This is a rich source of eyewitness history, and Sharon Nicholson had the vision to capture it before it disappeared. WWII experiences that spanned the globe, some are told with painful pathos, some with painstakingly objectivity, some with humor, all with honesty and sincerity. Nicholson has faithfully captured the voices of these men and women to produce an engaging read--history from the perspective of those who lived it.

The Desert Hawk is the story of James F. "Stocky" Edwards, one of Canada’s greatest WWII air aces, a fighter pilot who earned his nickname not because of his build, but because he would stand up to anything. A Saskatchewan farm boy whose bird-shooting skills would serve him well later in battle, he joined the RCAF and at 20 years old was leading the 260 Squadron over more senior officers. Edwards racked up victories in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, and by war’s end he w...

Experience the pain, the pride, and the triumph of the Marine CorpsAll the members of 1st Lt. James J. Kirschke’s mortar platoon and then rifle platoon knew the stakes: the Marines are America’s military elite, expected to train harder, fight longer, sacrifice more. Kirschke led by example in the hotly contested zone just south of the DMZ and in the dangerous AnHoa region southwest of DaNang. There Kirschke’s units, with resources stretched to the limit, s...

In ships and planes, they crossed the English Channel.On the other side Hitler’s army waited.And the longest day was about to begin....In the spring of 1944, 120,000 Allied soldiers crossed the English Channel in the most ambitious invasion force ever assembled. Rangers, paratroopers, infantry, and armored personnel, these soldiers--some who had just cut their teeth in Africa and Sicily and some who were brand-new to war--joined a force aimed at the h...

TO HELL AND BACKFor the U.S., Guadalcanal was a bloody seven-month struggle under brutal conditions against crack Japanese troops deeply entrenched and determined to fight to the death. For Charles Walker, this horrific jungle battle–one that claimed the lives of 1,600 Americans and more than 23,000 Japanese–was just the beginning. On the eve of battle, 2nd Lt. Walker was ordered back to the States for medical reasons. But there was a war to be won, and he had no intention of missi...

The author in flight gear after photo twelfth mission – second Air Medal (age nineteen)He still wears lucky Air Cadet ring!Hutch's third book contains short stories of boys on B-17 Flying Fortress crews in deadly missions with the Eighth Air Force in World War II and stories of his own teenage combat experiences as radio/gunner on twenty missions with the Mighty Eighth.Teenagers enlisted or were drafted, trained and went into combat before they could legally vote or ...

Imagine being one of a 7-man team in the middle of a jungle where any person you might encounter will try to kill you. This is enemy territory, inhabited by an unknown number of enemy combatants. You might encounter 1 or 2 of the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army or just as easily 50 or more. In addition, there is the danger of man-eating tigers and poisonous snakes! Your mission is to find the enemy without them finding you. You are to report their position so that artillery batteries, b...

“The story of Sergeant Major Maurice Jacques is the story of a true warrior. With close to fifty months’ combat in Korea and Vietnam, he’s one of that rare breed, men who have looked the Devil in the eye—for a long time—and never blinked!”**—**LtCol. Oliver North, USMC (Ret.)COMBAT AND DEATH, SACRIFICE AND HONORMaurice Jacques served for thirty years with the U.S. Marine Corps, nearly six of them in combat. As an accomplished infantryman, parachutist, recon...

Aces Against Japan IIThe American Aces SpeakEric HammelCombat historian Eric Hammel comes through with an engrossing new collection of first-person accounts by American World War II fighter aces.Coupled with a clear overview of America's air war against Japan, Hammel's detailed interviews bring forth the most thrilling in-the-cockpit experiences that World War II's fabled Army, Navy, Marine, and Flying Tiger aces have chosen to tell.Ride with 2d Lieutenant Jack Donalson as he downs three Zero...

ChosinHeroic Ordeal of the Korean WarEric HammelTold from the point of view of the men in the foxholes and tanks, outposts, and command posts, Eric Hammels Chosin is the definitive account of the epic retreat under fire of the 1st Marine Division from the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. The author first sketches in the errors and miscalculations on the part of the American high command that caused the Marines to be strung out at the end of a narrow road scores of miles from the sea. He th...

The author of The Battered Bastards of Bastogne does a "superb job of telling the history the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Market Garden" ( Kepler's Book Reviews).Hell's Highway is a history, most of which has never before been written. It is adventure recorded by those who lived it and put into context by an author who was also there. It is human drama on an enormous scale, told through the personal stories of 612 con...

"Slaughter vividly conveys the reality of combat during World War II in his book with sweeping passages that literally place his reader on the battlefield beside him." Belvoir EagleBefore D-Day, regular army soldiers called the National Guardsmen of Virginia's 116th Infantry Regiment "Home Nannies" and "Weekend Warriors" and worse. On June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach, however, these proud Virginians who carried the legacy of the famed Stonewall Brigade showed the regular army and the w...