The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

You’ll Be Scared – Sure You’ll Be Scared by Philip Cole

You’ll Be Scared – Sure You’ll Be Scared by Philip Cole

What possesses a unit of soldiers to run headlong into a frontal assault on a heavily defended position, knowing that the chances of success aren't great and that they could die? Many might ask: aren't they scared? The answer is: of course they are. That's not really what matters at that moment, however.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear." Nowhere in American military...

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The Dark Side of Glory by Richard McMahon

The Dark Side of Glory by Richard McMahon

In this page-turning suspense novel, Richard McMahon expertly switches between two settings and time periods, the earlier being the Korean War and the current a who-done-it mystery in a world of surprises where nothing is as it seems. The book opens in the present time (the early 1970s) as Biographer Matthew Clark is asked by Miriam Coursen to write a biography of her deceased husband, U.S. Army Major General Philip Coursen, a highly decorated Army officer. When Clark agrees to write the...

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A Pilot’s Story from Tennessee Eagle Scouts to General Montgomery’s Flying Fortress by Richard Eager

A Pilot’s Story from Tennessee Eagle Scouts to General Montgomery’s Flying Fortress by Richard Eager

Some say the decades between 1930 and 1970 were the golden age of aviation. For many pilots, this was certainly the case. Aviation technology took a great leap forward during and after World War II. Pilots began testing the limits of their craft, from altitude to the sound barrier. Most importantly, the years saw the creation of the U.S. Air Force as an independent military branch.  About the Author of A Pilot's Story from Tennessee Eagle Scouts Starting from a must-win air war like World...

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Night Mission to Mogadishu by Trent LaLand

Night Mission to Mogadishu by Trent LaLand

While the United States military and coalition forces prepared for the imminent battle with Iraq's military forces, Operation Desert Storm, January of 1991, a second international crisis unfolded in the famine-stricken country of Somalia, where a full-scale bloody civil war erupted. Warlord General Mohammad Farah Aideed rebel forces were attempting to overthrow the Somali government. The fighting threatened Americans and Foreign diplomatic missions based in Mogadishu, Somalia, as the Somali...

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Operation Top Cover, a Year On The Dew Line By Arthur Wayland

Operation Top Cover, a Year On The Dew Line By Arthur Wayland

During the Cold War, the United States relied on three radar lines to detect incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles that might come from the Soviet Union. The most important and most capable of the three was the Distant Early Warning Line - affectionately known as the DEW Line.  About the Author of Operation Top Cover In Cape Lisburne, Alaska, Arthur Wayland was manning the 711 Aircraft Control and Warning station. It was a very remote radar station, the westernmost site of the DEW...

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Budapest to Vietnam by Nicholas J Hun

Budapest to Vietnam by Nicholas J Hun

Today, an estimated 200,000 U.S. military members are not actually citizens of the United States. They join for many reasons; a pathway to citizenship, learning new skills, or just being part of the camaraderie of their respective services. It's nothing new; foreigners have been joining the armed forces since the birth of the nation.  Times were no different during the Vietnam War. Many noncitizens joined to fight, and fight they did. One of those came from an unlikely place: Hungary....

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Colors of War & Peace by Dan Thompson

Colors of War & Peace by Dan Thompson

The years between 1968 and 1970 were some of the most tumultuous for the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – better known as MACV. 1968 kicked off with the now-famous Tet Offensive, a massive, coordinated campaign that struck cities, villages, and military bases all across South Vietnam. The Process of Vietnamization By 1969, President Richard Nixon began the process of Vietnamization, building up the Army of South Vietnam to take over the defense of their own country. As more conventional...

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Grunts, Gramps & Tanks by Rick Bogdan

Grunts, Gramps & Tanks by Rick Bogdan

The United States' involvement in South Vietnam lasted roughly 20 years. For much of that time, American forces were actively engaged against the North Vietnamese. As the war lingered on and public sentiment turned against the war, the U.S. eventually withdrew in 1973. Within two years, the South Vietnamese government would fall and Vietnam was unified under the Communist regime. That is a very simplistic description of 20 years of conflict. The men and women who served in Vietnam each have a...

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Steel Soldier: Guadalcanal Odyssey by James J. Messina

Steel Soldier: Guadalcanal Odyssey by James J. Messina

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States seized the initiative in the Pacific by delivering a resounding defeat to the Japanese at the Battle of Midway. Following this turn of events, the U.S. decided to attack the Solomon Islands, especially Guadalcanal, to support further operations as they advanced toward the Japanese home islands. Guadalcanal became a critical target for the Americans because of its position along Allied supply lines, its proximity to further Japanese bases, and...

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What Rotten EGGS by Daniel M. White

What Rotten EGGS by Daniel M. White

During World War II, the Coast Guard built its LORAN, or long-range navigation systems, a network of land-based transmitting stations that would give military ships and aircraft a means of accurately navigating to their destinations.  After the war, the LORAN became the primary means by which the entire world navigated the oceans. LORAN stations were built wherever there was local support for them, but those who worked at these remote locations often found themselves far from home, isolated,...

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Truly Healthy Now by David Philip Leasure

Truly Healthy Now by David Philip Leasure

Like many military members, David Léasure was devoted to his fitness routine. When he joined the Navy straight from high school in 2011, the first thing he did with his paycheck was to join an online exercise program. He adhered to the meal plans, took all the supplements he was supposed to, and generally saw the results he wanted through hours at the gym. What Is It That Crumbles Away and Makes Us Give Up? Despite being physically bigger and generally healthier, he began to wonder why he was...

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The X-15 Rocket Plane by Michelle Evans

The X-15 Rocket Plane by Michelle Evans

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into low-earth orbit in 1957, it set the Space Race in full motion. The United States was determined to break the barriers of man's entry into space and dominate this undiscovered country.  While NASA projects Mercury, Gemini, and especially Apollo are often remembered and celebrated, a little-remembered partnership between the US Air Force and NASA brought an incredible new aircraft, arguably the first-ever manned...

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