As a child, Robert Howard was taught by his Granny Callie to always face his threats head-on. Some thirty years later, he emerged from the Vietnam War as America's most decorated Green Beret.

For the first time, Robert Howard's story is being told in full. Respected military historian Stephen L. Moore takes readers into the heart of the Vietnam War's covert Special Ops jungle warfare in this immersive, suspenseful read. Through family sources, National Archives documents, and dozens of testimonials from the Green Berets who fought alongside him, this one-man army will finally be given the recognition he deserves.

Robert Howard grew up in poverty in a small town in Alabama, with a strong sense of faith and determination. When he enlisted in the army at age seventeen, his Granny Callie's words echoed in his head, and he pledged to follow them to the bitter end. In the most dire of combat experiences, Howard ran directly toward his opponents, sacrificing his body to protect others and to complete the mission above all else. Time and time again, he survived battles that should have claimed his life, suffering countless bullets, a spinal injury, and shrapnel and blast wounds. Recon commanders who ran missions with him declared him to be the bravest man they had ever met.

In return, Howard received a staggering number of awards and ribbons for valor and distinctive service in combat--over fifty in all, including the Medal of Honor, eight Purple Hearts, the Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, and four Bronze Stars. He holds the distinction of being the only soldier nominated for the Medal of Honor three times in only a thirteen-month period. In total, Howard spent a grueling, treacherous forty months in combat duty in Vietnam, including over two years with MACV-SOG's elite covert group.

A gripping true-life thriller about the first US submarine to sink a Japanese aircraft carrier--and the sub's tragic twist of fate

In 1939 off the New England coast, the submarine USS Squalus accidentally sinks to the bottom of the sea during a training exercise, killing half her crew. Coming to the rescue is the USS Sculpin, in many ways the Squalus's twin. As their oxygen supply dwindles, the remaining crew aboard the Squalus are saved in a time-consuming, white-knuckle operation. Eventually the sunken submarine is raised, repaired, and returned to duty, with a new name: the Sailfish.

Four years later, on patrol during the darkest days of the Pacific War, the Sailfish's radarman picks up the tell-tale signs of a Japanese convoy, known by U.S. intelligence to include aircraft carriers, the most formidable of all enemy ships. Never before has an American submarine taken down a carrier--much less in the middle of a typhoon. Immediately, the crewmen swing into action, embarking on a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as this once-dead boat evades enemy cruisers to stalk closer and closer to their prized target. Little do they know that aboard the Japanese carrier are survivors of an attack on the USS Sculpin, the very boat that saved the Squalis-turned-Sailfish back in '39.

Author Stephen L. Moore takes readers inside the nine-hour duel, narrating the action aboard both the Sailfish and the doomed carrier, where the American POWs fight against all odds to save their own lives before the ship goes down. Employing a wealth of new information, including long-lost survivors' accounts, fresh interviews with the last of the sub's crew, and official patrol reports, Strike of the Sailfish is the thrilling story of this strange chapter of naval history.

Uncommon Valor is a look into the formation and operation of an advanced Special Forces recon company during the Vietnam War. Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most covert U.S. military unit in its time and contained only volunteers from such elite units as the Army's Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and Air Force Air Commandos. SOG warriors operated in small teams, going behind enemy lines in Laos and Cambodia and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, tasked with performing special reconnaissance, sabotaging North Vietnamese Army ammunition, attempting to rescue downed U.S. pilots, and other black ops missions. During that time, Forward Operating Base-2's (FOB-2's) recon company became the most highly decorated unit of the Vietnam War, with five of its men earning the Medal of Honor and eight earning the Distinguished Service Cross-America's second highest military award for valor. Purple Hearts were earned by SOG veterans at a pace unparalleled in American wars of the twentieth century, with casualties at times exceeding 100 percent. One, Bob Howard, was wounded on fourteen different occasions, received eight Purple Hearts, was written up after three different missions for the Medal of Honor, and emerged from Vietnam as the most highly decorated soldier since World War II's Audie Murphy.

One glance at the Spadefish (SS-411) battle flag shows that she was one of the most successful World War II submarines Spadefish was the only U.S. submarine launched in 1944 to become one of the war's top ten scoring boats. She downed six ships on her maiden double-barreled patrol and never looked back.

This first volume of the Savage Frontier series is a comprehensive account of the formative years of the legendary Texas Rangers. Stephen L. Moore provides fresh detail about each ranging unit formed during the Texas Revolution and narrates their involvement in the pivotal battle of San Jacinto and later battles at Parker's Fort, the Elm Creek Fight, Post Oak Springs Massacre, and the Stone Houses Fight. Of particular interest to the reader will be the various rosters of the companies, which are found throughout the book.

The first edition was previously published by Republic of Texas Press in paperback only; it has now been reprinted in hardcover and paperback.

A stirring World War II combat story of how the legendary George Patton reinvigorated a defeated and demoralized army corps, and how his men claimed victory over Germany's most-feared general, Erwin Rommel

Moore brings you to the battlefield and into the mind of a fearless military genius.--Brian Kilmeade, bestselling author of The President and the Freedom Fighter - Essential reading.--Kevin Maurer, #1 NYT bestselling coauthor of No Easy Day - [Moore] has a smooth prose style and a firm grasp of detail.--The Wall Street Journal

In March 1943, in their first fight with the Germans, American soldiers in North Africa were pushed back fifty miles by Rommel's Afrika Korps and nearly annihilated. Only the German decision not to pursue them allowed the Americans to maintain a foothold in the area. General Eisenhower, the supreme commander, knew he needed a new leader on the ground, one who could raise the severely damaged morale of his troops. He handed the job to a new man: Lieutenant General George Patton.

Charismatic, irreverent, impulsive, and inspiring, Patton possessed a massive ego and the ambition to match. But he could motivate men to fight. He had just ten days to whip his dispirited troops into shape, then throw them into battle against the Wehrmacht's terrifying Panzers, the speedy and powerful German tanks that U.S. forces had never defeated. Patton, who believed he had fought as a Roman legionnaire in a previous life, relished the challenge to turn the tide of America's fledgling war against Hitler--and the chance to earn a fourth star.

The true story of the valiant men who gave their all to save the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown--and changed the course of the Pacific War.

On June 4, 1942--six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor--Yorktown's crew began the carrier's final battle against Japan's infamous aircrafts. Hotshot fighter pilot Lieutenant Scott McCuskey attacked from the air in his Wildcat, becoming the Navy's second-ever ace in a day. Carpenter Boyd McKenzie worked tirelessly to repair Yorktown before a fresh air strike. Critically injured gun crew member George Weise fought for his life as the ship threatened to capsize. Meanwhile, Pharmacist's Mate Second Class Warren Heller raced to save the lives of bloodied gunners and sailors by evacuating them before time ran out.

The stories of these heroes and many other brave servicemen bring the gripping narrative of Yorktown's final thirty days to life, as she fights in the near back-to-back Battles of Coral Sea and Midway. Through unpublished memoirs and interviews with Yorktown's last surviving veterans, acclaimed author Stephen L. Moore offers up a new and compelling amount of a pivotal month in World War II while honoring the courage of those who served.

When submarines failed to return to port from patrol, they were officially listed by the Navy as overdue and presumed lost. Loved ones were notified by the War Department that their siblings, spouses, and sons were missing in action and presumed lost. While 52 U.S. submarines were sunk in the Pacific, the Japanese took prisoners of war from the survivors of only seven of these lost submarines. Presumed Lost is the compelling story of the final patrols of those seven submarines and the long captivity of the survivors. Of the 196 sailors taken prisoner, 158 would survive the horrors of the POW camps, where torture, starvation, and slave labor were common. This is the most complete and accurate record of their captivity experiences ever compiled. Author Stephen L. Moore draws on personal interviews with the survivors, as well as on diaries, family archives, and POW statements to reveal new details and correct longstanding errors in previously published accounts. Moore's research brought to light the following facts: Most crewmen from USS Perch endured 1,298 days of captivity without their families ever being told that they were still alive. The Perch and USS Grenadier were so badly damaged by enemy depth-charge attacks that their crews were forced to scuttle their ships. USS Sculpin and USS S-44 went down fighting, with only forty-two men from the Sculpin being taken prisoner and half of them perishing on the way to Japan. USS Tang and USS Tullibee, victims of their own faulty, circling torpedoes, had few survivors, five of whom managed to escape from the sunken, burning Tang when it was 180 feet below the ocean surface. As many as six men survived the loss of USS Robalo after it struck a mine off Palawan, but none of those survived the prison camps. The book includes dozens of rare photos of the POWs, many of which have never before been published. Appendices include final muster rolls of the seven submarines and a complete list of the U.S. submariners who were held as POWs, with details of their various camps of internment

War of the Wolf chronicles the war patrols of the famous submarine Seawolf of World War II. Texas' Seawolf Park was named in honor of SS-197, lost in October 1944. Before her loss, Seawolf racked up some of the most impressive patrols of the war and finished in the Top 10 in sinkings. Had the Silent Service not been plagued with faulty torpedoes during the first two years of World War II, she would have added many more ships to her battle flag. Under such famous skippers as Fearless Freddie Warder and Roy Gross, the Wolf's crew also boldly entered shallow enemy harbors, rescued downed aviators, landed commandos in the Philippines, and pioneered periscope photography. Her war started the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and ended under tragic circumstances. Relive Seawolf's exciting war patrols through the words of many of those who served aboard her, including the diary of a crewman lost with the Wolf.

The history of Texas is usually told in terms of its giants such as Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Here, instead, is a history of Texas told by one of its lesser giants, William Turner Sadler (1797-1884), whose biography becomes the framework for an exciting view of Texas History. Sadler, one of the leading pioneers of nineteenth-century Texas, participated in most of the major events of the period. He migrated to Texas from Georgia in 1835 to become a farmer. He soon found himself in command of a ranger company that built Fort Houston, served as a private in the battle of San Jacinto, was active in quelling the Cordova Rebellion, and became a leader in the campaign against Chief Bowles and the Cherokees. Eventually her served as a representative in both the Republic Congress and the state legislature. During the Civil War, at the age of sixty-six, Sadler served in Terrell's Texas Cavalry. Stephen L. Moore, a sixth generation Texan, graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, where he studied journalism and advertising. He has been an accounting manager for a Houston-based firm which serves the retail advertising industry. Moore's interest in military history and efforts in writing continue to combine as a part-time hobby. He previously combined with William J. Shinneman and Robert W. Gruebel to write The Buzzard Brigade: Torpedo Squadron Ten at War (Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company). Steve, his wife Cindy, and their two daughters currently make their home in the Dallas area.

The history of Texas is usually told in terms of its giants such as Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Here, instead, is a history of Texas told by one of its lesser giants, William Turner Sadler (1797-1884), whose biography becomes the framework for an exciting view of Texas History.

Sadler, one of the leading pioneers of nineteenth-century Texas, participated in most of the major events of the period. He migrated to Texas from Georgia in 1835 to become a farmer. He soon found himself in command of a ranger company that built Fort Houston, served as a private in the battle of San Jacinto, was active in quelling the Cordova Rebellion, and became a leader in the campaign against Chief Bowles and the Cherokees. Eventually he served as a representative in both the Republic Congress and the state legislature. During the Civil War, at the age of sixty-six, Sadler served in Terrell's Texas Cavalry.

This fourth and final volume of the Savage Frontier series completes the history of the Texas Rangers and frontier warfare in the Republic of Texas era. During this period of time, fabled Captain John Coffee Hays and his small band of Rangers were often the only government-authorized frontier fighters employed to keep the peace.

Author Stephen L. Moore covers the assembly of Texan forces to repel two Mexican incursions during 1842, the Vasquez and Woll invasions. This volume covers the resulting battle at Salado Creek, the defeat of Dawson's men, and a skirmish at Hondo Creek near San Antonio. Texas Rangers also played a role in the ill-fated Somervell and Mier expeditions.

By 1844, Captain Hays' Rangers had forever changed the nature of frontier warfare with the use of the Colt five-shooter repeating pistol. This new weapon allowed his men to remain on horseback and keep up a continuous and deadly fire in the face of overwhelming odds, especially at Walker's Creek. Through extensive use of primary military documents and first-person accounts, Moore sets the record straight on some of Jack Hays' lesser-known Comanche encounters.

For the exacting historian or genealogist of early Texas, the Savage Frontier series is an indispensable resource on early nineteenth-century Texas frontier warfare.

PRAISE FOR SAVAGE FRONTIER VOL IV

Moore's fourth and final volume of the Savage Frontier series contains many compelling battle narratives, but there is a wealth of social as well as military history lurking in these chapters. No one who is interested in the people and the problems of the Texas Republic can afford to leave these pages unread.--James E. Crisp, author of How Did Davy Die? And Why Do We Care So Much?

The early 1840s was one of the most turbulent chapters in the history of the lower Rio Grande valley. Readers familiar with earlier volumes in the Savage Frontier series will find much to admire in Steven Moore's eminently readable account.--Sam W. Haynes, author of Soldiers of Misfortune: The Somervell and Mier Expeditions

PRAISE FOR THE SAVAGE FRONTIER SERIES

An exhaustively researched study of the pervasive violence that confronted the newborn Texas Rangers even in colonial days.--Kent Biffle, Dallas Morning News

The volumes of Savage Frontier provide exciting action and accurate history. In addition, important genealogical material is given for anyone seeking the role of his or her ancestors in early Texas history.--Chuck Parsons, Texas Ranger Dispatch

Moore has done an extraordinary job of exhaustively researching his subject. I am not aware of any other book that investigates this period of Ranger history with such thoroughness as Savage Frontier.--Donaly Brice, author of The Great Comanche Raid

This fourth and final volume of the Savage Frontier series completes the history of the Texas Rangers and frontier warfare in the Republic of Texas era. During this period of time, fabled Captain John Coffee Hays and his small band of Rangers were often the only government-authorized frontier fighters employed to keep the peace.

Author Stephen L. Moore covers the assembly of Texan forces to repel two Mexican incursions during 1842, the Vasquez and Woll invasions. This volume covers the resulting battle at Salado Creek, the defeat of Dawson's men, and a skirmish at Hondo Creek near San Antonio. Texas Rangers also played a role in the ill-fated Somervell and Mier expeditions.

By 1844, Captain Hays' Rangers had forever changed the nature of frontier warfare with the use of the Colt five-shooter repeating pistol. This new weapon allowed his men to remain on horseback and keep up a continuous and deadly fire in the face of overwhelming odds, especially at Walker's Creek. Through extensive use of primary military documents and first-person accounts, Moore sets the record straight on some of Jack Hays' lesser-known Comanche encounters.

For the exacting historian or genealogist of early Texas, the Savage Frontier series is an indispensable resource on early nineteenth-century Texas frontier warfare.

PRAISE FOR SAVAGE FRONTIER VOL IV

Moore's fourth and final volume of the Savage Frontier series contains many compelling battle narratives, but there is a wealth of social as well as military history lurking in these chapters. No one who is interested in the people and the problems of the Texas Republic can afford to leave these pages unread.--James E. Crisp, author of How Did Davy Die? And Why Do We Care So Much?

The early 1840s was one of the most turbulent chapters in the history of the lower Rio Grande valley. Readers familiar with earlier volumes in the Savage Frontier series will find much to admire in Steven Moore's eminently readable account.--Sam W. Haynes, author of Soldiers of Misfortune: The Somervell and Mier Expeditions

PRAISE FOR THE SAVAGE FRONTIER SERIES

An exhaustively researched study of the pervasive violence that confronted the newborn Texas Rangers even in colonial days.--Kent Biffle, Dallas Morning News

The volumes of Savage Frontier provide exciting action and accurate history. In addition, important genealogical material is given for anyone seeking the role of his or her ancestors in early Texas history.--Chuck Parsons, Texas Ranger Dispatch

Moore has done an extraordinary job of exhaustively researching his subject. I am not aware of any other book that investigates this period of Ranger history with such thoroughness as Savage Frontier.--Donaly Brice, author of The Great Comanche Raid

This third volume of the Savage Frontier series focuses on the evolution of the Texas Rangers and frontier warfare in Texas during the years 1840 and 1841. Comanche Indians were the leading rival to the pioneers during this period. Peace negotiations in San Antonio collapsed during the Council House Fight, prompting what would become known as the Great Comanche Raid in the summer of 1840.

Stephen L. Moore covers the resulting Battle of Plum Creek and other engagements in new detail. Rangers, militiamen, and volunteers made offensive sweeps into West Texas and the Cross Timbers area of present Dallas-Fort Worth. During this time Texass Frontier Regiment built a great military road, roughly parallel to modern Interstate 35. Moore also shows how the Colt repeating pistol came into use by Texas Rangers. Finally, he sets the record straight on the battles of the legendary Captain Jack Hays.

Through extensive use of primary military documents and first-person accounts, Moore provides a clear view of life as a frontier fighter in the Republic of Texas. The reader will find herein numerous and painstakingly recreated muster rolls, as well as casualty lists and a compilation of 1841 rangers and minutemen. For the exacting historian or genealogist of early Texas, the Savage Frontier series is an indispensable resource on early nineteenth-century Texas frontier warfare.

This second volume of the Savage Frontier series focuses on two of the bloodiest years of fighting in the young Texas Republic, 1838 and 1839.

By early 1838, the Texas Rangers were in danger of disappearing altogether. Stephen L. Moore shows how the major general of the new Texas Militia worked around legal constraints in order to keep mounted rangers in service. Expeditions against Indians during 1838 and 1839 were frequent, conducted by militiamen, rangers, cavalry, civilian volunteer groups and the new Frontier Regiment of the Texas Army. From the Surveyors' Fight to the Battle of Brushy Creek, each engagement is covered in new detail. The volume concludes with the Cherokee War of 1839, which saw the assembly of more Texas troops than had engaged the Mexican army at San Jacinto. Moore fully covers the failed peace negotiations, the role of the Texas Rangers in this campaign, and the last stand of heroic Chief Bowles.

Through extensive use of primary military documents and first-person accounts, Moore provides a clear view of life as a frontier fighter in the Republic of Texas. The reader will find herein numerous and painstakingly recreated muster rolls, as well as a complete list of Texan casualties of the frontier Indian wars from 1835 through 1839.

For the exacting historian or genealogist of early Texas, the Savage Frontier series will be an indispensable resource on early nineteenth-century Texas frontier violence.

A] truly uplifting tale of deliverance from certain death . . . A deeply personal read, in which the reader is drawn into the highs and lows of the action, the tragedy, and the salvation, because Moore has so successfully drawn out the characters. . . . Compelling reading and hard to put down.--Naval History

The heroic story of eleven American POWs who defied certain death in World War II, As Good as Dead is an unforgettable account of the Palawan Massacre survivors and their daring escape.

In late 1944, the Allies invaded the Japanese-held Philippines, and soon the end of the Pacific War was within reach. But for the last 150 American prisoners of war still held on the island of Palawan, there would be no salvation. After years of slave labor, starvation, disease, and torture, their worst fears were about to be realized. On December 14, with machine guns trained on them, they were herded underground into shallow air raid shelters--death pits dug with their own hands.

Japanese soldiers doused the shelters with gasoline and set them on fire. Some thirty prisoners managed to bolt from the fiery carnage, running a lethal gauntlet of machine gun fire and bayonets to jump from the cliffs to the rocky Palawan coast. By the next morning, only eleven men were left alive--but their desperate journey to freedom had just begun.

As Good as Dead is one of the greatest escape stories of World War II, and one that few Americans know. The eleven survivors of the Palawan Massacre--some badly wounded and burned--spent weeks evading Japanese patrols. They scrounged for food and water, swam shark-infested bays, and wandered through treacherous jungle terrain, hoping to find friendly Filipino guerrillas. Their endurance, determination, and courage in the face of death make this a gripping and inspiring saga of survival.

It was the decisive eighteen-minute Battle of San Jacinto where the famous words Remember the Alamo! were first shouted. In Eighteen Minutes, Stephen L. Moore describes the momentous battle that established the independent Lone Star Republic. Told largely through the eyes of the participants, the recollections included here are words from over 120 Texan and Mexican soldiers. The book follows General Sam Houston as he takes command of the Texas Volunteers to lead them to victory six weeks after the fall of the Alamo at San Jacinto, the town since known as the birthplace of Texas liberty. The battle and its aftermath are covered in great detail and include the capture of Santa Anna, the Yellow Rose controversy, and the death of a woman on the battlefield. Special features include rosters of all Texans involved in the battle, a list of casualties, and the details on other companies involved in the campaign. Eighteen Minutes is a comprehensive history of how revenge for the defeat of the Alamo was at last achieved.

Deeply researched and well written....By far the most detailed account of USS Enterprise's dive-bombers and their decisive role at the Battle of Midway.*

Sunday, December 7, 1941, dawned clear and bright over the Pacific....

But for the Dauntless dive-bomber crews of the USS Enterprise returning to their home base on Oahu, it was a morning from hell. Flying directly into the Japanese ambush at Pearl Harbor, they lost a third of their squadron and witnessed the heart of America's Navy broken and smoldering on the oil-slicked waters below.

The next six months, from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway--a dark time during which the Japanese scored victory after victory--this small band of aviators saw almost constant deployment, intense carrier combat, and fearsome casualties. Many were killed by enemy Zero fighters, antiaircraft fire, or deadly crash landings in the Pacific, while others were captured and spent years in POW camps. Yet the Enterprise's Dauntless crews would be the first to strike an offensive blow against Japanese installations in the Marshall Islands, would be the first to sink a Japanese warship, and would shepherd the Doolittle Raiders' bombing of Tokyo.

Not until Midway, though, would Dauntless crews get the chance to settle the score...and change the course of World War II.

Drawing on dozens of new interviews and oral histories, author Stephen L. Moore brings to life inspiring stories of individual sacrifice and bravery--and the sweeping saga of one of America's greatest triumphs.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

The official nonfiction companion to HISTORY's dramatic series Texas Rising (created by the same team that made the ratings record-breaker Hatfields & McCoys): a thrilling new narrative history of the Texas Revolution and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers who patrolled the violent western frontier

March 1836: The Republic of Texas, just weeks old, is already near collapse. William Barret Travis and his brave defenders of the Alamo in San Antonio have been slaughtered. Hundreds more Texan soldiers have surrendered at Goliad, only to be marched outside the fortress and executed by order of the ruthless Mexican general Santa Anna, a dictator denying Texans their freedom and liberty.

General Sam Houston--a hard-drinking, hot-tempered opportunist--remains in command of a small band of volunteer colonists, mercenaries, and the newly organized Texas Rangers. They are the last hope for Texas to challenge the relentless advance of Santa Anna's much larger Mexican Army--yet many of them curse Houston, enraged by his decision to retreat across Texas before the advancing enemy.

The exhausted, outnumbered rebels will meet their destiny on an empty plain near the Gulf Coast next to the San Jacinto River--and make a stand that determines the fate of the young nation. Remember the Alamo and Remember Goliad will be the battle cries, and the order of the day will echo Travis's at the Alamo: Victory or death.

Acclaimed Texas historian Stephen L. Moore's new narrative history tells the full, thrilling story of the Texas Revolution from its humble beginnings to its dramatic conclusion, and reveals the contributions of the fabled Texas Rangers--both during the revolution and in the frontier Indian wars that followed.

From the author of Pacific Payback, the true story of how a patchwork band of aviators saved Guadalcanal during WWII.

November 1942: Japanese and American forces fight for control of Guadalcanal, a small but pivotal island in the South Pacific. The Japanese call it Jigoku no Shima--Hell's Island.

Amid a seeming stalemate, a small group of U.S. Navy dive-bombers is called upon to help determine the island's fate. When their carriers are lost, they are forced to operate from Henderson Field, a small dirt-and-gravel airstrip on Guadalcanal.

They help form the Cactus Air Force, tasked with making dangerous flights from their jungle airfield while holding the line against Japanese air assaults, warship bombardments, and sniper attacks from the jungle. When the Japanese launch a final offensive to take the island, these dive-bomber jocks answer the call of duty--turning back an enemy warship armada, fighter planes, and a convoy of troop transports.

The Battle for Hell's Island reveals how command of the South Pacific, and the outcome of the Pacific War, depended on control of a single dirt airstrip--and the small group of battle-weary aviators sent to protect it with their lives.

INCLUDES PHOTOS