What are you currently reading?

[SFC]

Tank Commanders by Georges Forty

[Gator]

Last 3 months or so and currently reading "Beneath a Scarlet Sky".

[Thor996]

With The Black Cat USS LCI Flotilla 13, by Robert F. Heath

 

Got this book because I have a few letters I purchased of ebay a few years ago from a fellow who served with this group. This is a really interesting read. A lot of the book is from the diary of Heath as he experienced the war day by day..In his own words.

 

[patches]

 

I, ah, was re-reading Caesar's Commentaries last night. In battle Caesar wore a red robe to distinguish him from his men. I, ah, was struck by that fact, because......

 

 

[Bluehawk]

"Price of Fame" by: Sylvia Jukes Morris

A biography of Clare Booth Luce (1903 - 1987) who had been a member of the House of Representatives (R-CT) and Ambassador to Italy and Brazil, very active in American military affairs throughout the world and ferocious anti-communist most of her public life.

[JasonT]

Just started "Five Years to Freedom: The True Story of a Vietnam POW" by James Rowe. The Vietnam War isn't one of my regular interests, but I've heard nothing but great reviews about this book and am looking forward to reading it.

 

 

 

[hirsca]

Two of my favorite subjects: Militaria and wine.

 

Thanks, Al

[sundance]

I'm just getting into "The Splendid and the Vile" by Eric Larson about Churchill, his family, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

[Thor996]

Kaiten : Japan's Secret Manned Suicide Submarine and the First American Ship It Sank in WWII

by Michael Mair and Joy Waldron

 

[jmpmstr]

Doc, A Combat Medic's Story.

Written by a local guy about his experiences as a medic in VN....a gift from a coworker that lives next door to the author. I'm amazed how much detail this guy remembers about so many things....really gripping and remeniscent...

 

 

[huntssurplus]

"Masters of the Air" By Donald L.Miller... fun read so far, I'm always excited when I sit down to read it. Hopefully the miseries comes out soon, I heard it moved to Apple TV.

 

Hunt

[Bluehawk]

My amazing wife, without asking or telling, had the following very important reference book sent to me.

"The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen"
By: Simon Wolf
1895
The Levytype Company, publishers
576 pages

I had read of the existence of this book in other ones having to do with Jews serving during the Civil War, but never imagined I'd ever see, or own, a copy.

Essentially, the great majority of the book consists of alphabetical listings, muster rolls in effect, of Jews who have served in uniform with and for America, by first and last name, rank, company and regiment from the Continental Army, Regular Army and Navy, War of 1812, Mexican War, Union and Confederate Army and Navy, and some in the Armies of Europe up through the late 19th century.

Also included are a number of narrative letters, orders, articles and essays relevant to the topic and periods.

Extraordinary and rare to find in most private libraries. This copy had been held by the University of Southern California until deaccessioned.





 

[Bluehawk]

Excellent eye-witness account of the Allied invasion of fortress Europe in WWII, "Eclipse" by: Alan Moorehead who was a correspondent embedded with the military from Sicily on through entry into Germany. One of sixteen such accounts he became well known for.

[Stony]

The three series of books by James F. Dwyer about Tarawa. 

[Charlie Flick]

I just finished Eugene B. Sledge's China Marine.  Most will be familiar with Sledge's famous With The Old Breed, his account of service with the First Marine Division at Peleliu and Okinawa that is widely regarded as one of the best personal accounts of WW2 combat.  His company sustained extremely high casualties which in later years caused Sledge to wonder how he had escaped without a scratch when so many others had been killed or grievously wounded.

 

China Marine is his story of what happened to him and the others in the First Marine Division at the end of the War.  Rather than an immediate return to the USA, or even occupation duty in Japan, the Division was sent to Northern China to accept the surrender and demobilization of the large number of Japanese troops there.  A collateral mission was to try to keep a lid on the ongoing Chinese civil war that Chiang Kai Shek and the Nationalists were in the process of losing to Mao and the Communists.  

 

Sledge writes movingly of his experiences when assigned to Peiping and how his young eyes were opened to an exotic and ancient civilization undergoing huge change.  It was dangerous duty as the Communists had no use for another foreign army in China and took actions designed to oust all foreigners, and particularly Americans, from China.  Sledge writes bitterly of his anger to the rear echelon types who seemed to have gotten earlier priority to return home while combat veterans were still waiting for orders and risking their lives in a conflict that had little meaning to them.  When he finally gets home in 1946 his alienation from civilians is palpable and troubled him until he found his purpose in pursuing an advanced education and new career.

 

For those who want to know 'the rest of the story' about Sledge, the First Division and how the end of the War came to them and their eventual return home, this small volume tells the story well. It is not a personal account of fierce combat as was The Old Breed.  Nonetheless, readers will find it a useful addition to the huge body of books on the Pacific War.  Recommended.

[kfields]

I am finishing up "The Oatman Massacre, a take of desert captivity and survival" by Brian McGinty. 

These were my extended family members from several generations past. I grew up with the stories and knew them by heart. I figured it was time to read the book.

 

[huntssurplus]

Just finished "The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat" by Robert Drury and Tom Clavin. It was an interesting and entertaining read. The book is about Fox Company of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines which took the brunt of the attack by the Chinese at the Chosin Reservoir. 

 

Up next is "Just Cause: The Real Story of America's High-Tech Invasion of Panama" by Malcolm McConnell. 

[Rakkasan187]

Hunt,

 

Corporal Robert L. Gaines who is mentioned in the book was a very close friend of mine. When he passed away his family gave me his HBT uniform and several other items that belonged to him. 

 

When he was alive he would host an annual F 2/7 reunion in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he lived. I was bail to meeting many of the F 2/7 Marines from the Chosin Reservoir. 

 

An excellent book.

 

Best regards

 

Leigh 

[sundance]

I'm reading "American Ulysses, A Life of Ulysses S. Grant" by Ronald S White. It covers Grant's whole life and a good bit of background about his parents pre-Ulysses. I started with the Vicksburg campaign to war's end and now I've gone to the beginning to finish up. He seemed to be an all around good person. I'll have to get to his presidential years which I'm not familiar with but which I believe were turbulent. A couple of years ago I was visiting my brother-in -law in the Saratoga Springs, NY area and he took me to the Adirondack home where Grant died.  Sadly it was off season so we couldn't get in. I had no idea where the home was and was surprised to find out it was within minutes of my brother-in -law's home. A very good read.

[101CH47]

Just finishing Geoffrey Wawro's Sons of Freedom: The Forgotten American Soldiers Who Defeated Germany in World War I with Robert Laplanger's 

Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths, and Legends of America's Famous WWI Epic next on the agenda.

 

[mikie]

48 minutes ago, sundance said:

I'm reading "American Ulysses, A Life of Ulysses S. Grant" by Ronald S White. It covers Grant's whole life and a good bit of background about his parents pre-Ulysses. I started with the Vicksburg campaign to war's end and now I've gone to the beginning to finish up. He seemed to be an all around good person. I'll have to get to his presidential years which I'm not familiar with but which I believe were turbulent. A couple of years ago I was visiting my brother-in -law in the Saratoga Springs, NY area and he took me to the Adirondack home where Grant died.  Sadly it was off season so we couldn't get in. I had no idea where the home was and was surprised to find out it was within minutes of my brother-in -law's home. A very good read.

I read this book a year ago. agree,it's a good book. But I'm a Grant man, so may be biased. The chapters about his presidency were a revelation. It was a fuzzy area to me. I've come to think that this country may have been a different place, and a better one, if he had been more successful with some of his objectives. 

[mikie]

I just picked up a signed copy of One Soldier's Story by Bob Dole. It's next up on my stack of books to read. 

Mikie

[RDUNE]

Just finished The Reaper, by Nicholas Irving. I'd seen some of Irving's youtube videos and thought I'd go ahead and pick up his book. It was a quick read and definitely kept my attention. Obviously it's more contemporary military history but it's an interesting insight into how these guys operated in Afghanistan. 

[cutiger83]

Currently reading, "The Originals The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of World War II" by Sarah Byrn Rickman

 

...Kat

[huntssurplus]

Hunt,
 
Corporal Robert L. Gaines who is mentioned in the book was a very close friend of mine. When he passed away his family gave me his HBT uniform and several other items that belonged to him. 
 
When he was alive he would host an annual F 2/7 reunion in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he lived. I was bail to meeting many of the F 2/7 Marines from the Chosin Reservoir. 
 
An excellent book.
 
Best regards
 
Leigh 

Hey Leigh,

That’s awesome! Those Marines deserve all the praise in the world for what they want through there. Unbelievable acts of courage and bravery, not to mention the hellish conditions they endured. It must have been an honor to have known such a brave man. I do recall his name in the book as well!

Hunt


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