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cutiger83
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I'm deep into The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark -- a reexamination of the origins of WWI in considerable detail, slaying not a few myths along the way.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So They Will Know: A Korean War Memoir Paperback October 9, 2013

by Sinclair W Stickle

 

I just read this, and heartily recommend it! It's a quick read by a 3ID vet of the Korean War, who was on the MLR with Intel and Recon Platoon, 7th Infantry, Mar-July, 1953. Lots of description of the fighting which went on during this period of "quiet" and line straightening prior to the July 27, 1953 armistice. The author provides a brief but interesting discussion about how they dealt with fear. He also described life in Korea after the armistice, which I haven't seen written anywhere else. His stated purpose in writing the book was:

 

"It is incumbent on us the living veterans to summon the courage to revisit and record those memories that we so selfishly have guarded over the years. Let us speak up and write, even when we must pause to brush away tears, in order to honor those who otherwise would be forgotten. Let us not contribute to the notion of a forgotten war with forgotten battles."

 

I just wish that he'd included more detailed maps, but that seems to be my nearly constant complaint.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/So-They-Will-Know-Korean/dp/1489521569

Paperback: 218 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (October 9, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1489521569

ISBN-13: 978-1489521569

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Command and Control. A great book about the Titan ICBM that blew up in 1980 and about many of the little known aircraft accidents that had nuc's on board and the command and control systems in place or shall I say the lack of command and control of the weapons.

 

Its a very good read if you are an old SAC troop or Cold War Nato veteran.

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Going to begin reading "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos & Larry Alexander next week while recuperating. It looks to be a very interesting account of a crippled B-17 that was escorted out of enemy territory by a German "ace" instead of finishing off the easy target.

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The Thin Red Line. Although fictitious, it is based on the author's time on Guadalcanal with the 25th ID.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

 

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"The Monuments Men" by Robert M Edsel. I saw the movie first, which prompted me to get the book. It's a remarkable story with a lot more to it than Mr Clooney's Hollywood version. A recommended read!

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Just finished Hornfischer's "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors". WOW, what a great read! I don't usually read too many naval related books but his stuff is great. My friend came over a week ago and left me 30+ military books so not sure what will be next... Maybe another Pacific book. Scott

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If Last Stand hits you like it did me, there'll be about 70 Navy uniforms on one side of your war room before long...

 

I could actually see that happening as that book and Ship of Ghosts were truly inspiring reads about the Navy in WWII. I do have a nice Coastie set from the Pacific but I think that is about as far as I will go unless something really special turns up. Scott.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Recently a buddy of mine sent me a signed copy of "THE SWORD OF SAINT MICHAEL, The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II", by Guy Lofaro. I have a heck of a time putting it down :) !

 

Joe

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Finally bought "With The Old Breed" I'll read it this weekend while I'm providing adult supervision to a gaggle of USAF JROTC Cadets on a leadership training weekend.

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I just finished

Bareither, Terry M., editor. An Engineer's Diary of the Great War. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2002. Cloth, 259pp.

This is the diary of Lt. Harry Spring, 37th Engineer Regiment (Mechanical and Electrical). It's an interesting read, nothing spectacular in there, but good data on his daily movements, etc. There isn't a lot of detailed information about what his unit was doing, mostly they made, operated, or repaired generating stations. They also did some postwar work on railroads. I recommend it for someone who is interested in engineer units or who collects WWI books.

Pete

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Garandomatic

Masters of the Air by Donald Miller. I loved D-Days in the Pacific, and this is very good as well. The details of the firebombings are stomach churning. If you ever met someone that survived the air war, especially the early part of it, you need to read this book.

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I'm currently reading Front Line General , the memoir of William C. Chase. Chase had a career in the US Army spanning 1913 to 1955. The bulk of the book, however, concerns his time in the Pacific theater in WWII, where Chase was commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, the 38th Infantry Division commander, and back to the 1st Cav as division comander. It's an easy read. I learned a few thngs but it's not very in-depth, perhaps because it was written in 1975.

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bunkerhillburning

Just started reading " The Fifth Field, the story of the 96 American soldiers sentenced to death and executed in Europe and North Africa in World War II " by Colonel French L. MacLean.

 

So far so good - really good.

A fascinating subject which I know very little ( for now ).

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  • 2 weeks later...

"The Outpost", by Jake Tapper and "Baptism, a Vietnam Memoir", by Larry Gwinn. I thought "The Outpost" was an excellent review of our efforts in Afganistan. Gwinn's "Baptism" was much like many other similar first hand accounts of Vietnam service which I've read and enjoyed.

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Right now I'm reading "Panther Soup" by John Gimlette. Part historical memoir, part travel book as a former lieutenant in the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion retraces his path through Europe with his grandson and the author. The vet has a connection with my former high school, so I managed to pick up a signed copy a few years back, and now I'm finally getting around to reading it. Interesting stuff, much more personal seeing how a vet in his 80's experiences the same grounds so many years later and in such different circumstances.

 

-- Jon

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I currently have two books going:

1) "The Last of the Doughboys" (Rubin, 2013). This is a collection of interviews which the author did with World War 1 vets, starting around the year 2000. He details a lot of the process he used to find the centenarians, quotes from the interviews and descriptions of the units the vets served in, as well as some of what the units did. He also covers a lot of US cultural events/aspects at the time of the war, which I'd never read about anywhere else (for example, how the US music industry, centered in Tin Pan Alley, in NYC shaped feelings in the country, and influenced attitudes towards immigrants). Not a lot of "blood and guts" type descriptions in here, but a gread background knowledge builder as we move into the centennial of WW1. I'm enjoying reading it, but it's often 'slow go' progress for me as I read it when I lay down at night. ISBN-13: 978-0547554433

 

2) "Redeployment" (Klay, 2014). This is an easy read, and I find it VERY difficult to put down. I heard a story about it on the radio and decided that I needed to read it, and was enraptured from the 1st paragraph, with the description of a welcome home ceremony. That description brought the feelings associated with those ceremonies flooding back! Its first person interviews with soldiers, marines and a Navy chaplain (and even a State Dep't ePRT leader) who served in Iraq detail portions of the fight each individual dealt with. I'd strongly recommend it to anyone with experience in, and/or an interest in the Iraq portion of the GWOT.

 

I wonder if this will prove to be Mark Baker's "Nam" for the current wars? Similar format, though individual interviews are broken chapters, rather than spliced together. I hope I'll finish it this weekend. ISBN-13: 978-1594204999

 

 

Steve

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Garandomatic

Right now I'm reading "Panther Soup" by John Gimlette. Part historical memoir, part travel book as a former lieutenant in the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion retraces his path through Europe with his grandson and the author. The vet has a connection with my former high school, so I managed to pick up a signed copy a few years back, and now I'm finally getting around to reading it. Interesting stuff, much more personal seeing how a vet in his 80's experiences the same grounds so many years later and in such different circumstances.

 

-- Jon

I couldn't get into it because of the travel aspect of it. If I had more time to read, it might be different. The above post about reading in small increments when you lay down is me to a tee, and usually I make a page or two and I'm out. If you can, post your impressions of it when you are finished, I may pick it back up.

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I couldn't get into it because of the travel aspect of it. If I had more time to read, it might be different. The above post about reading in small increments when you lay down is me to a tee, and usually I make a page or two and I'm out. If you can, post your impressions of it when you are finished, I may pick it back up.

 

Yeah, it's definitely not a combat memoir along the lines of "With the Old Breed" and it's a little frustrating how the author switches back and forth between his own modern impressions and Flint's recollections of the past, but I still find it interesting enough. I'm about halfway through now, I'll let you know how it ends up.

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Charlie Flick

I just finished "Firebirds" by Chuck Carlock. The cover proclaims it to be, a little presumptuously perhaps, the "Best First-Person Account of Helicopter Combat in Vietnam Ever Written". I don't know about that claim as I have read a number of excellent titles on VN helicopter combat operations and think that there are several books that might be able to make that claim. (Chickenhawk; To the Limit; Low Level Hell). There is no doubt that Carlock saw a ton of action as a UH-1C gunship pilot. It was a worthwhile read and recommended for those with an interest in VN aviation.

 

I am now part way through with Gerald Astor's "Semper Fi in the Sky: The Marine Air Battles of World War II". The title is a little misleading as much of the book is focused on the Solomons Campaign which has been well covered. Even so, I am enjoying it and have learned some things about Marine aviation that had previously escaped me. I have read several of Astor's other books on WW2 and have found them all to be enjoyable.

Regards,

Charlie

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Charlie Flick

Please recommend any WWII US Navy novels (aka fiction) which you have enjoyed.

I read The Caine Mutiny, Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.

 

 

Auggie:

 

You might want to try "Away All Boats" by Kenneth Dodson. It is about a Navy Attack Transport during WW2. I read it many, many years ago but it has stuck with me. I have not read fiction in years but maybe I will read this one again sometime. Give it a try if you like the fiction.

 

Regards,

Charlie

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