Forever a Soldier

Forever a Soldier PDF

Author: Tom Wiener

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780792262077

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Contains thirty-seven narratives, drawn from letters, diaries, private memoirs, and oral histories in which American veterans describe their experiences serving in conflicts from the First World War to the twenty-first-century war in Iraq.

We Are Soldiers

We Are Soldiers PDF

Author: Danny Danziger

Publisher: Sphere

Published: 2010-09-02

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0748116370

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What is it like to drive a Challenger tank over desert terrain for six days in a row? Or hover an Apache AH1 attack helicopter a hundred metres above enemy ground? How quickly can a Sapper clear a field of unexploded devices, or build a bridge - or blow one up? What is it like to fix bayonets, and engage in hand to hand combat, or train a 5.56 mm SA80 sniper sight on an enemy soldier, and pull the trigger? How do you find out what a soldier must learn on his way to war...? Ask him. In this extraordinary book, Danny Danziger interviews the people who fight our wars for us, providing a unique insight into the reality of what we ask of our armed forces. Groundbreaking and utterly compelling, WE ARE SOLDIERS takes the reader to the heart of the 21st century soldier's experience.

The Soldiers' Story

The Soldiers' Story PDF

Author: Ron Steinman

Publisher: Barnes & Noble Publishing

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 9780760732625

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Soldiers tell of their experiences during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the siege of Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive, the Fall of Saigon and at other times during the war.

Reader's Digest Soldier Stories

Reader's Digest Soldier Stories PDF

Author: Reader's Digest

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1621454436

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Reader's Digest Soldier Stories is a chronological retrospective of the best military pieces Reader's Digest has run, from World War I through the war in Iraq. Featuring stories from the battlefield to the home front, this inspiring collection honors the men and women of America’s armed forces and gives readers a glimpse into life in uniform. Beginning in World War I and continuing through to the war in Iraq, readers will follow soldiers into the trenches, peer in on emergency surgery taking place in the depths of the ocean, watch heroes carry the bodies of fallen brethren, trail Eisenhower for the three days leading up to D-Day, and be inspired as men and women rise above and beyond normal human limits to preserve our rights and save their friends. Other stories include those of: • A soldier’s last gift to her young daughter at home • A tribute to one of the first African-Americans to serve as a Naval Officer • A pilot rescued after his F-16 is shot down • A judge who sentenced a fellow veteran to jail, then joined him in his cell for the night to help him through his PTSD • An American soldier who takes a big risk to save a dying Afghan girl This book gives a complete perspective on the hell that is war, the love that grows from camaraderie, the pride from accomplishing the impossible, the humor that springs from the military bureaucracy, and more. A chronological retrospective of the best military pieces Reader's Digest has run, Reader’s Digest Soldier Stories honors the men and women of America’s armed forces.

War Stories

War Stories PDF

Author: Gary Kulik

Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.

Published: 2009-10-31

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 1597976377

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War stories are mostly innocent fables and understood as such by both the teller and the hearer. However, they have long been used for political and national purposes, and those about the war in Vietnam were no exception, as painfully evidenced in the 2004 presidential campaign. John Kerry campaigned as a war hero. His opponents cast him as a liar and a traitor and their war story prevailed. ""War Stories"" delves into the myths associated with the Vietnam veteran s experience and looks at them through the war stories they told and continue to tell. Kulik conducts an extremely thorough review of the Vietnam literature and interviews participants wherever possible, poking holes in the war myths of people throughout the political spectrum. War Stories discusses how returning Vietnam vets were treated and delves into the myths that atrocities were commonplace, that all veterans of that war suffer from PTSD, and that all are guilt ridden. Kulik s research and analysis of such stories lies at the heart of this book s originality and provides a new perspective on the Vietnam War for scholars, students, and general readers. His purpose in exposing such stories is not to deny or minimize American war crimes in Vietnam but to cut through the cant of false stories so that we retain our outrage at those that are true. As we are faced with future war stories from Iraq and Afghanistan and their likely exploitation, the moral stance and the lessons learned in this book will be especially important."

Wiser in Battle

Wiser in Battle PDF

Author: Ricardo S. Sanchez

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-04-28

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13: 0061562432

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The former commander of coalition forces in Iraq reports back from the front lines of the global war on terror to provide a comprehensive and chilling exploration of America's historic military and foreign-policy blunder. With unflinching candor, Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez describes the chaos on the Iraqi battlefield caused by the Bush administration's misguided command of the military, as well as his own struggle to set the coalition on the path toward victory. Sanchez shows how minor insurgent attacks grew into synchronized operations that finally ignited into a major insurgency and all-out civil war. He provides an insider's account of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, explaining the circumstances that led to the abuses, who perpetrated them, and what the formal investigations revealed. Sanchez also details the cynical use of the Iraq War for political gain in Washington and shows how the pressure of an around-the-clock news cycle drove and distorted critical battle decisions. The first book written by a former on-site commander in Iraq, Wiser in Battle is essential reading for all who wish to understand the Iraqi incursion and the role of America's military in the new century.

One Soldier's Story 1939-1945

One Soldier's Story 1939-1945 PDF

Author: George S. MacDonell

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2002-10

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 1550024086

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This story details the fateful adventures of two Canadian army regiments dispatched to the Pacific to face the Japanese.

Squaddie

Squaddie PDF

Author: Steven McLaughlin

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2011-05-20

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1780572026

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From the harsh realities of basic training to post-war chaos in Iraq and knife-edge tension in Northern Ireland, Squaddie takes us to a place not advertised in army recruitment brochures. It exposes the grim reality of everyday soldiering for the 'grunts on the ground'. After the tragic death of his brother, and in the dark days following 9/11, McLaughlin felt compelled to fulfil his lifelong ambition to serve in the army. He followed his late brother into the elite Royal Green Jackets and passed the arduous Combat Infantryman's Course at the age of 31. Thereafter, McLaughlin found himself submerged in a world of casual violence. Squaddie is a snapshot of infantry soldiering in the twenty-first century. It takes us into the heart of an ancient institution that is struggling to retain its tough traditions in a rapidly changing world. All of the fears and anxieties that the modern soldier carries as his burden are laid bare, as well as the occasional joys and triumphs that can make him feel like he is doing the best job in the world. This is an account of army life by someone who has been there and done it.

The Things They Cannot Say

The Things They Cannot Say PDF

Author: Kevin Sites

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2013-01-29

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0062099221

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“The harrowing accounts detail the experiencesof 11 US soldiers and Marines who have been ravaged by modern warfare and its psychological aftermath. What makes Kevin’s reporting unique and essential is that it didn’t stop on the battlefield—he followed his subjects home.” — Vice An important look at the unspoken and unknown truths of war and its impact, told through the personal stories of those who have been there. In The Things They Cannot Say, eleven soldiers and Marines display a courage that transcends battlefield heroics—they share the truth about their wars. For each it means something different: one struggles to recover from a head injury he believes has stolen his ability to love, another attempts to make amends for the killing of an innocent man, while yet another finds respect for the enemy fighter who tried to kill him. Award-winning journalist and author Kevin Sites asks the difficult questions of these combatants, many of whom he first met while in Afghanistan and Iraq and others he sought out from different wars: What is it like to kill? What is it like to be under fire? How do you know what’s right? What can you never forget? Sites compiles the accounts of soldiers, Marines, their families and friends, and also shares the narrative of his own failures during war (including complicity in a murder) and the redemptive powers of storytelling in arresting a spiraling path of self-destruction. He learns that war both gives and takes from those most involved in it. Some struggle in disequilibrium, while others find balance, usually with the help of communities who have learned to listen, without judgment, to the real stories of the men and women it has sent to fight its battles.

Hidden Battles on Unseen Fronts

Hidden Battles on Unseen Fronts PDF

Author: Patricia P. Driscoll

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1935149016

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Compelling stories of American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with what are now considered this war's signature injuries-- TBI and PTSD -- along with the experiences of our mental health professionals newly mobilized to assist them.