It was late November--one of the coldest periods to be on a ship near Alaska. The Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis had run aground during a severe storm and was taking on water. The engine room flooded, disabling the engines. Mountainous seas and gale force winds pounded the Jarvis, and to make matters worse, the ship was floating toward a rocky coastline that would surely destroy it and probably kill most, if not all, of the men.

The ship's captain ordered an emergency message be sent to the Seventeenth Coast Guard District Office in Juneau requesting Coast Guard assistance. But there were no Coast Guard assets near enough to provide immediate help.

At 7:04 p.m., for one of the few times in Coast Guard history, a MAYDAY call for help would come from a Coast Guard vessel.

This is the incredible story of the grounding and near sinking of the USCGC Jarvis and how her crew fought to save their ship--and themselves--from disaster.

How far would you go to protect the one you love? Based on a true story.

1944. During the chaos of WWII, a powerful love story unfolds. Meet a courageous young combat medic, Staff Sergeant Edmund Kruszynski, whose dedication to saving lives takes him to the front lines of battle. He leads a platoon of brave medics onto the blood-soaked beaches of Normandy, across Europe, and into the heart of Nazi Germany. Amid the horrors of the Holocaust, he finds love in the most unexpected place: Buchenwald.

Ed survives, saving lives while bearing the weight of seeing close friends perish. He returns home adorned with medals, yet a relentless battle rages within.

Stateside, Mary works tirelessly supporting the war effort, finding strength in her love for Ed. But when an invisible war endangers her life and threatens their once unbreakable bond, she delivers an ultimatum. Ed must face his demons while Mary vows to protect their secrets at all costs.

She nearly succeeds...

Ideal for fans of Stephen Ambrose's The Band of Brothers and Kristin Hannah's The Women.

A powerful reminder that the freedoms we cherish were won, defended, and preserved by the brave veterans who have borne the battle and the families who sacrificed along with them. -Robert A. McDonald, West Point Distinguished Graduate and Chairman of the Board of the West Point Association of Graduates; Retired Chairman, President & CEO of the Procter & Gamble Company; 8th Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs.

A must-read for anyone who has ever loved someone in uniform and for those who want to be inspired by the indomitable spirit of military spouses and their families. -Mrs. Ann Yingling, Former U.S. Army Wounded Warriors Advocate Wife of Maj. General John A. Yingling U.S. Army (Ret) Mother of Maj. Scott Yingling, currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Army.

Scroll up and click Read Now or Buy Now to experience the camaraderie and courage that defined a generation.

Hellgate Press is proud to publish THE definitive guide to the installations & warships of the Vietnam War. The culmination of more than seven years of research, it is the ultimate guide to the military geography of the American War in Vietnam. It also includes references to numerous battle sites and forts of the French War.

With more than 16,000 entries, WHERE WE WERE IN VIETNAM covers the entire Indochina Theater including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and both North and South Vietnam. Each entry attempts to provide as much of the following as could be identified: name, grid coordinate, relative location, a.k.a. names, origin of name, dates built and dismantled, who constructed the base, major units occupying the base, dates of major attacks, unique features, alternate grids, province and military region. Identified within the text are some 6,000 named firebases and LZs, 2,000 airfields, and the names of more than 700 U.S. and ANZAC warships and contract vessels that served within the Vietnam Combat Zone.

A well-crafted and engaging history of the Coast Guard s unusual and dangerous involvement in Vietnam. From the haunting account of the Air Force s accidental and fatal attack on the Coast Guard patrol boat Point Welcome, to the gripping description of sea battles with North Vietnamese gunrunners, Scotti leads his readers on an exciting sortie into the little-known world of the Coast Guard in Vietnam. Includes photos and a well-researched historical overview of perhaps the least-understood branch of the military.

Until exceeded by the tragic events of September 11, 2001, a little-known occurrence on the northern frontier would represent the highest number of civilians - perhaps as many as 800 - ever killed by hostile action on American soil.

This is the story of a major Indian war that exploded suddenly in the relatively settled region of southern Minnesota in 1862 - a conflict that has come to be known as the Minnesota Uprising - and over the months that followed extended far west into the vast reaches of the Great Plains.

Interspersed in that broader tale is the true-life story of members of three families brought together in the chaos of war by remarkable circumstances. Compiled from detailed family records, photographs, and correspondence, Fire in the North chronicles their triumphs and travails during this exceptional period in American history.

Though often lost in the shadow cast by the cataclysmic events of the Civil War raging at the same time, the conflict along America's frontier is an important episode in our history and deserves the detailed recounting that Fire in the North so aptly provides.

Paul Fattig's The Mouse that Soared a stirring read...chock full of startling characters and high adventure that together make this a welcome addition to the literature by and about those who leap from the sky to take on wildland fire.
-John N. Maclean, author of Fire on the Mountain and Home Waters

From the Introduction to The Mouse That Soared:
The jumper I decided to weave throughout the book was neither the biggest nor the baddest. Yet, like the base, he was small but lived large. He was also feisty and outspoken, a gung-ho fellow who charged challenges head on. With his big heart and sense of humor, he stood tall among his brethren. His name was Allen Dale Mouse Owen, a Marine Corps combat veteran who was 4-foot-10. Although the shortest smokejumper in the nation's history, he stood out among the airborne firefighters. He was also a jumper I knew, albeit only at the journalistic level. To reiterate, this book is not centered on Mouse but on the base and many of the jumpers who lived and worked at the base. As you would expect, smokejumping attracts folks who live life with a certain élan. Again, many other books could be written about the Siskiyou smokejumpers. This book is simply one take on this impressive group.

With a keen eye for deeply human stories Paul has produced a work that embodies the best of what we hope for in our fellow man. -Murry A. Taylor, Veteran Smokejumper and Author of Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire

Some of the political stories in this book appear to be unbelievable, but author Bill Meulemans, knows they're true because he was there!
For starters, there were the four men who were going to save the Pacific Northwest from a Communist invasion by blowing up the Siskiyou Pass on Interstate 5. Then there was the rancher who sold off most of his cattle because he was afraid they would detonate the landmines he had set out to stop federal agents from coming after his guns.
Early in his career, Bill was employed as a secondary-school teacher in a community where a fellow-teacher became a small-town dictator. To silence any opposition, the teacher hired a contract-killer to murder a member of the school board. Then there was the time when Bill interviewed Sonny Barger, the undisputed leader of Hells Angels, and got on the back of his chopper and rode around the freeways of Oakland.
Getting off the beaten-path opened a lot of doors in life for Bill.: He was on the scene in eastern Oregon when a full-fledged commune of 7,000 people grew up spontaneously in a rural area; he invited himself to a John Birch Society Christmas Party; and he worked as a journalist covering an illegal rock concert (with public nudity and drug use) sponsored by the government to avoid an urban riot.
All of this happened during a forty-seven-year career as a political scientist professor in the United States and Northern Ireland. And as you will see, nearly every one of his fascinating stories ends with a surprise that highlights the chaotic world of politics.

It was late November--one of the coldest periods to be on a ship near Alaska. The Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis had run aground during a severe storm and was taking on water. The engine room flooded, disabling the engines. Mountainous seas and gale force winds pounded the Jarvis, and to make matters worse, the ship was floating toward a rocky coastline that would surely destroy it and probably kill most, if not all, of the men.

The ship's captain ordered an emergency message be sent to the Seventeenth Coast Guard District Office in Juneau requesting Coast Guard assistance. But there were no Coast Guard assets near enough to provide immediate help.

At 7:04 p.m., for one of the few times in Coast Guard history, a MAYDAY call for help would come from a Coast Guard vessel.

This is the incredible story of the grounding and near sinking of the USCGC Jarvis and how her crew fought to save their ship--and themselves--from disaster.

Newly enlisted in the Army during World War II, 21-year-old Bob Max soon found himself recruited into the Fort Dix Swing Band to play alongside some of the top musicians in the country--sidemen who performed with the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown, Harry James, and Benny Goodman. Bob was thrilled.

One day his name appeared on a list of recruits to be shipped out for basic training, preparation for ultimate combat. Bandleader Jack Leonard arranged for the order to be set aside, but feeling the call of duty, Bob chose to ship out anyway. He told Jack that he expected to back with the band someday.

Kid, Jack said, you leave now and you're not ever coming back...

The personal naming of military aircraft in the Vietnam War is not unique in American history. What is unique is the near total lack of documentation of the existence of those names on in-country Army helicopters during the 1961-'73 conflict in S. E. Asia. This book remedies that once and for all -Over 3,000 Army copter names cross-referenced by Unit -Details on Origin, Time Period, Location, Function, Type, Serial Number, Artist, Crew and more -More than 2,000 contributor names listed and cross-referenced -Perfect for veterans, hobbyists, historical researchers, KIA families, sociologists, aviation enthusiasts and students of Americana-just to name a few -Includes 40 rare photographs U.S. Army Helicopter Names in Vietnam provides an essential and heretofore missing puzzle piece in helping to identify and better understand our warrior brothers, fathers, uncles, sons and friends who manned these incredible flying machines in the skies of Vietnam.

As England braced for a life-or-death struggle against Germany in the summer of 1940, most Americans knew more about baseball than the bombs about to fall on London.

Not Phil Leckrone. The tall, handsome and gregarious pilot from a small town in downstate Illinois had a taste for fast cars--and faster airplanes. More than a year before Pearl Harbor brought America into World War II, Leckrone left his wife and two small children--risking loss of citizenship, jail time, and hefty fines--to sneak across the Canadian border and join the Royal Air Force.

Now, for the first time in 80 years, Leckrone's story has been brought to life in this meticulously researched biography.

Full Measure of Devotion is a scholarly yet vivid portrait that follows Phil Leckrone from his birth in a rural Illinois community to his tragic death in a flying accident near London after the Battle of Britain concluded.

History specialists and generalists alike will appreciate Full Measure of Devotion as a timeless story of one man's heroic courage and the somber debt owed to those who answer the call to protect free nations from tyranny.

The year is 1969. Neil Armstrong walks on the moon. Upstate New York hosts an outdoor concert called Woodstock. The Vietnam war rages on.

Tom Combs, a young man from Seattle, faces certain draft induction. He decides upon the United States Air Force as the best choice of service.

Then it's Basic Training, technical school for jet mechanics, assistant crew chief on a C-130 at Dyess AFB, Texas, a stint in the Middle East and eventually, he's assigned to the most prestigious squadron of aircraft in S.E. Asia: The 16th Special Operations Squadron of AC-130s. Call sign: spectre.

FLIGHT LINE offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at how maintenance crews keep their airplanes flying-and fighting-all from the point of view of a seasoned Air Force Crew Chief.

Thomas L. Stewart joined the United States Marine Corps on June 22, 1917--just two months after America entered World War One. Private Stewart was a member of 96th Co (H), 6th Marine Regiment, led by the future Commandant of the Marine Corps, Clifton Cates. Stewart was one of the 24 Marines who took Bouresches during the battle of the Aisne. He was gassed at Belleau Wood and served at a hospital as an MP while recovering. Eventually, he became part of the force that occupied Germany.

His story is made even more personal through the many letters he sent home, from the day he enlisted to his last day in Europe, and selections from the hundreds of photos he took--from training at Parris Island to his time in Germany.

The year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, one of the major events of the Vietnam War. The decade also marks the 50th class reunion for high school and college classes of the 1960s. While for most classmates a school reunion prompts recollections of halcyon days of dating, sports, fraternities, and folk songs, to many young men of the era--some of whom received diplomas in one hand and draft notices in the other--the '60s meant Vietnam.

Within these pages, thirty-four veterans of the Vietnam era present short memoirs of their personal experiences in the military. Events are documented in their own words by members of four major branches of the military--officers and enlisted. Now fifty years older, these one-time Soldiers and Sailors, Marines and Airmen, exchange their stories and talk of a brotherhood that went well beyond the camaraderie of a college fraternity or social club.

Between the lines, there is heroism, humor, and moving sentiments to be found and preserved for generations to come.

A well-crafted and engaging history of the Coast Guard s unusual and dangerous involvement in Vietnam. From the haunting account of the Air Force s accidental and fatal attack on the Coast Guard patrol boat Point Welcome, to the gripping description of sea battles with North Vietnamese gunrunners, Scotti leads his readers on an exciting sortie into the little-known world of the Coast Guard in Vietnam. Includes photos and a well-researched historical overview of perhaps the least-understood branch of the military.

One day, according to legend (and more than a few WWII glider pilots), several power plane pilots were ribbing a group of glidermen about the G in the center of their pilot's wings. What's that stand for? Greenhorn? Grounded? No, answered one of the glidermen. It stands for Guts! And so was born the glider pilot's motto-a true testament to a rare breed of courageous aviators.

THE G STANDS FOR GUTS tells the story of military gliders and the men who soared-and died-in them. From the invasion of Normandy to campaigns in Sicily and Holland, Mark Bagley flew, fought and survived using his wits, talents...and guts. In addition, he trained countless others to become glider pilots and received numerous commendations for his service.

The year was 1845. It was Indian summer and deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains the entire McCain family was being buried - except for a lone survivor.
His soft voice was beginning to crack noticeably as he finally addressed the last grave. I know this is probably the...the... last time...we'll ever be together as a family. If Taylor had known, I know he'd be here too. I promise you that I will find Taylor and let...him know...about this. I will. You have my word. I love you, Pa.
He stood, sniffed a couple of times, and wiped his eyes with a dirty sleeve. Goodbye.
Jericho never looked back as the flames began to flicker through the cabin's open doorway, nor did he notice the smoke lifting lazily into the afternoon sky. He knew where he was headed. He'd been thinking about it ever since Taylor left. He'd have gone to find his brother, even if he hadn't promised his father.
Texas - that's where Taylor said he was going. Texas! The name had a good ring to it. A clean starting over kind of sound and that's what Jericho wanted - a clean start.

Growing up in Sea Bright, New Jersey, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Gregory Martinez became engrossed with living by the sea. One day, he received a very distinguished letter addressed to him from the President of the United States. The Selective Service Department of the United States, had directed him to serve in the Armed Forces and report for active duty on July 14, 1970. Seeking guidance from his father, he was told Go join the Navy. Do what you have to; get something positive out of the experience. Learn all you can. This became Greg's first mission.On April 16, 1971, Greg reported aboard the 4.4 acre aircraft carrier, USS Constellation (CVA-64). By September 1971, the ship and her crew, including the air wing, were combat-ready for deployment. Interspersed with combat duties, Greg experienced riveting life adventures both onboard and ashore during his years with Connie.After his Honorable Discharge, Greg began to feel the calling of his ship. Unsure what to make of these feelings, he slowly permitted himself to be drawn in by her. It eventually became clear that Greg needed to learn more about Connie and what was occurring during her tenure at sea.Connie-a ship that cannot and will not be forgotten-had a profound and lasting effect on Greg and others who have sailed aboard her. Greg's final mission and its results are revealed in the concluding chapters of the book; a mission which no one, not even Greg himself, could have ever predicted.

Thomas L. Stewart joined the United States Marine Corps on June 22, 1917--just two months after America entered World War One. Private Stewart was a member of 96th Co (H), 6th Marine Regiment, led by the future Commandant of the Marine Corps, Clifton Cates. Stewart was one of the 24 Marines who took Bouresches during the battle of the Aisne. He was gassed at Belleau Wood and served at a hospital as an MP while recovering. Eventually, he became part of the force that occupied Germany.

His story is made even more personal through the many letters he sent home, from the day he enlisted to his last day in Europe, and selections from the hundreds of photos he took--from training at Parris Island to his time in Germany.