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No Ordinary Joes: The Extraordinary True Story of Four Submariners in War and Love and Life
by Larry ColtonOn April 23, 1943, the seventy-man crew of the USS Grenadier scrambled to save their submarine—and themselves—after a Japanese aerial torpedo sent it crashing to the ocean floor. Miraculously, the men were able to bring the sub back to the surface, only to be captured by the Japanese.No Ordinary Joes tells the harrowing story of four of the Grenadier’s crew: Bob Palmer of Medford, Oregon; Chuck Vervalin of Dundee, New York; Tim McCoy of Dallas, Texas; and Gordy Cox of Yakima, Washington. All were enlistees from families that struggled through the Great Depression. The lure of service and duty to country were not their primary motivations—they were more compelled by the promise of a job that provided “three hots and a cot” and a steady paycheck. On the day they were captured, all four were still teenagers.Together, the men faced unimaginable brutality at the hands of their captors in a prisoner of war camp. With no training in how to respond in the face of relentless interrogations and with less than a cup of rice per day for sustenance, each man created his own strategy for survival. When the liberation finally came, all four anticipated a triumphant homecoming to waiting families, loved ones, and wives, but instead were forced to find a new kind of strength as they struggled to resume their lives in a world that had given them up for dead, and with the aftershocks of an experience that haunted and colored the rest of their days. Author Larry Colton brings the lives of these four “ordinary” heroes into brilliant focus. Theirs is a story of tragedy and courage, romance and war, loss and endurance, failure and redemption. With a scope both panoramic and disarmingly intimate, No Ordinary Joes is a powerful look at the atrocities of war, the reality of its aftermath, and the restorative power of love.From the Hardcover edition.
No Ordinary Men: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, Resisters Against Hitler in Church and State
by Fritz Stern Elisabeth SiftonDuring the twelve years of Hitler's Third Reich, very few Germans took the risk of actively opposing his tyranny and terror, and fewer still did so to protect the sanctity of law and faith. In No Ordinary Men, Elisabeth Sifton and Fritz Stern focus on two remarkable, courageous men who did--the pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his close friend and brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi--and offer new insights into the fearsome difficulties that resistance entailed. (Not forgotten is Christine Bonhoeffer Dohnanyi, Hans's wife and Dietrich's sister, who was indispensable to them both.)From the start Bonhoeffer opposed the Nazi efforts to bend Germany's Protestant churches to Hitler's will, while Dohnanyi, a lawyer in the Justice Ministry and then in the Wehrmacht's counterintelligence section, helped victims, kept records of Nazi crimes to be used as evidence once the regime fell, and was an important figure in the various conspiracies to assassinate Hitler. The strength of their shared commitment to these undertakings--and to the people they were helping--endured even after their arrest in April 1943 and until, after great suffering, they were executed on Hitler's express orders in April 1945, just weeks before the Third Reich collapsed.Bonhoeffer's posthumously published Letters and Papers from Prison and other writings found a wide international audience, but Dohnanyi's work is scarcely known, though it was crucial to the resistance and he was the one who drew Bonhoeffer into the anti-Hitler plots. Sifton and Stern offer dramatic new details and interpretations in their account of the extraordinary efforts in which the two jointly engaged. No Ordinary Men honors both Bonhoeffer's human decency and his theological legacy, as well as Dohnanyi's preservation of the highest standard of civic virtue in an utterly corrupted state.and to try to remove him, for they knew it was a barbarism that would be a burden of guilt for their nation ever after. Bonhoeffer and Dohnanyi embodied qualities all too rare among their countrymen at the time: integrity and hard work, selflessness, and remarkable bravery. Sifton and Stern honor both Bonhoeffer's human decency and his theological legacy, as well as Dohnanyi's preservation of the highest standard of civic virtue in an utterly corrupted state. Dohnanyi remarked that they had simply taken "the path that a decent person inevitably takes." Their story expands our understanding of the responses to the Nazi regime and exemplifies how morality can endure in the face of depravity and horror.
No Ordinary Men: Special Operations Forces Missions in Afghanistan
by Colonel Bernd Horn General T.J. LawsonThe first in-depth book that sheds light on Canada’s elite warriors who operate in the shadows. In 2001 the Canadian government sent elements of the elite Joint Task Force 2 counter-terrorist unit to Afghanistan to assist the United States in its global war on terror as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Withdrawn a year later, JTF 2 returned to Afghanistan in 2005 to once again assist the Americans with the desperate struggle in the shadows to capture or kill Taliban leaders, facilitators, and bomb makers. No Ordinary Men peels back the cloak of secrecy and reveals four untold special operations that JTF 2 operators conducted in 2005–06 in which their courage, tenacity, and impressive capabilities meant the difference between life and death. The book takes the reader to the Taliban sanctuaries deep in the Afghan hinterlands and provides a glimpse of Canada’s remarkable legacy in special operations.
No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (Reading Group Guides Ser.)
by Doris Kearns GoodwinDoris Kearns Goodwin&’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic about the relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, and how it shaped the nation while steering it through the Great Depression and the outset of World War II.With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin masterfully weaves together a striking number of story lines—Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage and remarkable partnership, Eleanor’s life as First Lady, and FDR’s White House and its impact on America as well as on a world at war. Goodwin effectively melds these details and stories into an unforgettable and intimate portrait of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and of the time during which a new, modern America was born.
No Ordinary War: The Eventful Career of U-604
by Christian PragU-604 was a standard Type VIIC of which over 600 were built, and at first glance her six war patrols might seem typical - but they were far from ordinary.Using the official war diary and the eyewitness testimony of survivors this book weaves a detailed but vivid tapestry of life and action during some of the fiercest convoy battles of the Atlantic war. Often counter-attacked, but seeming to bear a charmed life, U-604 had her successes, including inflicting the largest single loss of US mercantile personnel in one attack. However, the drama of her career pales alongside the epic story of her loss. After repeated bombing by American aircraft, Hltring, the boat's CO, organised an amazing rescue attempt by two other U-boats and finally scuttled U-604. This rescue itself went badly wrong, leading to the loss of one more U-boat and Hltring's suicide in controversial circumstances. Based on interviews with survivors and illustrated with previously unpublished photos, it is simply an extraordinary story.
No Parachute: A Classic Account of War in the Air in WWI
by Arthur Gould LeeThis account of the Great War puts you right in the action—from one of the fighter pilots of the Royal Flying Corps. From the young airmen who took their frail machines high above the trenches of World War I and fought their foes in single combat, there emerged a renowned company of brilliant aces—among them Ball, Bishop, McCudden, Collishaw, and Mannock—whose legendary feats have echoed down half a century. But behind the elite pilots in the Royal Flying Corps, there were many hundreds of airmen who flew their hazardous daily sorties in outdated planes without ever achieving fame. Here is the story of one of these unknown flyers—a story based on letters written in the day, telling of a young pilot&’s progress from fledgling to seasoned fighter. His descriptions of air fighting, sometimes against the Richthofen Circus, of breathless dogfights between Sopwith Pup and Albatros, are among the most vivid and immediate to come out of World War I. Arthur Gould Lee, who rose to the rank of air vice-marshal and also authored the classic Open Cockpit, brilliantly conveys the immediacy of air war, the thrills and the terror, in this honest and timeless account.
No Peace With Napoleon!
by George Libaire Jean Hanoteau General Armand Augustin Louis de CaulaincourtThis book concludes the Memoirs of General de Caulaincourt begun in With Napoleon in Russia. The period covered is that tragic stretch when Napoleon's defeat was assured, but the future still uncertain. Caulaincourt was closest to Napoleon, closest to the representatives of the European powers in whose hands lay his fate, of anyone who has left the story.This is again a very intimate picture of the Emperor, and adds to historic knowledge in contributing actual evidence of what really happened in regard to Napoleon's attempted suicide, after the decision to separate him from his wife and child and hold him in Elba.A must-read for all Napoleon fans, and for all who read and liked the earlier book.
No Peace, No Honor
by Larry BermanIn 1973, Henry Kissinger shared the Nobel Peace Prize for the secret negotiations that led to the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam. Nixon famously declared the 1973 agreement to be "peace with honor"; America was disengaging, yet South Vietnam still stood to fight its own war. Kissinger promptly moved to seal up his personal records of the negotiations, arguing that they are private, not government, records, and that he will only allow them to be unsealed after his death. No Peace, No Honor deploys extraordinary documentary bombshells, including a complete North Vietnamese account of the secret talks, to blow the lid off the true story of the peace process. Neither Nixon and Kissinger's critics, nor their defenders, have guessed at the full truth: the entire peace negotiation was a sham. Nixon did not plan to exit Vietnam, but he knew that in order to continue bombing without a congressional cutoff, he would need a fig leaf. Kissinger negotiated a deal that he and Nixon expected the North to violate. Ironically, their long-maintained spin on what happened next is partially true: only Watergate stopped America from sending the bombers back in. This revelatory book has many other surprises. Berman produces new evidence that finally proves a long-suspected connection between candidate Nixon in 1968 and the South Vietnamese government. He tells the full story of Operation Duck Hook, a large-scale offensive planned by Nixon as early as 1969 that would have widened the war even to the point of bombing civilian food supplies. He reveals transcripts of candidate George McGovern's attempts to negotiate his own October surprise for 1972, and a seriocomic plan by the CIA to overthrow South Vietnam's President Thieu even as late as 1975. Throughout, with page-turning dialogue provided by official transcriptions and notes, Berman reveals the step-by-step betrayal of South Vietnam that started with a short-circuited negotiations loop, and ended with double-talk, false promises, and outright abandonment. Berman draws on hundreds of declassified documents, including the notes of Kissinger's aides, phone taps of the Nixon campaign in 1968, and McGovern's own transcripts of his negotiations with North Vietnam. He has been able to double- and triple-check North Vietnamese accounts against American notes of meetings, as well as previously released bits of the record. He has interviewed many key players, including high-level South Vietnamese officials. This definitive account forever and completely rewrites the final chapter of the Vietnam war. Henry Kissinger's Nobel Prize was won at the cost of America's honor.
No Phule Like An Old Phule (Phule's Company)
by Peter J. Heck Robert AsprinWhat’s a millionaire bachelor to do? Join the army—with his butler—of course. Meet Captain Willard Phule and his company of misunderstood misfits. Together, they’ve taken space by storm—and left a tradition of zaniness and laughter in their wake… Desperate to kick Phule out of the Space Legion, General Blitzkrieg sends a crack team of environmental investigators—including celebrity canine Barky the Environmental Dog—to sniff out Phule and his unnatural disasters. It doesn’t take long. Phule is hosting a group of big-game hunters who think they can bag a dinosaur on Zenobia. Needless to say, dinosaurs are not a native species. But cold, hard facts never stopped a Phule… And neither will Barky’s cold, wet nose.
No Picnic on Mount Kenya
by Felice BenuzziA rediscovered mountaineering classic and the extraordinary true story of a daring escape up Mount Kenya by three prisoners of war.When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, prisoner of war Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea - an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea.There are not many people who would break out of a P.O.W. camp, trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meagre rations, and with a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef among their more accurate guides. There are probably fewer still who would break back in to the camp on their return.But this is the remarkable story of three such men. No Picnic on Mount Kenya is a powerful testament to the human spirit of revolt and adventure in even the darkest of places."The history of mountaineering can hardly present a parallel to this mad but thrilling escapade" - Saturday Review"A most extraordinary prisoner-of-war and escape story" - New Yorker"A mad venture and a gallant tribute to man's deep yearning for freedom" - Kirkus Reviews"The book crackles with the same dry humour as its title. It contains the prison-yard bartering and candlelight stitching that mark a classic jailbreak yarn; the encounters with wild beasts in Mount Kenya's forest belt are as gripping, and the descriptions of sparkling glaciers as awe-inspiring, as any passage in the great exploration diaries of the early 20th century" - The Economist
No Picnic on Mount Kenya
by Felice BenuzziA rediscovered mountaineering classic and the extraordinary true story of a daring escape up Mount Kenya by three prisoners of war.When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, prisoner of war Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea - an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea.There are not many people who would break out of a P.O.W. camp, trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meagre rations, and with a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef among their more accurate guides. There are probably fewer still who would break back in to the camp on their return.But this is the remarkable story of three such men. No Picnic on Mount Kenya is a powerful testament to the human spirit of revolt and adventure in even the darkest of places."The history of mountaineering can hardly present a parallel to this mad but thrilling escapade" - Saturday Review"A most extraordinary prisoner-of-war and escape story" - New Yorker"A mad venture and a gallant tribute to man's deep yearning for freedom" - Kirkus Reviews"The book crackles with the same dry humour as its title. It contains the prison-yard bartering and candlelight stitching that mark a classic jailbreak yarn; the encounters with wild beasts in Mount Kenya's forest belt are as gripping, and the descriptions of sparkling glaciers as awe-inspiring, as any passage in the great exploration diaries of the early 20th century" - The Economist
No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story Of Three P. O. W's Escape To Adventure
by Felice BenuzziIn the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the inmates of POW Camp 354. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner realizes he can bear it no longer.When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea--an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea.Not many people would break out of a POW camp and trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meager rations, and a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef as their most accurate guide. Fewer still would break back into the camp on their return.This is the remarkable story of three such men--a powerful testament to the human spirit of rebellion and adventure--reissued in a deluxe edition featuring Benuzzi's own watercolor paintings of the expedition and a final chapter that has never before appeared in English.
No Place Like Home: A New Beginning with the Dogs of Afghanistan
by Pen FarthingMarley and Me meets Bravo Two Zero, in this sequel to One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Afghanistan. Nowzad was a gentle giant when it came to taking treats. He never, ever snatched. To me it was just further evidence that, deep inside, there was a great dog struggling to find his way out. When Pen Farthing brings stray dogs Nowzad and Tali back from his tour of Afghanistan, little does he know what he has begun. Suddenly he has four dogs to look after—two of whom have never been housetrained. And soon he is inundated with requests from other Marines and soldiers to help bring their rescued dogs home. Whether it's little Helmand, Fubar, or Beardog, Pen does his utmost to give these dogs the chance they deserve. This is the story of one man's courage and persistence as he struggles to give his dogs at home, and those still in Afghanistan, the best possible chance. It will warm—and break—the hearts of dog lovers everywhere.
No Place Like Home: A New Beginning with the Dogs of Afghanistan
by Pen Farthing'Nowzad was a gentle giant when it came to taking treats. He never, ever snatched. To me it was just further evidence that, deep inside, there was a great dog struggling to find his way out'When Pen Farthing brings stray dogs Nowzad and Tali back from his tour of Afghanistan, little does he know what he has begun.Suddenly he has four dogs to look after - two of whom have never been house-trained. And soon he is inundated with requests from other Marines and soldiers to help bring their rescued dogs home. Whether it's little Helmand, Fubar or Beardog, Pen does his utmost to give these dogs the chance they deserve.No Place like Home is the true story of one man's courage and persistence as he struggles to give his dogs at home, and those still in Afghanistan, the best possible chance. It will warm - and break - the hearts of dog lovers everywhere.
No Place Like Home: Enemy Alien Internment in Canada during the Great War
by Bohdan S. KordanNo Place Like Home chronicles a little-known episode in Canada’s national history: when internment was first employed during the Great War under the War Measures Act.Highlighting the problem of immigrant fit and belonging, Bohdan Kordan shows how legal, political, and cultural frameworks modelled an understanding of the role and place of immigrants originating from enemy lands and how, amid the economic, social, and political uncertainties of war, internment as an instrument of security policy and a political choice altered the lives of thousands of innocent people. No Place Like Home brings to the fore new perspectives on both Canadian internment and the role and responsibility of government in war. Focusing on the status of enemy aliens and the blurring of the military/civilian distinction, the book also takes a broader social view of the period and offers a critical assessment of the various camp experiences.Kordan articulates how internment, truly known only to those who endured it, can still have deeper meaning as shared history and enlists compelling reasons to comprehend and honour it.
No Place for Chivalry: RAF Night Fighters Defend the East of England Against the German Air Force in Two World Wars
by Alastair GoodrumFly shotgun with the pilots and crews of both sides who fought in the air at night over England during World War I and World War II. In two world wars, a corridor from The Wash to Birmingham was turned into a fierce battleground. The air route from Germany and the occupied countries through this corridor, to targets right across the industrial heartland of England, became a three-dimensional combat zone that proved to be as grim a killing ground by night as anywhere else in the land. No Place for Chivalry encapsulates the story of the air defense of England against attack by night. By taking the area covered by RAF Wittering and Digby sectors, looking at the action of night fighter squadrons operating from those stations and their satellite airfields, the way the battle developed, its timeline of events, the events themselves and the organization of those involved, a coherent picture of how the night air defense of Britain evolved is formed. The narrative is pitched at a level of detail and with such human-interest content that it enables readers not only to grasp what is happening and why but also to feel the tensions, frustrations and euphoria of success that the aircrews felt at the time. The reader gets a view from the cockpit or gun turret, to &“meet&” and &“fly&” with the men of both sides who fought in the air at night—men whose moral standards on the ground were above reproach but, when fighting in the night sky, gave no quarter.
No Place for a War Baby: The Global Politics of Children born of Wartime Sexual Violence (Gender in a Global/Local World)
by Donna SetoDonna Seto investigates why children born of wartime sexual violence are rarely included in post-conflict processes of reconciliation and recovery. The focus on children born of wartime sexual violence questions the framework of understanding war and recognizes that certain individuals are often forgotten or neglected. This book considers how children are neglected sites for the reproduction of global norms. It approaches this topic through an interdisciplinary perspective that questions how silence surrounding the issue of wartime sexual violence has prevented justice for children born of war from being achieved. In considering this, Seto examines how the theories and practices of mainstream International Relations (IR) can silence the experiences of war rape survivors and children born of wartime sexual violence and explores the theoretical frameworks within IR and the institutional structures that uphold protection regimes for children and women.
No Place to Hide
by Lisa HarrisA witness to murder is on the run through the Brazilian rain forest in this inspirational and action-packed romantic thriller.Former navy diver Ryan Kendall is sent to Brazil with a simple assignment: find compromised witness Ellie Webb and bring her home safely. But Ellie isn’t going home until she gets evidence against the criminals who killed her father. As she treks into the Amazon to find it, Ryan must protect her. With cartel members and pirates close behind, they will need to find all their faith, strength, and trust in each other to survive the dangerous jungle . . . and take down a killer.
No Place to Hide: A Novel of the Vietnam War
by Gerry CarrollApril, 1975: Two years after the United States pulled its last ground combat troops out of South Vietnam; the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) is waging a final, desperate fight in a war it cannot win. As the North Vietnamese Army smashes its way toward Saigon, a skeleton crew of American officers are faced with the evacuation of all remaining American and Vietnamese personnel associated with the now-abandoned U.S. war effort. Among the Americans assisting in the effort are some of the Navy's most dedicated warriors. Search and Rescue (SAR) pilot Lt. Tim Boyle, renowned for his bravery, is called back in-country to help coordinate the "helo" end of the operation. His best friend, A-7 Corsair pilot Mike Santy, is assigned as an air wing representative to the evacuation team. Years before, Boyle and Santy had faced a harrowing escape on the ground in North Vietnam after a failed SAR. Now, they're flying one last mission. Lt. Kevin Thompson and junior officer Mark Dalton, Navy SEALs working alongside Boyle and Santy, set out through the NVA-infested jungle to search for Tony Butler. A SEAL who, for the last seven years, has been leading an army of Montagnard tribesmen in their fight against the North Vietnamese, Butler is ready to come home. As the NVA closes in on the doomed city of Saigon, Thompson and Dalton must use all their stealth and cunning to locate Butler - and avoid certain death at enemy hands. In an extraordinary act of daring, Boyle and Santy commandeer an Air America "Huey" on an adrenaline-pumping SAR to try to evacuate the stranded team before the final collapse.
No Place to Run (A KGI Novel #2)
by Maya BanksA woman&’s first love becomes her only chance for survival in this gripping novel in Maya Banks&’ KGI series. The last person Sam Kelly expected to pull wounded from the lake was Sophie Lundgren. Once they shared a brief, intense affair while Sam was undercover and then she vanished. She&’s spent the last months on the run, knowing that any mistake would cost her life and that of her unborn child—Sam&’s child. Now she&’s resurfaced with a warning for Sam: this time, he&’s the one in danger.Sam has too many questions to let her slip away again—like why she disappeared in the first place. This time he vows not to be seduced. But one look in her eyes, and the passion burns again, and Sam knows he&’ll do anything to keep her and his child safe. However, Sophie&’s dark past is more dangerous than he imagines, and the only way for either to survive it is to outrun it.
No Plan B: A Jack Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher #27)
by Lee Child Andrew Child#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Don&’t miss the hit streaming series Reacher! &“No Plan B is not to be missed. A perfectly plotted, fast-paced thriller, with bigger twists than ever before. It&’s no wonder Jack Reacher is everyone&’s favorite rebel hero.&”—Karin SlaughterONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Reader&’s DigestIn Gerrardsville, Colorado, a woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise—before swiftly grabbing the dead woman&’s purse and strolling away. When another homicide is ruled an accident, Reacher knows this is no coincidence. With a killer on the loose, Reacher has no time to waste to track down those responsible. But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don&’t consider Reacher a threat. &“There&’s too much at stake to start running from shadows.&” But Reacher isn&’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right.For when the threat is Reacher, there is No Plan B.
No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War
by Anita LobelA finalist for the National Book Award, Lobel's unforgettable memoir paints a disturbing picture of a child hiding from the Nazis in World War II. Since coming to the United States as a teenager, Lobel has spent her life as an author and illustrator of picture books.
No Promise for Tomorrow (The Quinn Saga)
by Thomas E. SimmonsIn the third volume of the Quinn family saga, Ansel Quinn is caught in an international scandal with reverberations across two world wars. In 1916, the world waits with bated breath to see if the United States will enter the Great War raging in Europe. Meanwhile, President Wilson campaigns for reelection on his record of keeping America out of the fray. Caught in the middle is Maj. Ansel Quinn of Mississippi, assigned to the French army headquarters in Paris as a neutral observer. At home, Ansel&’s wife, Isabel, has been left to manage the family&’s cotton plantation in Mississippi as well as their sugar plantation in Cuba. It is a trial to be without her husband, but only the beginning of the hardships she will face. When Ansel is wounded on the frontlines of the Somme—far from where any neutral observer should be—it sets off international intrigue that could change the course of history. In No Promise for Tomorrow, the Quinn family struggles across the decades between World War I and World War II—a period that includes the influenza epidemic, the Roaring Twenties, prohibition, and the Great Depression.
No Quarter Given: The Change In Strategic Bombing Application In The Pacific Theater During World War II
by Major John M. CuratolaEuropean airpower theorists of the 1920's and 30's envisioned the deliberate bombing of civilians in order to affect an enemy nation's wartime production capabilities and national morale. However, American proponents of airpower were more exacting in their approach to the use of the airplane. The US Army Air Corps developed the idea of precision bombing as a means to destroy an enemy's ability to prosecute war through the targeting of only an enemy's means of production and state infrastructure while avoiding civilian casualties.World War II provided the US Army Air Force (USAAF) the opportunity to prove the effectiveness of this theory. However, as the war progressed, the USAAF targeted not just centers of production, but political targets as well as civilian populations. Thus, USAAF bombing came to resemble the type of application that was initially proffered by European theorists. Large-scale bombing of cities and populations became the mode of operation for the USAAF in the Pacific. Despite its policies and doctrine, the USAAF deliberately bombed civilian populations in conjunction with the Japanese means of production. Why did this targeting change take place? How did the USAAF eventually come to conduct indiscriminate area bombing of civilians despite the perception that it was contrary to our national mores?
No Quarter: The Battle of the Crater, 1864
by Richard SlotkinIn this richly researched and dramatic work of military history, eminent historian Richard Slotkin recounts one of the Civil War's most pivotal events: the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864. At first glance, the Union's plan seemed brilliant: A regiment of miners would burrow beneath a Confederate fort, pack the tunnel with explosives, and blow a hole in the enemy lines. Then a specially trained division of African American infantry would spearhead a powerful assault to exploit the breach created by the explosion. Thus, in one decisive action, the Union would marshal its mastery of technology and resources, as well as demonstrate the superior morale generated by the Army of the Potomac's embrace of emancipation. At stake was the chance to drive General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia away from the defense of the Confederate capital of Richmond - and end the war. The result was something far different. The attack was hamstrung by incompetent leadership and politi - cal infighting in the Union command. The massive explosion ripped open an immense crater, which became a death trap for troops that tried to pass through it. Thousands of soldiers on both sides lost their lives in savage trench warfare that prefigured the brutal combat of World War I. But the fighting here was intensified by racial hatred, with cries on both sides of "No quarter!" In a final horror, the battle ended with the massacre of wounded or surrendering Black troops by the Rebels - and by some of their White comrades in arms. The great attack ended in bloody failure, and the war would be prolonged for another year. With gripping and unforgettable depictions of battle and detailed character portraits of soldiers and statesmen, No Quarter compellingly re - creates in human scale an event epic in scope and mind-boggling in its cost of life. In using the Battle of the Crater as a lens through which to focus the political and social ramifications of the Civil War - particularly the racial tensions on both sides of the struggle - Richard Slotkin brings to readers a fresh perspective on perhaps the most consequential period in American history.