Military Medley

Death In The Highlands by Keith Saliba

Keith Saliba's book's real-life setting is an isolated, heavily fortified frontier outpost In Vietnam's West-Central Highlands near the Cambodian border and the Ho Chi Minh trail, the main conduit for troops and supplies from North Vietnam. "It was a 20th-century version of the Wild West frontier fortress," Saliba said, in territory Army Special Forces soldiers called "Indian Country"-remote, dangerous. In October 1965, the camp at Plei Me was guarded by a 12-man American Army Special Forces "A-Team," along with Montagnard fighters native to the region and a small contingent of South Vietnamese Special Forces soldiers. But by Oct. 19, almost 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers had crept into position around Plei Me. An equal number were deployed to ambush any relief force sent to the camp's rescue. And so begins the battle he describes in "Death in the Highlands: The Siege of Special Forces Camp Plei Me." Vastly outnumbered, the Special Forces soldiers fought back with their Vietnamese...

A1C Morgan Freeman, U.S. Air Force (1955-1959)

Celebrities Who Served, Cold War

Morgan Freeman, recipient of the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, is an American actor, director, and narrator. Noted for his distinctive deep voice, Freeman didn't get his first big break until age 49. Most readers know Freeman for his perfromance in Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, or Driving Miss Daisy. But did you know that acting was not Freeman’s first love? As a young man, he dreamed of being an Air Force pilot, turned down an drama scholarship to enlist in the Air Force, where he served for four years. Morgan Freeman’s Early Years Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on the 1st of June, 1937. These were harsh years, with the Wall Street Crash leading through to the Dust Bowl and then the war in Europe. His father, Morgan Sr, was a barber, his mother Mayme a cleaner struggling to maintain a family that eventually included six children: five boys and one girl, Morgan being the fourth-born. When Morgan was very young, like so many other...

Vietnam and Beyond: Veteran Reflections by Jenny La Sala And Jim Markson

Military Book Reviews, Vietnam War

Those who have fought on a battlefield often describe it as a combination of extreme excitement and gut-wrenching terror. It's also a huge assault to the emotions that can leave permanent mental health damage. Today, that condition is called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the past, it has been known as battle fatigue (WWI) and shell shock (WWII). This well-styled, organized, and powerfully written book is a compilation of first-hand accounts by warriors who suffer some aspects of emotional trauma as well as others who have full-blown PTSD. At the center of the book are a collection of letters co-author Jim Markson wrote home while serving in Vietnam with the U.S. Air Force 377th Security Police Squadron as security for the Tan Son Nhut Air Base. His tour was from March 1967 to March 1968. His first batch of letters home were relatively placid, containing relaxed messages about arriving in Vietnam; going to the PX; the boredom; how he had gone into Saigon and had shrimp...

Donovan: America’s Master Spy by Richard B. Dunlop

Military Book Reviews, World War II

One of the most celebrated and highly decorated heroes of World War I, a noted trial lawyer, presidential adviser and emissary, and Chief of America’s Office of Strategic Services during World War II, William J. Donovan was a legendary figure. Donovan, originally published in 1982, penetrates the cloak of secrecy surrounding this remarkable man. During the dark days of World War II, "Wild Bill" Donovan, more than any other person, was responsible for what William Stevenson, author of "A Man Called Intrepid", described as "the astonishing success with which the United States entered secret warfare and accomplished in less than four years what it took England many centuries to develop." Drawing upon Donovan’s diaries, letters, and other papers; interviews with hundreds of the men and women who worked with him and spied for him; and declassified and unpublished documents, author Richard Dunlop, himself a former member of Donovan’s OSS, traces the incredible career of the man who almost...

Fearless by Eric Blehm

Global War on Terror, Military Book Reviews

When Navy SEAL Adam Brown woke up on March 17, 2010, he didn't know he would die that night in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan - but he was ready. In a letter to his children, not meant to be seen unless the worst happened, he wrote, "I'm not afraid of anything that might happen to me on this earth, because I know no matter what, nothing can take my spirit from me." Fearless is the story of a man of extremes, whose courage and determination were fueled by faith, family, and the love of a woman. It's about a man who waged a war against his own worst impulses, including drug addiction and persevered to reach the top tier of the U.S. military. In a deeply personal and absorbing chronicle, Fearless reveals a glimpse inside the SEAL Team SIX brotherhood and presents an indelible portrait of a highly trained warrior whose final act of bravery led to the ultimate sacrifice. Adam Brown was a devoted man who was an unlikely hero but a true warrior, described by all who knew him as,...

Vietnam War Veterans

LTJG Neil Alden Armstrong, U.S. Navy (1949-1952)

Celebrities Who Served, Korean War

Neil Alden Armstrong who served in the US Navy between 1949 and 1952, is better known as the first man to walk on the Moon. His iconic announcement ‘One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,’ and first steps on an extraterrestrial body were broadcast to over 650 million people: around a fifth of the total world population. Armstrong’s path to becoming the most iconic and famous astronaut of all time began near Wapakoneta, Ohio. Neil Armstrong’s Military Career Born on August 5, 1930, Neil Alden Armstrong developed an early interest in flying and gained his student flight certificate at the age of 16, before he even gained his driver’s license. At the age of 17, Armstrong received a Navy scholarship under the Holloway Plan, studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. With his scholarship, Armstrong was required to undergo two years of study prior to two years of flight training, as well as a full year of service in the US Navy as an aviator. Once those years...

PVT Jimi Hendrix, U.S. Army (1961-1962)

Celebrities Who Served, Cold War

Jimi Hendrix, an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music is one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. Did you know Jimi Hendrix briefly served in the U.S. Army? James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was born in 1942 in Seattle while his father Al Hendrix, drafted into the Army during World War II, was imprisoned in an Alabama stockade. Drafted just three days after marrying Jimi’s mother, Lucille Jeter, Al spent a month in Fort Benning, Georgia, and was then sent to Camp Rucker in Alabama. He was a field artillery gunner for Company B of the 903rd Airbase Security Battalion. Their job was to guard the Eighth Airforce's airstrips, planes, and bomb dumps -- traveling wherever the Eighth Airforce went. Al requested leave around the time Jimi was to be born, but he was refused because he lived in Seattle. The army was only allowing five days leave for family births, and he would...

2LT Jack “Jackie” Robinson, U.S. Army (1942-1944)

Celebrities Who Served, World War II

Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player, Social Reformer, famed baseball player and civil rights advocate, Jack "Jackie" Robinson became the first African-American to play in modern major league baseball. Jack "Jackie" Robinson Was Assigned to a Segregated Army Cavalry Unit at Fort Riley In 1942, Jack Robinson was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas. Having the requisite qualifications, Robinson and several other black soldiers applied for admission to an Officer Candidate School (OCS) located at Fort Riley. Although the Army's initial July 1941 guidelines for OCS had been drafted as race-neutral, practically speaking, few black applicants were admitted into OCS until after subsequent directives by Army leadership. As a result, the applications of Robinson and his colleagues were delayed for several months. After protests by heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis (then stationed at Fort Riley) and Truman Gibson's help (then an assistant...

Sgt Thomas William Selleck (Tom Selleck), U.S. Army, (1967-1973)

Celebrities Who Served, Vietnam War

Known for his leading role in ‘Magnum, P.I.’ and as Monica’s love interest in ‘Friends’, Tom Selleck is a household name whose career has spanned over four decades. He’s had numerous on-screen careers, but you know that Tom Selleck is a Vietnam War era veteran? Tom Selleck’s Early Life Thomas William Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1945, but his family moved to Sherman Oaks, California, in 1948. Raised by hardworking parents, Tom Selleck learned the values of the U.S. military from an early age. Tom Selleck grew up hearing tales of World War II. His father, Robert, was a B29 mechanic in the Army Air Corps. His uncle Lyle went missing in action during the Battle of the Bulge, and his uncle George flew the Hump, the aviation route from India to China. Selleck graduated from Grant High School in 1962 and enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College. Later, Selleck, who stands 6 ft 4 in tall, transferred to the University of Southern California during his junior year to play for the...

No Ordinary Dog by Will Chesney, Joe Layden

Global War on Terror, Military Book Reviews

No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid is the powerful true story of a SEAL Team Operator and military dog handler, and the dog that saved his life. Two dozen Navy SEALs descended on Osama bin Laden's compound in May 2011. After the mission, only one name was made public: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois and military working dog. This is Cairo's story, and that of his Handler, Will Chesney, a SEAL Team Operator whose life would be irrevocably tied to Cairo's. The Story of a SEAL Team Operator Starting in 2008, when Will was introduced to the SEAL canine program, he and Cairo worked side by side, depending on each other for survival on hundreds of critical operations in the war on terrorism. But their bond transcended their service. Then, in 2011, the call came: Pick up your dog and get back to Virginia. Now. What followed were several weeks of training for a secret mission. It soon became clear that this was no ordinary operation. Cairo was among the first...

Shooting Vietnam by Dan Brookes & Bob Hillerby

Military Book Reviews, Vietnam War

Having my feet firmly planted in the camps of archive photography and military history, I was bound to be drawn to this absorbing and often extremely personal book: Shooting Vietnam: The War By Its Military Photographers by Dan Brookes and the late Bob Hillerby. They recount their experiences of serving in Vietnam and offer a deep insight into the world of combat and general photography orchestrated by the US Army. This is a difficult book to put down. About Shooting Vietnam Mr. Hillerby tells an eye-watering tale of his life as a combat photographer, often in danger, ever on the alert to get the shot and stay alive. His stories of serving with the Air Cavalry Division are stirring, to say the least. But the thing that underpins all this is his deep knowledge of his subject and the photography itself. He has left one of the most credible accounts of the war I’ve had the honor to read. I’ve loved photography for fifty years, and this book takes the reader right into the heart of it in...

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Military Medley

Death In The Highlands by Keith Saliba

A1C Morgan Freeman, U.S. Air Force (1955-1959)

Vietnam and Beyond: Veteran Reflections by Jenny La Sala And Jim Markson

Donovan: America’s Master Spy by Richard B. Dunlop

Fearless by Eric Blehm

Vietnam War Veterans

LTJG Neil Alden Armstrong, U.S. Navy (1949-1952)

PVT Jimi Hendrix, U.S. Army (1961-1962)

2LT Jack “Jackie” Robinson, U.S. Army (1942-1944)

No Ordinary Dog by Will Chesney, Joe Layden

Shooting Vietnam by Dan Brookes & Bob Hillerby

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