
Author: Ellen Hampton
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476642761
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Get Book Here
Book Description
Women in an armored division! General Leclerc had never heard of such a thing. But if he wanted the 19 brand-new ambulances, he would have to take their women drivers too. Known as the Rochambelles, their courage won the admiration of their comrades and changed many minds. These women learned to drive through mortar fire, to pull men from burning tanks, to stanch blood and ease pain. Above all, they learned that no matter who was doing the shooting, the greater enemy was hatred. Only three of the fifty-one women who served in the group published a memoir, and their stories have been all but lost. This book, newly revised and updated, reveals their daring and accomplishments, from Normandy to Berchtesgaden.
Author: Bill Yenne
Publisher: Chartwell
ISBN: 0785838341
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 243
Get Book Here
Book Description
Aces is an illustrated history of the brave World War II fighter pilots who earned the title of ace, with archival and modern photos of their aircraft.
Author: Dan Hampton
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250275865
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 459
Get Book Here
Book Description
Valor is the magnificent story of a genuine American hero who survived the fall of the Philippines and brutal captivity under the Japanese, from New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton. Lieutenant William Frederick “Bill” Harris was 25 years old when captured by Japanese forces during the Battle of Corregidor in May 1942. This son of a decorated Marine general escaped from hell on earth by swimming eight hours through a shark-infested bay; but his harrowing ordeal had just begun. Shipwrecked on the southern coast of the Philippines, he was sheltered by a Filipino aristocrat, engaged in guerilla fighting, and eventually set off through hostile waters to China. After 29 days of misadventures and violent storms, Harris and his crew limped into a friendly fishing village in the southern Philippines. Evading and fighting for months, he embarked on another agonizing voyage to Australia, but was betrayed by treacherous islanders and handed over to the Japanese. Held for two years in the notorious Ofuna prisoner-of-war camp outside Yokohama, Harris was continuously starved, tortured, and beaten, but he never surrendered. Teaching himself Japanese, he eavesdropped on the guards and created secret codes to communicate with fellow prisoners. After liberation on August 30, 1945, Bill represented American Marine POWs during the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay before joining his father and flying to a home he had not seen in four years. Valor is a riveting new look at the Pacific War. Through military documents, personal photos, and an unpublished memoir provided by his daughter, Harris’ experiences are dramatically revealed through his own words in the expert hands of bestselling author and retired fighter pilot Dan Hampton. This is the stunning and captivating true story of an American hero.
Author: Phil Nordyke
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 161060072X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 495
Get Book Here
Book Description
Hailing from the big cities and small towns of America, these young men came together to serve their country and the greater good. They were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division (the All Americans). Phil Nordyke, their official historian, draws on interviews with surviving veterans and oral history recordings as well as official archives and unpublished written accounts from more than three hundred veterans of the 505th PIR and their supporting units. This is history as it was lived by the men of the 505th, from their prewar coming of age in the regiment, through the end of World War II, when they marched in the Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York, to the postwar legacy of having been part of an elite parachute regiment with a record unsurpassed in the annals of combat.
Author: Tony Evans
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 0736942785
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Get Book Here
Book Description
Dr. Tony Evans, one of the most respected church leaders in the country, is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, a thriving congregation of 8000. In this timely, unique exploration of spiritual warfare, Dr. Evans unveils a simple yet radical truth: every struggle and conflict faced in the physical realm has its root in the spiritual realm. With passion and clarity, Dr. Evans demystifies spiritual warfare so that readers can tackle challenges and obstacles with spiritual power—God’s authority—as they: understand how the battle is fought by Satan actively use the armor of God find strength in prayer and sufficiency in Christ win over chemical, sexual, emotional, relational, and other strongholds Dr. Evans is compelling, down to earth, and excited for believers to experience their victory in Christ and embrace the life, hope, and purpose God has for them.
Author: Tina St. John
Publisher: Ivy Books
ISBN: 9780449004241
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Get Book Here
Book Description
A widowed noblewoman determined to make her own way in the world initially chafs under the iron rule of the warrior sent by the king to protect her, but then finds herself yeilding to his powerful touch. Original.
