Veterans Day: Books at Foley Library

The New York Times Bestseller | Winner of the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award  Omaha Beach legend Ray Lambert's unforgettable firsthand account of D-Day  "Lambert landed on [Omaha Beach] as a 23-year-old Army medic. ... As the bullets cut down his comrades, he raced repeatedly back into the sea to drag out wounded soldiers." --New York Times Seventy-five years ago, he hit Omaha Beach with the first wave. Now D-Day legend Ray Lambert (1920-2021) delivers one of the most remarkable memoirs of our time, a tour-de-force of remembrance evoking his role as a decorated World War II medic who risked his life to save the heroes of Normandy.  At five a.m. on June 6, 1944, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ray Lambert worked his way through a throng of nervous soldiers to a wind-swept deck on a troopship off the coast of Normandy, France. A familiar voice cut through the wind and rumble of the ship's engines. "Ray!" called his brother, Bill. Ray, head of a medical team for the First Division's famed 16th Infantry Regiment, had already won a silver star in 1943 for running through German lines to rescue trapped men, one of countless rescues he'd made in North Africa and Sicily. "This is going to be the worst yet," Ray told his brother, who served alongside him throughout the war. "If I don't make it," said Bill, "take care of my family." "I will," said Ray. He thought about his wife and son-a boy he had yet to see. "Same for me." The words were barely out of Ray's mouth when a shout came from below. To the landing craft! The brothers parted. Their destinies lay ten miles away, on the bloodiest shore of Normandy, a plot of Omaha Beach ironically code named "Easy Red." Less than five hours later, after saving dozens of lives and being wounded at least three separate times, Ray would lose consciousness in the shallow water of the beach under heavy fire. He would wake on the deck of a landing ship to find his battered brother clinging to life next to him. Every Man a Hero is the unforgettable story not only of what happened in the incredible and desperate hours on Omaha Beach, but of the bravery and courage that preceded them, throughout the Second World War--from the sands of Africa, through the treacherous mountain passes of Sicily, and beyond to the greatest military victory the world has ever known.  

"A gritty, first-person account. ... One can hear Shaw's voice as if he were sitting beside you." --Wall Street Journal An unforgettable soldier's-eye view of the Pacific War's bloodiest battle, by the first American officer ashore Okinawa.  On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, 1.5 million men gathered aboard 1,500 Allied ships off the coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa. The men were there to launch the largest amphib­ious assault on the Pacific Theater. War planners expected an 80 percent casualty rate. The first American officer ashore was then-Major Art Shaw (1920-2020), a unit commander in the U.S. Army's 361st Field Artillery Battalion of the 96th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Deadeyes. For the next three months, Shaw and his men served near the front lines of the Pacific's costliest battle, their artillery proving decisive against a phantom enemy who had entrenched itself in the rugged, craggy island. Over eighty-two days, the Allies fought the Japanese army in a campaign that would claim more than 150,000 human lives. When the final calculations were made, the Deadeyes were estimated to have killed 37,763 of the enemy. The 361st Field Artillery Battalion had played a crucial role in the victory. The campaign would be the last major battle of World War II and a key pivot point leading to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to the Japanese surrender in August, two months after the siege's end. Filled with extraordinary details, Shaw's gripping account gives lasting testimony to the courage and bravery displayed by so many on the hills of Okinawa.

They became America's first black paratroopers. Why was their story never told? Sibert Medalist Tanya Lee Stone reveals the history of the Triple Nickles during World War II. World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, the injustice of discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Enlisted black men are segregated from white soldiers and regularly relegated to service duties. At Fort Benning, Georgia, First Sergeant Walter Morris's men serve as guards at The Parachute School, while the white soldiers prepare to be paratroopers. Morris knows that for his men to be treated like soldiers, they have to train and act like them, but would the military elite and politicians recognize the potential of these men as well as their passion for serving their country? Tanya Lee Stone examines the role of African Americans in the military through the history of the Triple Nickles, America's first black paratroopers, who fought in a little-known attack on the American West by the Japanese. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in the words of Morris, "proved that the color of a man had nothing to do with his ability." From Courage Has No Color What did it take to be a paratrooper in World War II? Specialized training, extreme physical fitness, courage, and -- until the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (the Triple Nickles) was formed -- white skin. It is 1943. Americans are overseas fighting World War II to help keep the world safe from Adolf Hitler's tyranny, safe from injustice, safe from discrimination. Yet right here at home, people with white skin have rights that people with black skin do not. What is courage? What is strength? Perhaps it is being ready to fight for your nation even when your nation isn't ready to fight for you. Front matter includes a foreword by Ashley Bryan. Back matter includes an author's note, an appendix, a time line, source notes, a bibliography, and an index.

After World War II the United States and Britain airlifted food and supplies into Russian-blockaded West Berlin. US Air Force Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen knew the children of the city were suffering. To lift their spirits, he began dropping chocolate and gum by parachute. Michael O. Tunnell tells an inspiring tale of candy and courage, illustrated with Lt. Halvorsen's personal photographs, as well as letters and drawings from the children of Berlin to their beloved "Uncle Wiggly Wings."

In the heat of battle, in the devastated countryside, among troops and civilians equally hurt by the savagery of war, Larry Burrows photographed the conflict in Vietnam from 1962, the earliest days of American involvement, until 1971, when he died in a helicopter shot down on the Vietnam–Laos border. His images, published inLifemagazine, brought the war home, scorching the consciousness of the public and inspiring much of the anti-war sentiment that convulsed American society in the 1960s. To see these photo essays today, gathered in one volume and augmented by unpublished images from the Burrows archive, is to experience (or to relive), with extraordinary immediacy, both the war itself and the effect and range of Larry Burrows’s gifts—his courage: to shoot “The Air War,” he strapped himself and his camera to the open doorway of a plane . . . his reporter’s instinct: accompanying the mission of the helicopter Yankee Papa 13, he captured the transformation of a young marine crew chief experiencing the death of fellow marines . . . and his compassion: in “Operation Prairie” and “A Degree of Disillusion” he published profoundly affecting images of exhausted, bloodied troops and maimed Vietnamese children, both wounded, physically and psychologically, by the ever-escalating war. The photographs Larry Burrows took in Vietnam, magnificently reproduced in this volume, are brutal, poignant, and utterly truthful, a stunning example of photojournalism that recorded history and achieved the level of great art. Indeed, in retrospect, says David Halberstam in his moving introduction, “Larry Burrows was as much historian as photographer and artist. Because of his work, generations born long after he died will be able to witness and understand and feel the terrible events he recorded. This book is his last testament.” With 150 illustrations, 100 in full color

The inspiring, unflinching true story of "blind" faith, as Major Scotty Smiley awakes in a hospital bed and realizes his world is permanently dark he must stretch his faith like never before. Courageous, heartfelt, and honest, Hope Unseen challenges readers to question their doubts, not their beliefs, and depend upon God no matter what. A nervous glance from a man in a parked car. Muted instincts from a soldier on patrol. Violent destruction followed by total darkness. Two weeks later, Scotty Smiley woke up in Walter Reed Army Medical Center, helpless . . . and blind. Blindness became Scotty's journey of supreme testing. As he lay helpless in the hospital, Captain Smiley resented the theft of his dreams--becoming a CEO, a Delta Force operator, or a four-star general. With his wife Tiffany's love and the support of his family and friends, Scotty was transformed--the injury only intensifying his indomitable spirit. Since the moment he jumped out of a hospital bed and forced his way through nurses and cords to take a simple shower, Captain Scotty Smiley has climbed Mount Rainier, won an ESPY as Best Outdoor Athlete, surfed, skydived, become a father, earned an MBA from Duke, taught leadership at West Point, commanded an army company, and won the MacArthur Leadership Award. Scotty and Tiffany Smiley have lived out a faith so real that it will inspire you to question your own doubts, push you to serve something bigger than yourself, and encourage you to cling to a Hope Unseen.

This magnificent commemorative volume traces the tragedy of the Great War in words and pictures. Best-selling author Max Arthur brilliantly conveys not only the heroism, but also the universal horror, futility, absurdity and boredom of early 20th-century warfare. From the frontline troops and the daily dance with death, to the support lines, communications, enlistment, training, and propaganda, the story of the war is illustrated with over 200 images that have been handpicked from the world famous collection of the Imperial War Museum in London. Every aspect of the soldier's life is covered in this brilliant collection of images and eyewitness accounts that bring the Great War to life once more.

During World War I, about 10,000 Native Americans either enlisted or were drafted into the American Expeditionary Force. Three related questions are examined in depth for the first time in this book: What were the battlefield experiences of Native Americans? How did racial and cultural stereotypes about Indians affect their duties? Did their wartime contributions lead to changes in federal Indian policy or their standard of living?Many American Indians distinguished themselves fighting on the Western Front. And as compared to black and Mexican American soldiers, Indians enjoyed near universal respect when in uniform. Both in combat and in their support roles on the homefront, including volunteer contributions by Indian women, Native Americans hoped their efforts would result in a more vigorous application of democracy. But the Bureau of Indian Affairs continued to cut health and education programs and to suppress Indian cultures.

The little-known American Balloon Service worked in combat to help direct artillery fire more accurately and provide essential intelligence on enemy troop movements during World War I. German use of observation balloons to direct artillery fire in August of 1914 forced the Allies to develop a similar force. With the U.S. entry into the war in 1917, the balloon service, starting from scratch, evolved into an effective, disciplined fighting unit, whose achievements are unfortunately overshadowed by those of the flying aces. Reminiscences from balloon veterans form the basis of this book, the first to picture life as a gasbagger in the three major American engagements of the war. Amazingly, life as an observer suspended in a wicker basket under an elephantine hydrogen balloon proved less deadly than piloting an airplane. From his grandstand seat, the observer kept tabs on the war below him and telephoned vital information to headquarters command. These reports were often the only accurate intelligence available. Balloonists remember the war as a great adventure, one which many of them lived to tell about.

Only seventeen years after the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) , America entered into a global conflict known as World War I.  It was a short period, less than two years until the Armistice in 1918, but the demands on nurses were profound.   The ANC grew from 403 members to over 22,000 utilizing a significant portion of all the professional nurses in the United States.  Their willingness to volunteer was the blueprint for how nurses would answer the need across the 20th century when the patriots responded to a call to arms in support of our Nation and freedom around the world.   Recognition of the valuable role nurses played during the war led to the establishment, also in 1918, of the Army School of Nursing, a highly respected and unique institution that set exacting and enduring standards of quality.   In dedicating this commemorative publication to all Army nurses who served during the First World War, the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Army Medical Command pay tribute to the significant contributions that the Army Nurse Corps made to the advancement of military medicine 90 years ago.

More than twelve thousand American Indians served in the United States military in World War I, even though many were not U.S. citizens and did not enjoy the benefits of enfranchisement. Using the words of the veterans themselves, as collected by Joseph K. Dixon (1856–1926), North American Indians in the Great War presents the experiences of American Indian veterans during World War I and after their return home. nbsp; Dixon, a photographer, author, and Indian rights advocate, had hoped that documenting American Indian service in the military would aid the Indian struggle to obtain general U.S. citizenship. Dixon managed to document nearly a quarter of the Indians who had served but was unable to complete his work, and his records languished unexamined until now. Unlike other sources of information on Indian military service collected by government officials, Dixon’s records come primarily from the veterans themselves. Their comments reveal pride in upholding an Indian tradition of military service as well as frustration with the U.S. government. Particularly in its immediacy and individuality, Dixon’s documentation of American Indian veterans of World War I adds greatly to our understanding of the experiences of American Indians in the U.S. military.

During World War I, the first American war in which women were mobilized on a mass scale by the armed services, more than sixteen thousand women served overseas with the American Expeditionary Force. Although wealthy women volunteers--members of the so-called ?heiress corps?--monopolized public attention, Susan Zeiger reveals that the majority of AEF women were wage-earners. Their motives for enlistment ranged from patriotism to economic self-interest, from a sense of adventure to a desire to challenge gender boundaries. Zeiger uses diaries, letters, questionnaires, oral histories, and memoirs to explore the women's experience of war. She draws upon insights from labor history, political history, popular culture, and the study of gender and war to analyze the ways in which women's wartime service heightened and made visible the contradictions in the prevailing gender relations. Zeiger argues that the interests of AEF women clashed with those of the wartime state at a crucial historical moment. Women sought to expand their personal opportunities for mobility and professional success and lay claim to equal citizenship. The government, determined to contain the disruption to the status quo, created a separate, subordinate status for women in the military, ?domesticating? women's service and reinscribing it within conventional limits.

This is the 1944-1946 diary and story of James Reding, a young sailor in the U.S. Navy serving aboard the USS Fergus, APA 82, in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the final months of World War II. During that period of time he participated in the Okinawa and Philippines campaigns, the initial occupation of Japan, the Magic Carpet, and the preparations for the Operations Crossroads atomic bomb experiments at Bikini Atoll.

The German Wehrmacht was one of the most capable fighting forces the world has ever known, but in the end it was no match for the Allies. Some historians contend that the Allies achieved victory through brute force and material superiority. But, as Peter Mansoor argues, all of the material produced by US industry was useles without trained soldiers to operate it, a coherent doctrine for its use, and leaders who could effectively command the formations into which it was organized.

The Boys of Winter is the poignant true story of three young Depression-era American ski champions and their brutal, heroic, and ultimately tragic transformation from athletes to infantrymen with the fabled 10th Mountain Division. Rudy Konieczny, Jacob Nunnemacher, and Ralph Bromaghin -- three skiers from disparate geographic and economic backgrounds -- forged names for themselves in the burgeoning sport of snow skiing during the late 1930s. With the world suddenly at war, they found themselves drawn together with several of the world's greatest winter athletes in the US 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale, Colorado, where they trained to fight Hitler's troops in the mountains of Europe. Drawing on dozens of interviews and extensive historical research, Charles J Sanders reveals the stories of these young men in a fast-paced and exhilarating narrative. training at Mount Rainier and in the Colorado Rockies to bloody battles against the Nazis in the Apennine Mountains of Northern Italy. Ultimately, The Boys of Winter is the story of how some of America's best and brightest died in the war's last and most desperate battles under General Mark Clark, calling into question their sacrifices -- and those of thousands of other troops -- on the 'forgotten' Italian front in the spring of 1945.

Meticulously researched and wonderfully suspenseful, Blood for Dignity is the tale of a fascinating and little-known piece of World War II American history, seen through the eyes of 5th Platoon, K Company, 394th Regiment, 99th Division&mdashthe first black unit integrated with a white infantry company since the Revolutionary War. David P. Colley paints an absorbing, combat-heavy portrait of these African American and white men fighting together for their country—an historical event whose resonance would be felt for generations, and whose lesson would be transposed onto American society, shattering myths and destroying assumptions that had haunted blacks for years. The integration of African American platoons with white combat units at the tail end of World War II almost didn't happen. With the pressing need for more troops and the vision of men such as Dwight Eisenhower, black soldiers who only wanted to fight for their country were finally given the opportunity in March of 1945. The performance of these soldiers laid to rest the accepted white attitude of a century and a half that African Americans were cowardly and inferior fighters. In fact, they proved to be just the opposite. From basic training in the deep south, to hard labor in Europe, these men traveled a long and difficult road before they could take up arms for their country. The 5th of K finally saw combat at the Remagen Bridgehead as they fought side-by-side with white soldiers, driving back a dangerous German army in 1945. Thanks to in-depth interviews with many of those who fought in and alongside the 5th of K, author David P. Colley mixes the horrors of war with the intensely personal in a way that brings us closer to the brave men of this Platoon—a group of soldiers whom readers will come to know and admire and not soon forget.

Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company, which kept getting the tough assignments. Easy Company was responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. "Band of Brothers" is the account of the men of this remarkable unit who fought, went hungry, froze, and died, a company that took 150 percent casualities and considered the Purple Heart a badge of office. Drawing on hours of interviews with survivors as well as the soldiers' journals and letters, Stephen Ambrose tell the stories -- often in the men's own words -- of these American hereoes.

"Like many young men, Adolph Newton forged his parents' signatures at seventeen to join the Navy and fight the Japanese in the Pacific. But unlike others, Newton was black and became one of the very few African Americans to serve in the general enlisted ranks rather than as a mess attendant serving meals to officers and cleaning their quarters. In this intense, long-overdue memoir, he describes his life as a black seaman on an integrated warship, explaining how he attempted to deal with discrimination and personal freedom and how, despite the difficulties, he developed a lasting affection for the Navy. Newton's story is representative of a generation of African Americans who came of age during the war, needing to prove themselves by fighting for a country that had denied them the full benefits of citizenship. A landmark work, it is the first memoir to be published by a black sailor in the forefront of Roosevelt's order to integrate the Navy." "Based on journals he kept during the war, the book retains the raw emotions and expressions of a young sailor in the 1940s. He speaks candidly of race relations and how his views evolved from conversations with southern blacks, confrontations with prejudiced whites, and encounters with Europeans. And his story does not stop at war's end. Unable to find civilian employment that utilized his technical skills, he reenlisted in 1946 only to find the Navy more rigid than during the war." "His reflections on life as a young black man who knew that just being good was not good enough make an important contribution to the record. At the same time his recountings of misdeeds, including the ribald pursuit of "the perfect liberty" and its sometimes chilling consequences, make entertaining reading."--Jacket.

A-Train is the story of one of the black Americans who, during World War II, graduated from Tuskegee (AL) Flying School and served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps’ 99th Pursuit Squadron. Charles W. Dryden presents a fast-paced, balanced, and personal account of what it was like to prepare for a career traditionally closed to African Americans, how he coped with the frustrations and dangers of combat, and how he, along with many fellow black pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and crewmen, emerged with a magnificent war record. Under the command of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the Tuskegee airmen fought over North Africa, Sicily, and Europe, escorting American bomber crews who respected their "no-losses" record. Some were shot down, many of them were killed or captured by the enemy, and several won medals of valor and honor. But the airmen still faced great barriers of racial prejudice in the armed forces and at home. As a member of that elite group of young pilots who fought for their country overseas while being denied civil liberties at home, Dryden presents an eloquent story that will touch each and every reader. nbsp;

In the last decade of the twentieth century, today's United States Air Force marks the fiftieth anniversary of its part in a national effort that opposed a coalition of enemies in a global war. American and allied air forces in the conflict for the first time achieved striking range and effectiveness making air power a force equal to that of traditional armies and navies. The Center for Air Force History has prepared this narrative to commemorate the accomplishments of American air power in World War II and present to the American people a record of valor in the name of freedom. Partial contents include : A Weapon and an Idea ; Europe in Flames ; In Desperate Battle ; Building Air Power ; Defeating Italy and Germany ; Victory Over Japan ; A New Age ; Theater Maps ; Air Forces Lineages.

Eleven United States Army Air Forces veterans reflect on their wartime experiences. They speak with clarity and authority and in remarkable detail on such topics as military preparedness, leadership, training, racial segregation, the treatment of American prisoners of war, military technology, the Allied invasion of Japan, and the use of atomic weapons.

When the United States Army Air Corps, responding to pressure, opened its ranks to blacks in July 1941, it formed four fighter squadrons exclusively composed of black men. Known as the Tuskegee Airmen, these squadrons represented the total number of blacks who saw action in United States combat aviation in the Second World War. Compiling the operational and combat history of the Tuskegee Airmen, Stanley Sandler examines the history of these pioneer black units--from their early training at Tuskegee, Alabama, to aerial combat in the European theater. He reveals how the squadrons and the fighter group, disadvantaged by inexperience and intense national scrutiny, succeeded in compiling impressive combat records. Ultimately, Sandler states, the Tuskegee Airmen would lead the United States Air Force toward racial parity in the post-war era, years ahead of American society itself. Sandler draws on oral interviews, the units' official records as well as those of the Army and the Army Air Forces, and the federal government archives. He describes blacks' early noncombatant roles in the Army Air Corps--grave registration, housecleaning, supply, and transport. He details the eventual inclusion of black men in combat aviation, beginning with the 99th Pursuit Squadron, whose members were the first blacks to enter American military aviation, as well as the 332nd Fighter Group.

The conventional picture of Allied POWs in the World War II prisoner-of-war camps is of escape attempts (Colditz and The Great Escape) or terrible brutality (the Far Eastern camps and The Bridge on the River Kwai). But what did the men really do all day? In fact, as this extraordinary and acclaimed book shows, British prisoners showed the most amazing ingenuity and determination to turn their camp into a hive of every kind of activity.

"Tenney's searing wartime experiences and a subsequent close friendship with a Japanese exchange student bring a unique perspective to the current debates over Japan's wartime culpability, the morality of the atomic bombings, and relations today between Japanese and Americans. My Hitch in Hell is a first-person account of one of the twentieth century's great tragedies and a prisoner survival epic that contains inspiring lessons for everyone."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This unique book is a collection of fifty-five oral histories recording the experiences of black American soldiers in World War II. The taped interviews record the experiences of young men, largely from the north and midwest, who were caught up in what they supposed to be a national war effort only to find themselves confronted by the official policy of segregation and by local southern attitudes in army camps and the neighboring communities, as well as overseas.

This text tells the full story of the Comanche Code Talkers. Drawing on interviews with all surviving members of the unit, their original training officer, and fellow soldiers, as well as military records and news accounts, William C. Meadows follows the group from their recruitment and training to their active duty in World War II and on through their postwar lives up to the present. He also provides a comparison of Native American code talking programs, comparing the Comanche Code Talkers with their better-known Navajo counterparts in the Pacific and with other Native Americans who used their languages, coded or not, for secret communication. Meadows sets this history in a larger discussion of the development of Native American code talking in World Wars I and II, identifying two distinct forms of Native American code talking, examining the attitudes of the American military toward Native American code talkers, and assessing the complex cultural factors that led Comanche and other Native Americans to serve their country in this way.

The award-winning New York Times bestseller about the American women who secretly served as codebreakers during World War II--a "prodigiously researched and engrossing" (New York Times) book that "shines a light on a hidden chapter of American history" (Denver Post). Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

I was 13 years old and clearly remember World War II in 1943 and patriotism was at its' highest. Young men 18 years old and men up to 40 years old were being drafted into the military service. I was tall for my age at 13. I went to the draft board and told them I was 18, they believed me and I was drafted into the army. After 1 year of military duty, I was honorably discharged after returning home. I was inducted into the American Legion as the nation's youngest legionnaire. At the age of 17 and with the permission of my mother, I volunteered to go back into the army and I was sent to serve in Berlin in 1947. At this time in Berlin, the Russians had set up a blockade around West Berlin, trapping American, French and British Armies. When in Berlin, I was given the opportunity to guard some of the top Nazis at Spandau Prison. After my duty in Germany I served in Korea on the front line during the war. Also served in the Vietnam War and was wounded in Vietnam. After 22 years of Army service I retired.

Real letters ... real experiences ... a brief chronicle from Harold J. Voltz, a scout with the famous 4th Armored Division/25th Cavalry Sq. during World War II. Adventure awaits this 21-year-old factory worker from Ohio as war is declared, the draft implemented, and he is indoctrinated with strenuous preparation for over two years.

"If you survive your first day, I'll promote you." So promised George Wilson's World War II commanding officer in the hedgerows of Normandy -- and it was to be a promise dramatically fulfilled. From July, 1944, to the closing days of the war, from the first penetration of the Siegfried Line to the Nazis' last desperate charge in the Battle of the Bulge, Wilson fought in the thickest of the action, helping take the small towns of northern France and Belgium building by building. Of all the men and officers who started out in Company F of the 4th Infantry Division with him, Wilson was the only one who finished. In the end, he felt not like a conqueror or a victor, but an exhausted survivor, left with nothing but his life -- and his emotions. If You Survive One of the great first-person accounts of the making of a combat veteran, in the last, most violent months of World War II.

Never Will We Forget deals with the most enduring and moving side of World War II, the personal side. These are the stories of some 400 men and women, who, though they experienced the war in wildly different ways, were all profoundly affected by it. Gleaned from interviews and oral histories, the book reflects the experiences of male and female veterans, civilians on the home front, conscientious objectors, survivors of the torpedoing of the USS Indianapolis and of typhoons, participants in the Normandy Invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Some stories tug at the heart, some foster the shock of surprise, still others reflect the long-held pride in the American war effort at home and abroad. From the first dark stirrings of war through its dusty aftermath, Never Will We Forget captures how Americans lived, felt, and believed during the twentieth century's most brutal conflict.

Washington Remembers World War II features a dozen gripping personal stories from the global conflict that changed who we are. The book is a tribute to the veterans and citizens who lived through horrors most of us cannot imagine and to the Rosie the riveters on the homefront who helped win the war. Six-thousand Washingtonians gave their lives to defeat tyranny. They're more than names on a wall. These are stories to remember.
These interviews were part of Legacy Washington's 2015 project for the WWII 70th anniversary titled Washington Remembers: WWII--their sacrifice, our freedom. The Project included personal accounts from individuals about their contributions and experiences during WWII. There are 9 personal accounts and 3 two-page tributes from the online exhibit that were incorporated into this book. Although the tributes aren't considered publications, the personal accounts are available individually online through the Washington State Library Electronic State Publications, via PURL. Included in the Legacy project is the Faces of Heroes, which allows individuals to share an image and short narrative to honor a veteran on the webpage. There are over 100 photographs of WWII veterans at the website.

An American officer who was in Kuwait City at the time of the Iraqi invasion recounts his experiences reporting on the attack, his imprisonment as a human shield within Iraq, and his release in time for the Gulf War.

"Here is what you will not find in the newsthe personal cost of war written as clear and beautiful as literature worthy of the name is. These stories are the real thing, passionate, imaginative, searing." Richard Bausch, author ofWives & Lovers The first book of its kind,Operation Homecomingis the result of a major initiative launched by the National Endowment for the Arts to bring distinguished writers to military bases and inspire U.S. Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen and their families to record their wartime experiences. Encouraged by such authors as Tom Clancy, Mark Bowden, Bobbie Ann Mason, Tobias Wolff, Jeff Shaara, and Marilyn Nelson, American military personnel and their loved ones wrote candidly about what they saw, heard, and felt while in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as on the home front. Taken together, these almost one hundred never-before-published eyewitness accounts, private journals, short stories, letters, and other personal writings become a dramatic narrative that shows the human side of warfare. the fear and exhilaration of heading into battle; the interactions between U.S. forces and Afghans and Iraqis, both as enemies and friends; the boredom, gripes, and humorous incidents of day-to-day life on the front lines; the anxiety and heartache of worried spouses, parents, and other loved ones on the home front; the sheer brutality of warfare and the physical and emotional toll it takes on those who fight; the tearful homecomings for those who returned to the States alive and the somber ceremonies for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation. From riveting combat accounts to profound reflections on warfare and the pride these troops feel for one another,Operation Homecomingoffers an unflinching and intensely revealing look into the lives of extraordinary men and women. What they have written is without question some of the greatest wartime literature ever published. "Andrew Carroll has given America a priceless treasure." Tom Brokaw, onWar Letters Proceeds from this book will be used to provide arts and cultural programming to U.S. military communities. For more information, please go to www.OperationHomecoming.gov.

Surging South of Baghdad is the first in-depth study of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq during the troop surge. Dale Andrade examines the war in the Multi-National Division-Center, an area of operations established in the spring of 2007 to focus on the insurgent sanctuaries and supply lines south of the Iraqi capital. Before the surge, the territory was a backwater, used by al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups to recruit new fighters, construct roadside bombs, and transport both to the ongoing fighting in Baghdad. One of the five new brigades that "surged" into Iraq went to this region, more than doubling the number of U.S. forces already there and forming the southern anchor of the battle to sever this crucial link with the insurgents in the capital. The fighting south of Baghdad became something of a microcosm of the surge overall, an example of the necessity to combine troop strength with sound planning in order to defeat insurgents living among the population. This volume, completed only a short time after the event, provides a valuable perspective for the ongoing counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Rick Atkinson comes an eyewitness account of the war against Iraq and a vivid portrait of a remarkable group of soldiers For soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division, the road to Baghdad began with a midnight flight out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in late February 2003. For Rick Atkinson, who would spend nearly two months covering the division for The Washington Post, the war in Iraq provided a unique opportunity to observe today's U.S. Army in combat. Now, in this extraordinary account of his odyssey with the 101st, Atkinson presents an intimate and revealing portrait of the soldiers who fight the expeditionary wars that have become the hallmark of our age.At the center of Atkinson's drama stands the compelling figure of Major General David H. Petraeus, described by one comrade as "the most competitive man on the planet." Atkinson spent virtually all day every day at Petraeus's elbow in Iraq, where he had an unobstructed view of the stresses, anxieties, and large joys of commanding 17,000 soldiers in combat. Atkinson watches Petraeus wrestle with innumerable tactical conundrums and direct several intense firefights; he watches him teach, goad,and lead his troops and his subordinate commanders. And all around Petraeus, we see the men and women of a storied division grapple with the challenges of waging war in an unspeakably harsh environment.With the eye of a master storyteller, the premier military historian of his generation puts us right on the battlefield. In the Company of Soldiers is a compelling, utterly fresh view of the modern American soldier in action.

After the swift defeat of the Taliban in 2001, American optimism has steadily evaporated in the face of mounting violence; a new "war of a thousand cuts" has now brought the country to its knees. In the Graveyard of Empires is a political history of Afghanistan in the "Age of Terror" from 2001 to 2009, exploring the fundamental tragedy of America's longest war since Vietnam. After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan--the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the British in the era of Kipling, and the late Soviet Union--Seth G. Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop? Following the September 11 attacks, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country--killing, capturing, or scattering most of al Qa'ida's senior operatives--and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of struggle and conflict. But Jones argues that as early as 2001 planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, he says, the United States has managed to push al Qa'ida's headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan, the distance from New York to Philadelphia. While observing the tense and often adversarial relationship between NATO allies in the Coalition, Jones--who has distinguished himself at RAND and was recently named by Esquire as one of the "Best and Brightest" young policy experts--introduces us to key figures on both sides of the war. Harnessing important new research and integrating thousands of declassified government documents, Jones then analyzes the insurgency from a historical and structural point of view, showing how a rising drug trade, poor security forces, and pervasive corruption undermined the Karzai government, while Americans abandoned a successful strategy, failed to provide the necessary support, and allowed a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan to catalyze the Taliban resurgence. Examining what has worked thus far--and what has not--this serious and important book underscores the challenges we face in stabilizing the country and explains where we went wrong and what we must do if the United States is to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen many of the great world powers to enter the region.

Follow along a Navy SEAL's firsthand account of American heroism during a secret military operation in Afghanistan in this true story of survival and difficult choices. On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive. This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers. A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow by blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich, moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare -- and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Photographs, maps, and eyewitness accounts describe the War in Vietnam.

To cover the Vietnam War, the Associated Press gathered an extraordinary group of superb photojournalists in its Saigon bureau, creating one of the great photographic legacies of the 20th century. Collected here are images that tell the story of the war that left a deep and lasting impression on American life. These are pictures that both recorded and made history, taken by unbelievably courageous photojournalists. In a moving essay, writer Pete Hamill, who reported from Vietnam in 1965, celebrates their achievement. As we begin to look back from the vantage point of half a century, this is the book that will serve as a photographic record of the drama and tragedy of the Vietnam War.

At the outset of the Vietnam War, the Army created an experimental fighting unit that became known as "Tiger Force." The Tigers were to be made up of the cream of the crop-the very best and bravest soldiers the American military could offer. They would be given a long leash, allowed to operate in the field with less supervision. Their mission was to seek out enemy compounds and hiding places so that bombing runs could be accurately targeted. They were to go where no troops had gone, to become one with the jungle, to leave themselves behind and get deep inside the enemy's mind. The experiment went terribly wrong. What happened during the seven months Tiger Force descended into the abyss is the stuff of nightmares. Their crimes were uncountable, their madness beyond imagination-so much so that for almost four decades, the story of Tiger Force was covered up under orders that stretched all the way to the White House. Records were scrubbed, documents were destroyed, men were told to say nothing.But one person didn't follow orders. The product of years of investigative reporting, interviews around the world, and the discovery of an astonishing array of classified information, Tiger Force is a masterpiece of journalism. Winners of the Pulitzer Prize for their Tiger Force reporting, Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss have uncovered the last great secret of the Vietnam War.

A courageous account of the author's capture and imprisonment by the Pathet Lao during America's secret war in Laos.

This anthology consists of 208 letters, poems, clippings, and diary entries written by American servicemen in Vietnam.

Vietnam: Remembrances of a Native American Soldier is about the recollections of a young Native American soldier who served eighteen months in Vietnam as a MACV advisory team radio operator in 1966-68. Camp An Phu was an isolated, former, Special Forces A Team camp near the Cambodian border. During this time, he had extensive contact with rural Vietnamese civilians and soldiers. From his unique perspective, he developed a sympathetic view of the life struggles that the Vietnamese people endured on a daily basis. This book tells of the hardships, humor, love, and death of these Vietnamese and their American advisors. During the time period, 1966 to 68, I spent 18 months in Vietnam as a US Army radio operator at a remote advisory team camp on the Cambodian border living with and advising Vietnamese soldiers. As part of an eight-man American team, we interacted with the Vietnamese on a daily basis and had little contact with American forces. As a Native American soldier, I looked like a tall Vietnamese soldier and was sometimes mistaken for one. Over 18 months, I became very familiar with Vietnamese soldiers and civilians and their lifestyle.

From a covert 1945 OSS mission to enlist the aid of Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese to the frenzied evacuation of Saigon in 1975, this book gathers the narratives of over sixty U.S. citizens--medics, diplomats, clerks, housewives, spies, grunts, and generals--who lived, worked, and fought in Southeast Asia during America's thirty-year involvement in Vietnam. The result is a work of visceral immediacy and tragic sweep.

Norman tells the dramatic story of fifty women--members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurse Corps--who went to war, working in military hospitals, aboard ships, and with air evacuation squadrons during the Vietnam War. Here, in a moving narrative, the women talk about why they went to war, the experiences they had while they were there, and how war affected them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

A former member of the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam recalls her tour of duty and her difficult adjustment to civilian life.

The Korean War, More than any other war in modern times, is surrounded by residues and slippages of memory. The Great War's place is indelible, its annihilating violence a permanent reminder of war's carnage. World War II was the good war, an outright victory to be celebrated. Vietnam tore the United States apart. With Korea there is less a presence than an absence; thus the default reflexive American name: "the forgotten war." For years I rejected the "forgotten war" rubric; the unknown war seemed much better. But for Americans Korea is both: a forgotten war and a never-known war. For Americans Korea is just one among several wars best forgotten, just another transient episode among a myriad of interventions in Third World countries that do not bear close examination, but have unsettling ways of coming back to haunt us. Book jacket.

It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. Now Max Hastings, preeminent military historian, takes us back to the bloody, bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950. Using personal accounts from interviews with more than 200 vets-including the Chinese-Hastings follows real officers and soldiers through the battles. He brilliantly captures the Cold War crisis at home-the strategies and politics of Truman, Acheson, Marshall, MacArthur, Ridgway, and Bradley-and shows what we should have learned in the war that was the prelude to Vietnam. Book jacket.

Korea 65: The Forgotten War Remembered features a series of oral history profiles that cast light on a forgotten conflict one that killed millions, separated families and helped shape the Pacific Northwest. Nearly 37,000 Americans lost their lives in a conflict over communism. History remembers it as a forgotten war. Sixty-five years later, in first-person accounts, veterans and civilians remind us why the conflict is worth remembering.

Formed at the turn of the nineteenth century to protect America's strategic interests in the Caribbean, the 65th Infantry consisted of Puerto Rican soldiers and sergeants and American and Puerto Rican officers. Although in existence for almost fifty years, the 65th had not experienced intense combat until Korea. Despite a lack of previous wartime experience, the regiment did extremely well from September 1950 to August 1951, establishing a solid reputation as a dependable infantry unit. The combat performance of the unit began to slip from the summer of 1951 to the autumn of 1952, when major failures occurred, first at Outpost Kelly in late September and then at Jackson Heights a month later. After the failures at Outpost Kelly and Jackson Heights, the Army recognized that these problems had to be decisively addressed or the regiment's combat effectiveness would be permanently degraded. The Army reconstituted the 65th as a fully integrated infantry regiment in the spring of 1953. By that June, the regiment had redeemed itself in the eyes of the Army's senior leadership. The unit's colors remained in Korea until November 1954, when they returned to Puerto Rico.  

When 22 year-old 2nd Lt. DudleyHughes received orders to Korea, while stationed at Fort Bliss in the summer of 1952, he was not exactly elated but neither was he surprised. The Korean conflict had begun on the heels of WorldWar II and most of his adult male friends had seen military service. His main regret was leaving behind his beautiful wife, Robbie, after less than one year of marriage.Dudley and his twin brother, Dan, also asecond lieutenant, were allowed to serve together. They arrived in Korea in December 1952 and were assigned to separate front-line platoons, manning quad-50 machine gun halftracks. Dudley and Dan helped develop techniques that made it possible to fire multiple quad-50s at unseen targets, thereby creating a wall of fire that terrorized attacking enemy infantry and changed the course of the war. This accurate historical record is personalized by a diary derived from excerpts of daily letters written by the author to his young wife, lending the history a sense of immediacy and intimacy.

The 120 man 4th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was one of the first of six airborne trained, light infantry, ranger companies to fight in the Korean war, 1950-1951. 4th Company was one of two Ranger companies to make a combat jump during that war when they reinforced the 187th Regimental Combat Team for Munsan-ni in March 1951. 4th Rangers was the only company to have conducted an amphibious operation, Hwachon Reservoir, April 1951. The members of this company saw plenty of the usual Ranger and heavy-infantry type action. On numerous occasions they were required to occupy a battalion sized front. They operated as part of armor-infantry teams, assault units, and the usual deep penetrating patrols expected and associated with Ranger units. There is a lot of unit and individual action in this history and since 4th Company was a Regular Army active unit for less than eleven months, you can follow their day to day progress within these covers. Join them in their peace-time billets as airborne soldiers and follow through recruitment into the Rangers, Ranger training, to troop movement overseas and into their 'blooding' and first combat casualty. Finally, to the day that word came that General Ridgway did not think Korea the proper environment for Rangers. This is not a work of fiction nor a rework of history. This is the way it happened. --- from book's back cover

At the heart of the story of America's wars are our "citizen soldiers"-those hometown heroes who fought and sacrificed from Bunker Hill at Charlestown to Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, and beyond, without expectation of recognition or recompense. Americans like to think that the service of its citizen volunteers is, and always has been, of momentous importance in our politics and society. But though this has made for good storytelling, the reality of America's relationship to its veterans is far more complex. In 'Those Who Have Borne the Battle,' historian and marine veteran James Wright tells the story of the long, often troubled relationship between America and those who have defended her-from the Revolutionary War to today-shedding new light both on our history and on the issues our country and its armed forces face today.  From the beginning, American gratitude to its warriors was not a given. Prior to World War II, the prevailing view was that, as citizen soldiers, the service of its young men was the price of citizenship in a free society. Even Revolutionary War veterans were affectionately, but only temporarily, embraced, as the new nation and its citizens had much else to do. In time, the celebration of the nation's heroes became an important part of our culture, building to the response to World War II, where warriors were celebrated and new government programs provided support for veterans.  The greater transformation came in the wars after World War II, as the way we mobilize for war, fight our wars, and honor those who serve has changed in drastic and troubling ways. Unclear and changing military objectives have made our actions harder for civilians to stand behind, a situation compounded by the fact that the armed forces have become less representative of American society as a whole. Few citizens join in the sacrifice that war demands. The support systems seem less and lesscapable of handling the increasing number of wounded warriors returning from our numerous and bewildering conflicts abroad.             A masterful work of history, 'Those Who Have Borne the Battle' expertly relates the burdens carried by veterans dating back to the Revolution, as well as those fighting today's wars. And it challenges Americans to do better for those who serve and sacrifice today.

This volume offers biographies and examines the works of two of the best poets of the World War I era: Wilfred Owen and Isaac Rosenberg. The poems "Strange Meeting," "Anthem for Doomed Youth," "The Dead Heroes," and "Break of Day in the Trenches" are among those reviewed here.

One of the first questions people ask about The Things They Carried is this: Is it a novel, or a collection of short stories? The title page refers to the book simply as "a work of fiction," defying the conscientious reader's need to categorize this masterpiece. It is both: a collection of interrelated short pieces which ultimately reads with the dramatic force and tension of a novel. Yet each one of the twenty-two short pieces is written with such care, emotional content, and prosaic precision that it could stand on its own. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They miss their families, their girlfriends and buddies; they miss the lives they left back home. Yet they find sympathy and kindness for strangers (the old man who leads them unscathed through the mine field, the girl who grieves while she dances), and love for each other, because in Vietnam they are the only family they have. We hear the voices of the men and build images upon their dialogue. The way they tell stories about others, we hear them telling stories about themselves. With the creative verve of the greatest fiction and the intimacy of a searing autobiography, The Things They Carried  is a testament to the men who risked their lives in America's most controversial war. It is also a mirror held up to the frailty of humanity. Ultimately The Things They Carried and its myriad protagonists call to order the courage, determination, and luck we all need to survive.

When soldiers at Fort Carson were charged with a series of 14 murders, PTSD and other "invisible wounds of war" were thrown into the national spotlight. With these events as their starting point, Jean Scandlyn and Sarah Hautzinger argue for a new approach to combat stress and trauma, seeing them not just as individual medical pathologies but as fundamentally collective cultural phenomena. Their deep ethnographic research, including unusual access to affected soldiers at Fort Carson, also engaged an extended labyrinth of friends, family, communities, military culture, social services, bureaucracies, the media, and many other layers of society. Through this profound and moving book, they insist that invisible combat injuries are a social challenge demanding collective reconciliation with the post-9/11 wars.

Although twenty-five years have elapsed since her retirement, Lillian Dunlap’s mark on the United States Army and the Army Medical Department endures. Survey the life and accomplishments of this soldier-nurse and lay to rest forever any doubts on the potential impact of one individual on an organization and its culture. In this volume, General Dunlap recounts in painstaking detail her early years, her distinguished career as an Army officer, and the challenging years of her tenure as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She paints a picture for us of the arduous work of nurses in the Pacific theater during World War II. Problem-solve with her the issues of the postwar drawdown followed, tragically, by the unexpected buildup for Korea. Her story is one of continuous, steady progress through clinical, staff, and educational positions as she builds her leadership repertoire. Lillian Dunlap’s experiences define for us the evolving roles and challenges for nurses in the Army as well as for women in the military. Through those developmental years, her viewpoint is that of the individual. As her scope of responsibility expands, so too does her perspective as she reveals the background and decision-making processes that accompany the evolution of the profession of nursing and the Army Nurse Corps. First and foremost, General Dunlap presents to us a framework for leadership that rests on collaboration, cooperation, and empowerment.

Historians, military nurses past and present, and potential leaders will find invaluable this firsthand account of issues related to women in the military, men in nursing, the profession of nursing, and the dynamics of periodic power struggles between the Army Medical Department and the U.S. Army. This volume offers a primary account of ever-evolving Army Medical Department infrastructure and the many changes associated with the professional development of its officer and noncommissioned officer corps. It explicates the complexities of collaborative relationships among military departments and between civilian and military agencies.