Bazooka Charlie

Bazooka Charlie PDF Author: James P. Busha
Publisher: Schiffer + ORM
ISBN: 1507303149
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Major Charles Carpenter made headlines during the Second World War when he affixed six bazookas to his tiny Piper L-4 observation plane and began attacking German tanks. “Bazooka Charlie” and his plane “Rosie the Rocketer” were profiled in a variety of military and civilian publications, including the iconic Stars & Stripes. The major was a high school educator in the civilian world, teaching history and coaching football. In 1945, the dashing pilot was forced out of the cockpit and into a hospital bed by Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which was discovered in his neck. In addition to the enemy and terminal cancer, Carpenter also battled cynicism and guilt, particularly in regard to the state of his marriage, which was on the brink of failure by the time he returned home from Europe. Charles Carpenter died in 1966, having resumed his career, salvaged his marriage, and long outlived the timeline afforded him by his doctors in the initial prognosis. This revealing biography of the famous pilot was made possible through the collaboration of noted aviation author and magazine editor Jim Busha, and Carpenter’s daughter, Carol Apacki. Along with memories of her father in his postwar years, Carol provided a treasure trove of wartime correspondence between Charles and his wife, Elda Carpenter.

Bazooka Charlie

Bazooka Charlie PDF Author: James P. Busha
Publisher: Schiffer + ORM
ISBN: 1507303149
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Major Charles Carpenter made headlines during the Second World War when he affixed six bazookas to his tiny Piper L-4 observation plane and began attacking German tanks. “Bazooka Charlie” and his plane “Rosie the Rocketer” were profiled in a variety of military and civilian publications, including the iconic Stars & Stripes. The major was a high school educator in the civilian world, teaching history and coaching football. In 1945, the dashing pilot was forced out of the cockpit and into a hospital bed by Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which was discovered in his neck. In addition to the enemy and terminal cancer, Carpenter also battled cynicism and guilt, particularly in regard to the state of his marriage, which was on the brink of failure by the time he returned home from Europe. Charles Carpenter died in 1966, having resumed his career, salvaged his marriage, and long outlived the timeline afforded him by his doctors in the initial prognosis. This revealing biography of the famous pilot was made possible through the collaboration of noted aviation author and magazine editor Jim Busha, and Carpenter’s daughter, Carol Apacki. Along with memories of her father in his postwar years, Carol provided a treasure trove of wartime correspondence between Charles and his wife, Elda Carpenter.

The Bazooka

The Bazooka PDF Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849088020
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
Most belligerents entering World War II armed their infantry with bulky and ineffectual anti-tank rifles as their primary means of combating tanks. US planners realized that what infantrymen needed was a relatively lightweight, man-portable anti-tank weapon that was simple to operate, accurate, and capable of knocking out the average tank at a reasonable range, while also being effective against fortified buildings, pillboxes, and personnel in the open. The bazooka combined a revolutionary new anti-tank rifle-grenade warhead, a much-modified British anti-aircraft rocket motor, and a cobbled-together launcher tube and electrical firing system; its first test-firing astounded observers, and it was immediately adopted by the US armed forces. Featuring specially drawn colour artwork, this engaging study tells the story of the bazooka, which set the standard for future light anti-tank weapons and their ammunition, and was a key influence on anti-tank tactics and techniques in the post-war era.

Patton's Vanguard

Patton's Vanguard PDF Author: Don M. Fox
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786455160
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
Stirring accounts of the almost legendary campaigns of the United States Fourth Armored Division, universally recognized as "Patton's Best," from its pre-World War II origins up through its famous relief of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge are presented in this book. The break out of Normandy at Avranches, the isolation of the Brittany peninsula, the armored thrust across France, the tank battles at Arracourt that cemented the reputation of the Fourth Armored, the brutal struggle in Lorraine, and, ultimately, the legendary drive to Bastogne are among the topics. The accounts were assembled through the use of original unit combat diaries and after-action reports, memoirs of key historical figures and abundant supplementary documents and correspondences. But the essence of the book are the first-hand recollections from members of the division gathered by the author. With maps, drawings and photographs.

Visions of War

Visions of War PDF Author: M. Paul Holsinger
Publisher: Popular Press
ISBN: 9780879725563
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
For Americans World War II was "a good war," a war that was worth fighting. Even as the conflict was underway, a myriad of both fictional and nonfictional books began to appear examining one or another of the raging battles. These essays examine some of the best literature and popular culture of World War II. Many of the studies focus on women, several are about children, and all concern themselves with the ways that the war changed lives. While many of the contributors concern themselves with the United States, there are essays about Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Japan.

Arracourt 1944

Arracourt 1944 PDF Author: Mike Guardia
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 163624033X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
A photo-packed account of how the tanks of 4th Armored Division defeated two panzer brigades over eleven days of battle at Arracourt: “An enjoyable read.” —AMPS September 1944: With the Allies closing in on the Rhine, Adolf Hitler orders a counterattack on General Patton’s Third Army in France. Near the small French town of Arracourt, elements of the US 4th Armored Division meet the grizzled veterans of the 5th Panzer Army in combat. Atop their M4 Shermans, American tank crews square off against the technologically superior Mark V Panther tanks of the Wehrmacht. Yet through a combination of superior tactics, leadership, teamwork, and small-unit initiative, the outnumbered American forces win a decisive victory against the 5th Panzer Army. Indeed, of the 262 tanks and mobile assault guns fielded by German forces at Arracourt, 200 were damaged or destroyed by enemy fire. The Americans, by contrast, lost only 48 tanks. Following the collapse of the German counterattack, Patton’s Third Army found itself within striking distance of the Third Reich’s borderlands. The battle of Arracourt was the US Army’s largest tank battle until the Ardennes Offensive in December 1944. It helped pave the way for the final Allied assault into Germany, and showed how tactical ingenuity and adaptive leadership can overcome an enemy’s superior size or technological strength. This extensively illustrated book recounts the dramatic story. “An interesting study of small-unit leadership that emphasizes the importance of tank-crew training, the value of a reliable logistics system and effects of weather on battlefield activities.” —ARMOR Magazine “This well-written book explains how U.S. forces won this critical battle.” —WWII History Magazine “Enjoyable . . . includes some nicely done full color profiles of some of the tanks involved.” —ModelingMadness.com

Devotion

Devotion PDF Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804176604
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • From America’s “forgotten war” in Korea comes an unforgettable tale of courage by the author of A Higher Call. “In the spirit of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat comes Devotion.”—Associated Press • “Aerial drama at its best—fast, powerful, and moving.”—Erik Larson Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy’s most famous aviation duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper’s son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy’s first Black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn’t even serve him in a bar. While much of America remained divided by segregation, Jesse and Tom joined forces as wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32. Adam Makos takes us into the cockpit as these bold young aviators cut their teeth at the world’s most dangerous job—landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier—a line of work that Jesse’s young wife, Daisy, struggles to accept. Deployed to the Mediterranean, Tom and Jesse meet the Fleet Marines, boys like PFC “Red” Parkinson, a farm kid from the Catskills. In between war games in the sun, the young men revel on the Riviera, partying with millionaires and even befriending the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor. Then comes the conflict that no one expected: the Korean War. Devotion takes us soaring overhead with Tom and Jesse, and into the foxholes with Red and the Marines as they battle a North Korean invasion. As the fury of the fighting escalates and the Marines are cornered at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse fly, guns blazing, to try and save them. When one of the duo is shot down behind enemy lines and pinned in his burning plane, the other faces an unthinkable choice: watch his friend die or attempt history’s most audacious one-man rescue mission. A tug-at-the-heartstrings tale of bravery and selflessness, Devotion asks: How far would you go to save a friend?

Flying Through Time

Flying Through Time PDF Author: Jim Doyle
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1612342191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
Imagine what it would be like to talk and fly with the men who flew the airplanes of World War II. What was in their minds as they made their first solos? And what was air combat like? Flying Through Time is the closest many of us will come to understanding what it was like to be a WWII aviator.Tens of thousands of AmericaOCOs pilots during World War II trained in the Boeing Stearman biplane. For most, it was their first airplane in a series of larger, faster, and more dangerous aircraft that they used to fight the war. The pilots would never forget their first flights in a Stearman and the adventures that followed. Jim Doyle, owner of a restored 1941 Stearman, retraced the wartime journeys of his plane, crossing the country twice; flying over California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; and touching down at each of the eight bases at which it served. Flying Through Time is the story of DoyleOCOs challenging flight and of the uncertainties of piloting a sixty-year-old biplane almost 8,000 miles. His experiences meeting, talking, and flying with the men who flew the legendary Stearman paint a vivid picture of the intense, emotion-filled days of World War II. The pilotsOCO recollections, refreshed for many when they took the controls of DoyleOCOs plane, are woven throughout the narrative of his trip. These anecdotes, and new information from an archive discovered during the flight, tell of fears, courage, humor, and the sheer adventure of the events that owned the veteransOCO youth. This is seat-of-the-pants flying at its most thrilling, recalling a time when ordinary young Americans were called upon to be heroes."

Shadows

Shadows PDF Author: Alan Barker
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1780577672
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
In the early hours of 30 April 2003, twelve armed and uniformed officers accompanied by four plain-clothes detectives burst into Alan Barker's house. They stayed for hours, turning over rooms, seizing documents, impounding computers, files and anything else that interested them. The family were treated as terrorist suspects, the operation resembling so many others in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. But Alan Barker was and is no terrorist. In fact, he has spent his adult life fighting terrorism on the streets of his native province. Barker belonged to the Special Branch, the RUC's elite unit dedicated to fighting the IRA, the INLA and loyalist terrorists. He gives a gripping insider's account of life on the frontline and demonstrates how the RUC used sophisticated listening devices and informants, including the notorious supergrass Raymond Gilmour, in their fight to gain the upper hand. After nearly 30 years of loyal service, Barker retired angry and disillusioned about what he views as the government's capitulation to the terrorists. This is the book that Downing Street and the Northern Ireland Office don't want you to read. It is a story of courage under fire, guile, Le Carré-esque plots and treachery.

Heavy Weather

Heavy Weather PDF Author: Bruce Sterling
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504063074
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
A near-future eco-thriller from the bestselling author of Schismatrix Plus and The Difference Engine. The Storm Troupers are a group of weather hackers who roam the plains of Texas and Oklahoma, hopped up on adrenaline and technology. Utilizing virtual reality, flying robots, and all-terrain vehicles, they collect data on the extreme storms ravaging an America decimated by climate change. But even their visionary leader can’t predict the danger on the horizon when a volatile new member joins their ranks and faces a trial by fire: a massive tornado unlike any the world has seen before. “A remarkable and individual sharpness of vision . . . Sterling hacks the future, and an elegant hack it is.” —Locus “Lucid and tremendously entertaining. Sterling shows once more his skills in storytelling and technospeak. A cyberpunk winner.” —Kirkus Reviews “So believable are the speculations that . . . one becomes convinced that the world must and will develop into what Sterling has predicted.” —Science Fiction Age “A very exciting coming-of-age story in a wild future America . . . What’s it got? Cyberpunk attitude, genuine humor, nanotechnology, minimal sex but some cool medications and very big weather systems.” —SFReviews.net “Brilliant . . . Fascinating . . . Exciting . . . A full complement of thrills.” —The New York Review of Science Fiction

Devotion (Adapted for Young Adults)

Devotion (Adapted for Young Adults) PDF Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN: 0593481453
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
A young adult adaptation of the national bestseller that details the true story of two Navy pilots from divergent racial and economic backgrounds who forge a deep friendship during the Korean War as they face extraordinary circumstances. Soon to be major motion picture starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, with a supporting cast including Joe Jonas! Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, both Navy pilots during the Korean War in 1950, come from different backgrounds: Hudner is a white New Englander, a son of privilege; Brown is an African American son of a sharecropper from Mississippi. When the two men join forces in Fighter Squadron 32, they forge a deep friendship at a time when racial inequality was prevalent in America. An unwavering commitment binds Tom and Jesse to each other as well as to their comrades. The two fly to save a division of US Marines cornered during the battle at Chosin Reservoir, but catastrophe strikes when one of them is shot down behind enemy lines and trapped in the wreckage of his plane. The other will face an unthinkable choice: watch their friend die, or attempt one of history’s most audacious one-man rescue missions. What transpires is harrowing and heartbreaking, an inspirational story for all time.