Black Hearts and Painted Guns

Black Hearts and Painted Guns PDF Author: Kelly Eads
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636241980
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Candid memoir of facing extreme violence in Iraq’s Triangle of Death with the 101st Airborne Division. Kelly Eads joined the 101st Airborne Division soon after 9/11, his experience reflecting the patriotism and commitment of so many young men and women who responded to the attack. He deployed to Iraq twice with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Early in their deployment to Iraq, the 2nd Battalion brought the fight directly to the enemy by setting up patrol bases in the local areas where they lived and operated. Soon they built a reputation for themselves, becoming known to the enemy as the Black Hearts—The 502nd had been distinguished on the battlefield by black hearts on their helmets since World War II. Their Scout Platoon became known as Painted Guns due to their practice of camouflaging their rifles. During Eads’ deployments, the battalion would experience thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices and firefights. They would spend countless hours in blistering 120-degree desert heat, controlling roads and preventing enemy freedom of movement; and would dedicate months to hunting enemy mortar teams and terror cells. With the help of Dan Morgan, an Infantry officer who deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan as a commander and operations officer, Eads takes the reader on a rollercoaster of combat experiences during the hunt for the most violent terrorist in Iraq, Abu Mu??ab Zarqawi, bringing to life the painstaking and horrid details of combat in a sectarian war. He tells the story of the soldiers’ camaraderie, built through adversity, and the love of family that sustained them.

Black Hearts and Painted Guns

Black Hearts and Painted Guns PDF Author: Kelly Eads
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636241980
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
Candid memoir of facing extreme violence in Iraq’s Triangle of Death with the 101st Airborne Division. Kelly Eads joined the 101st Airborne Division soon after 9/11, his experience reflecting the patriotism and commitment of so many young men and women who responded to the attack. He deployed to Iraq twice with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Early in their deployment to Iraq, the 2nd Battalion brought the fight directly to the enemy by setting up patrol bases in the local areas where they lived and operated. Soon they built a reputation for themselves, becoming known to the enemy as the Black Hearts—The 502nd had been distinguished on the battlefield by black hearts on their helmets since World War II. Their Scout Platoon became known as Painted Guns due to their practice of camouflaging their rifles. During Eads’ deployments, the battalion would experience thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices and firefights. They would spend countless hours in blistering 120-degree desert heat, controlling roads and preventing enemy freedom of movement; and would dedicate months to hunting enemy mortar teams and terror cells. With the help of Dan Morgan, an Infantry officer who deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan as a commander and operations officer, Eads takes the reader on a rollercoaster of combat experiences during the hunt for the most violent terrorist in Iraq, Abu Mu??ab Zarqawi, bringing to life the painstaking and horrid details of combat in a sectarian war. He tells the story of the soldiers’ camaraderie, built through adversity, and the love of family that sustained them.

Black Hearts

Black Hearts PDF Author: Jim Frederick
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307450988
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 474

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Book Description
“Riveting. . . a testament to a misconceived war, and to the ease with which ordinary men, under certain conditions, can transform into monsters.”—New York Times Book Review This is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment—a unit known as “the Black Heart Brigade.” Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq’s so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country’s most dangerous location at its most dangerous time. Hit by near-daily mortars, gunfire, and roadside bomb attacks, suffering from a particularly heavy death toll, and enduring a chronic breakdown in leadership, members of one Black Heart platoon—1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion—descended, over their year-long tour of duty, into a tailspin of poor discipline, substance abuse, and brutality. Four 1st Platoon soldiers would perpetrate one of the most heinous war crimes U.S. forces have committed during the Iraq War—the rape of a fourteen-year-old Iraqi girl and the cold-blooded execution of her and her family. Three other 1st Platoon soldiers would be overrun at a remote outpost—one killed immediately and two taken from the scene, their mutilated corpses found days later booby-trapped with explosives. Black Hearts is an unflinching account of the epic, tragic deployment of 1st Platoon. Drawing on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with Black Heart soldiers and first-hand reporting from the Triangle of Death, Black Hearts is a timeless story about men in combat and the fragility of character in the savage crucible of warfare. But it is also a timely warning of new dangers emerging in the way American soldiers are led on the battlefields of the twenty-first century.

Black Hearts and Painted Guns

Black Hearts and Painted Guns PDF Author: Kelly Eads
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 9781636241975
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Candid memoir of facing extreme violence in Iraq's Triangle of Death with the 101st Airborne Division.

The Guns at Last Light

The Guns at Last Light PDF Author: Rick Atkinson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 142994367X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 897

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Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The magnificent conclusion to Rick Atkinson's acclaimed Liberation Trilogy about the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how the American-led coalition fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now, in The Guns at Last Light, he tells the most dramatic story of all—the titanic battle for Western Europe. D-Day marked the commencement of the final campaign of the European war, and Atkinson's riveting account of that bold gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich—all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at every level, from presidents and generals to war-weary lieutenants and terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the enormous effort required to win the Allied victory. With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Atkinson's accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that unshackled a continent and preserved freedom in the West. One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013

Black Hearts, Black Spades

Black Hearts, Black Spades PDF Author: Frank Chandler
Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd
ISBN: 0719822394
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Orphaned after tragic events during a dreadful storm, two young children, Jacob and Rachel Peterson, leave Beckinson in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains for adoption by an uncle and aunt in Chicago. Ten years later, when the opportunity arises to expand his uncle's business, Jacob chooses to set up in Beckinson. Fifteen year-old Rachel remembers nothing of the past and is unaware of the anger that is consuming her brother. Jacob is set on discovering the truth behind the events that took their parents, but Beckinson is now rife with corruption; a degenerate and dangerous town where outlaws walk free. What could Jacob possibly do against that?

Resisting Occupation in Kashmir

Resisting Occupation in Kashmir PDF Author: Haley Duschinski
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 081224978X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Resisting Occupation in Kashmir considers the social and legal dimensions of India's occupation of Kashmir and the ways in which Kashmiri youth are drawing on the region's history of armed rebellion to reimagine the freedom struggle in the twenty-first century.

The 143rd in Iraq

The 143rd in Iraq PDF Author: Marc Youngquist
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780997120783
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
Master Sergeant Marc Youngquist has served for over 40 years in the military and law enforcement. Over those years, he has met many unsung American heroes. These are men and women who have served our country with limited resources and support while being separated from friends and loved ones for months at a time, often while living in hostile environments. When they return home, these soldiers do their best to pick up where they left off, resuming their lives, never sharing the details of their heroic acts because ¿it¿s all part of the job.¿ Even close friends and (especially) their families never hear about the danger they were in or the lives they impacted, despite the heroism of their acts. In The 143rd in Iraq, Youngquist provides a firsthand account of a Connecticut National Guard Military Police Company¿s attempt to recruit, train and prepare an Iraqi Police Force in 2003-2004, and the many dangers they faced as a result. From training for desert conditions in the dead of winter without the appropriate gear to driving through the night trying to find Baghdad with pieces of a map puzzle and finally to entering war zones without an adequate supply of soldiers, weapons or ammo, Youngquist shares how the 143rd Military Police Company did what they could, in spite of it all. If you have ever wondered what it means when politician¿s use the term ¿boots on the ground,¿ this military history of just one company¿s experiences will provide you with an eye-opening narrative, putting you in the thick of the action with these brave men and women. Whether you¿re interested in military history, American heroes, the Middle East in general or the Iraq war history specifically, or you simply enjoy a riveting story of bravery and dedication, The 143rd in Iraq is sure to please.

Illusions of Victory

Illusions of Victory PDF Author: Carter Malkasian
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190659440
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
In the immediate aftermath of the 2007 "Surge" of American troops in Iraq, the defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in Anbar Province was widely hailed as one of America's signature victories. US Marines and soldiers fought for years there, in grinding battles such as Fallujah and Ramadi that define the experience of Iraq. Eventually, the fractious tribal sheiks in that province, with the help of American troops, united in an "Awakening" that dealt AQI a stunning defeat. The Awakening's success argued that the United States could intervene in a war-torn country and, with the right strategy, bring stability and peace. It seemed to exemplify snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. A decade later, the situation in Anbar Province is dramatically different. In 2014, much of Anbar fell to the AQI's successor organization, the Islamic State, which swept through the region with shocking ease. In Illusions of Victory, Carter Malkasian looks at the wreckage to explain why the Awakening's initial promise proved misleading and why victory was unsustainable. Malkasian begins by tracing the origins of the Awakening, then turns his attention to what happened in its wake. After the United States left, Iraq's Shi'a government sidelined Sunni leaders throughout the country. AQI, brought back to life as the Islamic State, expanded in northern and western Iraq and quickly found a receptive audience among marginalized Sunnis. In short order, the progress that had resulted from the Awakening fell apart. Malkasian draws many lessons from Anbar. Chief among them, the most stunning of victories may not last. The fact that the leading model of success fell apart severely damages the idea that the United States can send the military to a country for a few years and create lasting peace. Even the most successful example was bound to deeper social, sectarian, and religious forces insensitive to temporary boots on the ground. From today's perspective, rather than decisive success, Anbar exemplifies how intervention itself is a costly, long-term project. The most brilliant victory could not escape this wisdom.

States in Disguise

States in Disguise PDF Author: Belgin San-Akca
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190250909
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
There is a long history of state governments providing support to nonstate armed groups fighting battles in other countries. Examples include Syria's aid to Hamas, Ecuador's support for FARC, and Libya's donation of arms to the IRA. What motivates states to do this? And why would rebel groups align themselves with these states? In States in Disguise, Belgin San-Akca builds a rigorous theoretical framework within which to study the complex and fluid network of relationships between states and rebel groups, including ethnic and religious insurgents, revolutionary groups, and terrorists. She proves that patterns of alliances between armed rebels and modern states are hardly coincidental, but the result of systematic and strategic choices made by both states and rebel groups. San-Akca demonstrates that these alliances are the result of shared conflictual, material and ideational interests, and her theory shows how to understand these ties via the domestic and international environment. Drawing from an original data set of 455 groups, their target states, and supporters over a span of more than sixty years, she explains that states are most likely to support rebel groups when they are confronted with internal and external threats simultaneously, while rebels select strong states and democracies when seeking outside support. She also shows that states and rebels look to align with one another when they share ethnic, religious and ideological ties. Through its broad chronological sweep, States in Disguise reveals how and why the phenomenon of state and rebel group alliances has evolved over time.

Black Heart

Black Heart PDF Author: Mike Nicol
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
ISBN: 1415202362
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The third instalment in Nicol's Revenge Trilogy. Mace Bishop has become obsessed with tracking down Sheemina February who he believes contracted his wife’s murder when his and his business partner Pylon’s security company is contracted to provide security to a local arms systems designer – Magnus Oosthuizen – who has created weapons for South African navy frigates. Oosthuizen is tendering against alternative First World-designed weapons systems. But Oosthuizen’s life is threatened and Mace learns that the government’s arms buyers want to acquire the First World weapons system for the frigates to benefit from financial kickbacks. Enter the National Intelligence Agency that puts pressure on Mace and Pylon to steal the Oosthuizen weapons system. Gradually, Mace recognises the hidden hand of Sheemina February and realises that he is being manipulated.