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cutiger83
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I read Command and Control by Eric Schlosser and A Higher Call by Adam Makos after seeing both mentioned earlier in this thread. Great books! Highly recommended. Reading Ship of Ghosts at the moment (by James Hornfischer)...

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agate hunter

Currently reading Audie Murphy's To Hell and Back for the first time. Definitely puts his time of service and actions in perspective, its a great book. Haven't seen the film yet either, will watch it when I finish the book. He doesn't describe any of his medals or awards in the book, but upon searching online for what actions he was awarded his medals, most if not all of them are recorded in the book.

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agate hunter

Just finnished Semper Fi,Mac.

 

I'm about half way into this one, put it on hold for a little while because it got interested in WWI, and read Henry Berry's Make the Kaiser Dance, his first book where he interviewed many WWI veterans. Both are great books of veteran's interviews.

 

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The Devil's Brigade by Robert H. Adelman & Col. George Walton.

 

So far, I'm 2 chapters into it. Kinda slow going since I don't really have alot of time. Plus I need reading glasses or my eyes water profusely...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got "Most Secret: The Cockleshell Canoes" by Quentin Rees. It's about the British military canoes in WW2 and the commando teams that used them.

GOOD ISNT IT!

 

ILL SIGN IT FOR YOU IM IN POMPEY FRI 25TH APRIL 2014..... SOMETHING INTERESTING IS HAPPENING IN POMPEY SOON... IN THIS REGARD.

QR

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Just got "Most Secret: The Cockleshell Canoes" by Quentin Rees. It's about the British military canoes in WW2 and the commando teams that used them.

SORRY MISSED THE FACT ITS PORTSMOUTH USA NOT UK!!!!

 

HEY HO.

 

I HAVE A MK 2 AND MK 7 CANOE . THE BOOK BEGAN WHEN I ACQUIRED THE MK7.

 

7 YEARS LATER - 98% NEW HISTORY.

 

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  • 1 month later...
flyusmcsson

Just finished

Gentlemen Bastards by Kevin Maurer a book about a team of Green Berets in Afghanistan

 

Starting

Guardian Angel by William Sine Life and death adventures with Pararescue, the worlds most powerful commando rescue force

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  • 2 weeks later...
TrenchfootJoe66

Just finished up "True Faith and Allegiance" An American Paratrooper at the 1972 battle of An Loc by Col. Mike McDermott USA ret. Col. McDermott served as the senior Advisor to the ARVN 5th Airborne Bn during the battle and he has written a gritty "eyeball" view of the fighting in and around the city of An Loc. Unlike other books on the battle this one is a street level memoir with just enough "big picture" detail to put things in context. Most Americans have little to no understanding of the battles fought in Vietnam during the closing phases of the war. One could be forgiven if one assumed the war ended with Cronkite's message to America at the height of the Tet Offensive in 68. But the war dragged on and entered a new phase. By 1972 the war was largely a conventional one in keeping with Maoist doctrine on Revolutionary warfare. The 1972 Easter Offensive was a modern, combined arms, conventional slug fest and Col McDermott was smack dab in the middle of it. Fighting in conditions more akin to Bastogne than the Ia Drang valley, the author paints an accurate portrait of the fighting in wrenching detail.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the subject. Its a quick and informative read.

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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

 

I looked deep into this for the movie. If you compare what he wrote to the actual events it is eerily similar. I also found out that he crossed the US visiting guys from his former unit to interview them about what went on.

 

The sad thing is that we will never know for sure what is real and what is not, although from what I have found, I suspect a lot more is real than anyone suspects.

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Legion Para

REMEMBERING THE CANADIAN YANKS is a good read and I highly recommend it.

 

It's the story of thirty five Americans who joined the RCAF during WW II and fulfilled their dreams to fly.

 

Many forget the close relationship between Canada and the United States during wartime. Approximately 30,000 Canadians fought in the American Civil War and approximately 20,000 served in Viet Nam with the US Military. Many Americans joined the Canadian Armed Forces in both World Wars.

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Hellfish41

Currently reading The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc by Douglas Brinkley. The book covers the history of Rangers in the American Revolution to WWII, how the 2nd Ranger Battalion prepared and hit Pointe Du Hoc against insurmountable odds, and completed all objectives on D-Day. I'm about one- third of the way through the book, and can't put it down. A great read!

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I am currently reading To War With the Yoxford Boys The Complete Story of the 357th Fighter Group, by Merle C. Olmsted, Eagle Editions Ltd., 2004. This is a large format history of the famed 357th FG of the 8th AF during WW2. Many top aces served in the 357th including Chuck Yeager. This is a narrative history, but is very heavily illustrated, so it gives you a worthwhile read, while supplying more 357th specific photos than available anywhere else. I am about half through it, looking forward to finishing it. FYI, for the modeler, there is a wonderful section of full color aircraft profiles at the back of the book.

 

I think this book is out of print, but it is readily available on eBay and Amazon for very reasonable prices. I recommend it.

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I'm currently reading Nanette: Her Pilot's Love Story by Edwards Park. Nanette was a P-39 that Park flew in the PTO. I've always loved the much-maligned Airacobra and this is a great story (so far) of a pilot's love for his P-39.

 

Thanks to 38Driver who recommended this book in the P-39/P-400 Photo thread on the forum!

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/207810-p-39-p-400-pictures/

 

 

Kevin

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Stealth Fighter by William O'Connor, right now. Not a bad book, I like it.

I just finished, The Last Battle by Stephen Harding. I was not overly impressed with that book at all. It's very short and the majority of it is an extended background of everyone involved in the fight, from decades beforehand. The battle itself covers only a few dozen pages total. I've read longer magazine articles. Such a shame, the oddest battle ever fought in WW2 deserves a far better book than this. Amazing story; lousy book on it.

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"The Forgotten Dead" by Ken Small. The story behind the pre D-Day disaster that was Exercise Tiger and the author's quest to raise a sunken Sherman from the seabed off the Devon coast and to establish it as a permanent monument to the many US servicemen who perished on that fateful day.

 

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"The Rising Sun," Volume 3 of Morison's History of the U.S. Navy in WWII. I walked into an antique store and saw the collection in a cardboard box by the front desk, unpriced. First edition. In a quavering voice I nonchalantly asked how much he wanted for it. He said he had just got it in and oh, $50? I practically shouted "I'll take it!" Turns out it was missing 3 volumes, but I already found a matching copy for the first missing volume for $9 at Amazon. Every once in a while you get lucky.

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Legion Para

Later tonight I'm going to start THE DEAD AND THOSE ABOUT TO DIE.

 

http://www.press.org/events/john-c-mcmanus-dead-and-those-about-die-d-day-big-red-one-omaha-beach

 

"A white-knuckle account of the 1st Infantry Divisions harrowing D-Day assault on the eastern sector of Omaha Beachacclaimed historian John C. McManus has written a gripping history that will stand as the last word on this titanic battle.

 

Nicknamed the Big Red One, 1st Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these jaded combat veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever. As the men hit the beach, their equipment destroyed or washed away, soldiers cut down by the dozens, courageous heroes emerged: men such as Sergeant Raymond Strojny, who grabbed a bazooka and engaged in a death duel with a fortified German antitank gun; T/5 Joe Pinder, a former minor-league pitcher who braved enemy fire to save a vital radio; Lieutenant John Spalding, a former sportswriter, and Sergeant Phil Streczyk, a truck driver, who together demolished a German strongpoint overlooking Easy Red, where hundreds of Americans had landed.

 

John C. McManus"The Dead and Those About to Die" draws on a rich array of new or recently unearthed sources, including interviews with veterans. The result is history at its finest, the unforgettable story of the Big Red Ones nineteen hours of helland their ultimate triumphon June 6, 1944.

 

John C. McManus earned a PhD in American and Military History from the University of Tennessee, where he served as Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of War and Society and was a Normandy Scholar. As a leading authority on the Normandy invasion, he holds a Cantigny First Division Museum Fellowship. He is currently a full professor of U.S. Military History at Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he teaches a variety of courses, including one on World War II and another on the Modern American Combat Experience. He also serves as the official historian for the United States Armys Seventh Infantry Regiment."

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"Battlefield Relics, Normandy 1944" by Regis GIARD, published by Histoire & Collections. An English version of the original French text. Regis Giard will be familiar to many of you as the co-author of the book "Helmets of the ETO". As its title suggests, the book is an illustrated compilation of battlefield relics found in Normandy together with information on where they were found, the nature of the battle and, if the item in question is named, information on the person to whom it once belonged, whether Allied or German. The book is well-produced in common with all such H&C publications. Recommended!

 

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Legion Para

Tonight I've started reading Jamie Gillum's books on the 16th Tennessee Infantry.

 

He is currently working on Volume III of the SIXTEENTH TENNESSEE VOLUNTEER INFANTRY which will cover 1864 and 1865.

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  • 4 weeks later...
SaigonSVFan95

Currently reading "Green Berets At War: US Army Special Forces In Southeast Asisa, 1956-1975" by Shelby L. Stanton, and about to start "Forsaken Warriors" by Robert Tonsetic, "The Fall Of Saigon" by David Butler, and "Steel And Blood" by Col. Ha Mai Viet

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TrenchfootJoe66

Currently reading "Green Berets At War: US Army Special Forces In Southeast Asisa, 1956-1975" by Shelby L. Stanton, and about to start "Forsaken Warriors" by Robert Tonsetic, "The Fall Of Saigon" by David Butler, and "Steel And Blood" by Col. Ha Mai Viet

Forsaken Warriors is a good read,I really enjoyed it. He wrote another, "Days of Valor". It covers 6 months of his tour as the CO of a rifle company during Tet.
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