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Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior by Ric Prado

Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior by Ric Prado

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It's not often we get a glimpse inside the secret world of a covert CIA operative, let alone one as storied as Ric Prado. Prado is a 24-year veteran of the agency, the equivalent of a two-star general, and a retired member of the Special Activities Division, where he and others performed covert paramilitary actions all over the world. His new book, "Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior," takes readers into the world of the CIA, covering the shadow wars the agency has conducted in the years since the end of the Vietnam War. It's a memoir and a recounting of a secret history, a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest headlines of the Cold War and the War on Terror. It's also a must-read for anyone interested in covert operations.  About the Author of Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior by Ric Prado Prado's life of action started early. He was born under the Batista regime in Cuba and was caught in his first firefight at age seven, amid the Castro-led Cuban...

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Capt Dan Lauria, U.S. Marine Corps (1970-1973)

Capt Dan Lauria, U.S. Marine Corps (1970-1973)

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Dan Lauria: Marine Corps Veteran, Veteran Actor Dan Lauria, one of America’s best-known TV dads due to his famous role as “Kevin’s Dad” on the hit show Wonder Years, is an accomplished TV, film, and stage actor. His service in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War had a profound impact on both his life and his acting career. Todays, Lauria continues to support veterans through his involvement in several important organizations. Dan Lauria’s Early Years On Stage Lauria, an Italian-American, was born in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Lindenhurst, New York. He graduated from Lindenhurst Senior High School in 1965 as a varsity football player. Later, he briefly returned to the same high school as a football coach. Lauria developed an interest in performing from his aunt who used to awaken him to watch old movies on TV. A joke cracked on the football field in college led to acting lessons with Yale's Constance Welch. Lauria’s father was a World War II veteran of the Army who...

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Cpl Mel Brooks, U.S. Army (1944 – 1945)

Cpl Mel Brooks, U.S. Army (1944 – 1945)

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Mel Brooks's Military Service “Springtime for Hitler” is one of the songs that made Mel Brooks famous. But did you know that this prolific actor, comedian, composer, and filmmaker served in World War II as a young man? Mel Brooks’s Early Life Mel Brooks was born Melvin James Kaminsky in 1926, the youngest of four boys. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in a Jewish family of modest means. When Brooks was two years old, his father passed away from kidney disease. Mel was raised by his mother and three older brothers: Irving, Lennie, and Bernie. It is often said that his father’s untimely death fueled Brooks's comedy career.  Later in life, Brooks reflected on his father’s death with these words: "there's an outrage there. I may be angry at God, or at the world, for that. And I'm sure a lot of my comedy is based on anger and hostility. Growing up in Williamsburg, I learned to clothe it in comedy to spare myself problems - like a punch in the face." Brooks was a small, sickly boy,...

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The Boys on Cherry Street by Ron Boehm

The Boys on Cherry Street by Ron Boehm

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Tens of thousands of books have been written on the Vietnam War. Thousands more are in the process of being written, and thousands more are being considered by other veterans. Such books inevitably deal with heroic actions and stories of courage and sacrifice.  Boehm brilliant book also includes stories about heroes and their courage, but he wrote the book to be a different kind of book on Vietnam. He was highly successful. It is a collection of the experiences of Boehm and his friends doing a lot of crazy and outrageous funny things together that were symbolic of the young men of the Vietnam War era, high school and college roommates and Marine buddies who fought in Vietnam~stories of barrooms, parties, and first-time exploits.  With humor laced throughout much of his writings, here is a prime example that when I envisioned the scene, I could not stop laughing: Fred Bonati, his friend who was leaving the Corps in a few months, let his hair grown long. One day a Major told him to...

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Maj Clark Gable, U.S. Army Air Forces (1942-1947)

Maj Clark Gable, U.S. Army Air Forces (1942-1947)

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Clark Gable, of the U.S. Army Air Forces between 1942 and 1947, is best known as the ‘King of Hollywood’, the womanizing man’s man with a filmography of over 60 productions. However, he had a passion for flying combat missions and defied death in World War II. Born William Clark Gable in 1901, his father Will was an oil-well driller living in Cadiz, Ohio. Baptized Catholic, his mother Adeline died when he was just ten months old, and his father refused to raise him in the faith. Gable’s father remarried in 1903, and he was raised by his stepmother Jennie. She taught him the piano, and Will taught him to repair automobiles and hunt. Young Clark also developed a taste for literature, and would recite Shakespeare. Gable’s Childhood and First Marriage Gable was inspired to become an actor at 17 after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise. However, he worked with his father in Oklahoma in the oil industry, his stepmother had passed away. At the age of 21, Gable received an inheritance from...

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Events in the Life of an Ordinary Man by Richard R. Pariseau

Events in the Life of an Ordinary Man by Richard R. Pariseau

In his introduction, the author wrote: "ordinary implies middle-class Americans without special privileges of wealth or title." He was referring to his own family in Attleboro, Mass. When one reads the entire book, however, one learns he is a modern renaissance man and a high achiever who excelled in sports, academics, science, military and almost anything he set his mind to - as well as a few failures. He referred to it as a cumulative assortment of life experiences that were humorous, others sad, motivations and educational as he continually sought excitement with new or unfamiliar areas to explore. Through keen storytelling talents, he takes the reader on a journey from birth to the Naval Academy, a career as a Naval Officer, various positions as a civilian and full retirement where he and his wife Becky travel the earth. In each stop along the way, he reveals excitement, adventures, achievement, and disappointment.  In high school, he was an outstanding athlete in whatever...

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PFC Sixto Escobar, US Army (1941-1945)

PFC Sixto Escobar, US Army (1941-1945)

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Sixto Escobar, of the United States Army between 1941 and 1945, was Puerto Rico’s first world boxing champion, and International Boxing Hall of Fame member. Remembered today with the Estadio Sixto Escobar, the San Juan home of River Plate Puerto Rico, as well as many buildings, roads, and statues, he is a favored son of the island territory. Not as many people know, though, that he served in the military during the Second World War as an Army PFC. Remembering Sixto Escobar Escobar was born in the town of Barceloneta, in March 1913. Early in his childhood, his family moved to San Juan, where he was schooled until the seventh grade. At this point, he left school to focus on his athletic career. Boxing was illegal in Puerto Rico while he was growing up, though this restriction was lifted in 1927. In ‘28, Angel ‘Sotito’ Soto moved from New York to Escobar’s area of San Juan, and established a boxing gym in his backyard, giving boxing classes to Escobar and other young athletes. Despite...

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Lt. Henry Fonda, U.S. Navy (1942-1946)

Lt. Henry Fonda, U.S. Navy (1942-1946)

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Lt. Henry Fonda, of the US Navy between 1942 and 1946, interrupted a prominent career as a film actor in order to serve his country when it needed him most. Fonda’s commanding screen presence made him a favorite of theatergoers for five decades, culminating in an Oscar for his final performance. Henry Fonda’s Stage Beginnings Born in Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1905, Fonda was the son of a printer. Raised in Omaha, he witnessed and was profoundly affected by the horrors of the Omaha race riot of 1919. After high school he attended the University of Minnesota, but did not graduate. At the age of 20 he joined the Omaha Community Playhouse. He grew to be fascinated by the stage and learned many aspects of stagecraft, eventually growing to enjoy acting as taking on a role and speaking someone else’s words gave him respite from his shy personality.  In 1928 he moved to Massachusetts and met his future wife Margaret Sullavan while working for the University Players, a theater troupe....

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Just Dust: An Improbable Marine’s Vietnam Story by Wes Choc

Just Dust: An Improbable Marine’s Vietnam Story by Wes Choc

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By their very nature, books on war deal with death, near-death experiences, injuries and all the unpleasant but inevitable aspects of war, like homesickness, bad food, substandard leadership, impossible missions and seeing friends die but above all, is the fear; fear of being killed, fear of losing body parts, fear of not living up to the challenge, fear of fear itself. Just Dust: An Improbable Marine's Vietnam Story has all of that but focuses more on the author's contemplation of the experience.  Like any good book - and this one is brilliant - Choc follows a logical progression beginning with his dissatisfaction with college; his inability to feel important; his decision to join the Marines and his difficulty in boot camp; the challenges of Vietnam and his ultimate and surprising dissatisfaction of Marine life that did not include combat. But what makes this book stand out is how he processed all this and how he closely analyzed his actions and thoughts. Most importantly are...

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To Hear Silence by Ronald W. Hoffman

To Hear Silence by Ronald W. Hoffman

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Five years ago, the author returned to Vietnam on a battlefield tour with his wife, Nancy. In a conversation with the guide, Bill Stilwagen, he mentioned how his unit had accomplished a lot in its first 13 months in-country, yet when he looked on the internet, he couldn't find anything. Stilwagen challenged him by saying, "Why don't you write a book about it?" Hoffman took the challenge seriously. Upon returning home, he immediately set out to write a true account of Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 13th Marines from the time when first formed at Camp Horno, CA, in July 1966 until the original men left Khe Sanh, Vietnam in October 1967. Relying on a diary he kept, along with a mountain of research he compiled from declassified documents and information he gained by interviewing some of the men in the Battery, Hoffman started typing. Four years later, he completed his book, "To Hear Silence."  The book covers his 15 months with Charlie Battery starting with the training at Camp...

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I Flew With Heroes by Lt Col Thomas R. Waldron

I Flew With Heroes by Lt Col Thomas R. Waldron

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During the war in Southeast Asia, the author flew combat missions in the KC-135 Tanker, H-3, and H-53 Helicopter.  This book recounts rescue missions flown by H-3 and H-53 "Jolly Green" crews in 1969 and 1970 in Laos and Vietnam while he assigned to the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery (ARR) Squadron. In a straight forward writing style, Waldron begins his book with flight school, additional training, including jungle survival school, and transition helicopter training in Thailand. When the author recounts his rescue and recovery missions in Laos, his writing takes on a more urgent approach. Readers will get the feeling they are sitting in the cockpit with him on every mission. When any of those missions fail in making a rescue or when fellow helicopter crews are shot out of the air, readers will feel his pain. When the author's tour in Southeast Asia ended in August 1970, he was assigned to Eglin AFB near Destin, Florida.  Shortly after arriving, he was asked to join a highly...

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Gary Sinise Foundation

Gary Sinise Foundation

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The Gary Sinise Foundation and Veterans What is the relationship between the Gary Sinise Foundation and veterans? There are many non-profit organizations and charities that endeavor to support veterans, particularly those wounded in the line of duty. The Gary Sinise Foundation’s mission statement is, “We serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need...by creating and supporting unique programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen, and build communities.” Together We Served takes a closer work at the efforts the Foundation is making to support the veteran community. Who is Gary Sinise? Born in 1955, Gary Sinise is an American actor. He got his start in theater and small television roles. He first attracted substantial attention for directing, producing, and starring in the 1992 film Of Mice And Men, adapting the classic John Steinbeck novella. Shortly after, he made a huge impression as the double amputee...

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