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8 Seconds of Courage: A Soldier's Story from Immigrant to the Medal of Honor
by Flo Groberg Tom SileoIn an inspiring story of valor and the making of a hero, Florent Groberg—who grew up in France and emigrated to the US—becomes the first immigrant in forty years to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor after he tackled a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.Florent &“Flo&” Groberg was born in the suburbs of Paris and moved to the US with his family in middle school. He became a naturalized citizen in 2001. After attending the University of Maryland, he joined the US Army and twice deployed to Afghanistan. In August of 2012, Flo was guarding a high-level US-Afghan delegation and noticed someone suspicious: a local man stumbling toward his patrol. Flo reacted quickly and ran to tackle the man—who was wearing a suicide vest. Four people died in the subsequent explosion, but many others were spared. Flo himself spent the next three years undergoing surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center, and in 2015 he was given the nation&’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor—the first immigrant to be so recognized since the Vietnam War. What prepares a soldier for those critical moments in combat? 8 Seconds of Courage tells Flo&’s story from his childhood in France to his decision to enlist and the grueling training he underwent at US Army Ranger School. As a field commander on the front lines in Afghanistan he formed close and lasting bonds with his fellow soldiers. It was this powerful sense of responsibility that compelled him to take action to save lives, even at the risk of his own. &“Flo&’s incredible tale of bravery and service is also a stark reminder that for many of our warriors, coming home is not the end of the fight. Flo finds a way to live…Truly an inspiration&” (Jon Stewart). In his own words, Flo provides that essential insight into his selfless act while remembering his four fallen brothers in arms. 8 Seconds of Courage is a story of heroism, sacrifice, and camaraderie in wartime.
8 Wonders of Cincinatti
by Wendy BeckmanCincinnati is an amazing place to live and visit for so many reasons. Local author Wendy Beckman and illustrator Allison Ranieri celebrate the city's eight wonders--architecture, art, commerce, food, customs, geography, history and people. With its Venetian Gothic lancet arches and crystal chandeliers, the Cincinnati Music Hall stands as an architectural masterpiece. The Cincinnati Red Stockings made history as the first professional baseball team. Remnants of marine fossils from the Ordovician Period remind residents that the city was once under water. Limitless local varieties of goetta range from family recipes to trendy café dishes. And the city birthed trailblazers like track and field star DeHart Hubbard, the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. These stories and more reveal the unique character of the Queen City.
81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness
by Brian MurphyShortly before Christmas in 1943, five Army aviators left Alaska’s Ladd Field on a test flight. Only one ever returned: Leon Crane, a city kid from Philadelphia with little more than a parachute on his back when he bailed from his B-24 Liberator before it crashed into the Arctic. Alone in subzero temperatures, Crane managed to stay alive in the dead of the Yukon winter for nearly twelve weeks and, amazingly, walked out of the ordeal intact. 81 Days Below Zero recounts, for the first time, the full story of Crane’s remarkable saga. In a drama of staggering resolve with moments of phenomenal luck, Crane learned to survive in the Yukon’s unforgiving landscape. His is a tale of the human capacity to endure extreme conditions and intense lonelinessand emerge stronger than before.
82 Days on Okinawa: One American's Unforgettable Firsthand Account of the Pacific War's Greatest Battle
by Robert L. Wise"A gritty, first-person account. ... One can hear Shaw’s voice as if he were sitting beside you." —Wall Street JournalAn unforgettable soldier’s-eye view of the Pacific War’s bloodiest battle, by the first American officer ashore Okinawa. On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, 1.5 million men gathered aboard 1,500 Allied ships off the coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa. The men were there to launch the largest amphibious assault on the Pacific Theater. War planners expected an 80 percent casualty rate.The first American officer ashore was then-Major Art Shaw (1920-2020), a unit commander in the U.S. Army’s 361st Field Artillery Battalion of the 96th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Deadeyes. For the next three months, Shaw and his men served near the front lines of the Pacific’s costliest battle, their artillery proving decisive against a phantom enemy who had entrenched itself in the rugged, craggy island. Over eighty-two days, the Allies fought the Japanese army in a campaign that would claim more than 150,000 human lives. When the final calculations were made, the Deadeyes were estimated to have killed 37,763 of the enemy. The 361st Field Artillery Battalion had played a crucial role in the victory. The campaign would be the last major battle of World War II and a key pivot point leading to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to the Japanese surrender in August, two months after the siege’s end.Filled with extraordinary details, Shaw’s gripping account gives lasting testimony to the courage and bravery displayed by so many on the hills of Okinawa.
82 objetos que cuentan un país: Una historia de España
by Manuel LucenaUn recorrido excepcional por la historia de España a través de sus objetos. Frente a lo que hacen otras historias de España, este libro propone un camino de estudio distinto, pues rastrea la existencia milenaria del país en su cultura material y emocional. Alejada de cualquier esencialismo, no narra lo que los objetos «son», sino lo que han representado para los españoles a través de los tiempos. Es esta una relación identitaria, pero, por encima de todo, pasional y utilitaria. Los españoles han proyectado en los 82 objetos que componen la obra múltiples contenidos simbólicos. En los textos dedicados a cada uno de ellos hay elementos descriptivos -qué es cada uno-, analíticos -de qué manera se configuró su contexto- y relacionales -de qué forma fueron considerados únicos en cada momento histórico, cómo adquirieron una pátina o configuración determinada-. Pero, sobre todo, portan significado por el aura que contienen, el amorcon que fueron fabricados y la evocación que provocan en nosotros. Prehistoria, España romana, Edad Media, los Austrias, Ilustración, siglo XIX, siglo XX y el tiempo presente son las partes en que está dividido 82 objetos que cuentan un país. Sigue, por tanto, una cronología clásica, aunque puesta al día. El número y selección de los objetos se ha basado en un intento de acumulación densa y en caracterizaciones canónicas procedentes de diversos ámbitos y disciplinas. No asumen distinciones arcaicas entre «alta cultura» y «cultura popular»; tampoco son siempre materialidades concretas, sino en ocasiones difusas y flexibles, pues el ingenio de los españoles se ha plasmado a lo largo de los siglos en los más variados campos del arte y la cultura, la moda, la política, la cartografía, la numismática, la ciencia o la ingeniería. Reseña:«La historia de España por una original vía paralela a los hechos, a través de los objetos que la jalonan.» Miguel Lorenci, Colpisa «Imágenes y textos de calidad que, a modo de rompecabezas bien encajado, nos reflejan como pueblo y promueven una introspección colectiva que sobrecoge, emociona y estimula a partes iguales.»Ignacio Andrade/Carlos Rubio, Interviú
82nd Airborne: Normandy 1944 (Past & Present Series)
by Stephen Smith Simon Forty<p>An account of the heroic D-Day actions of the US Army’s first airborne division in the series that brings World War II battles to life.<p> <p>Since its formation on August 15, 1942, the 82nd Airborne, commanded by Major General Matthew B. Ridgway, trained exhaustively for their new role, which involved parachuting from C-47s and insertion by Waco CG-4A gliders. After participating in the invasion of Sicily and performing night parachute drops onto the Salerno beachhead in September 1943, the bulk of the division left for the United Kingdom and training for D-Day.<p> <p>Reorganized with two new parachute infantry regiments, the 507th and the 508th, joining the 505th, the division dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula between Ste-Mère-Église and Carentan on the night of June 5–6, in a mission codenamed Boston. Their glider-borne component, the 325th GIR, arrived the next day. Widely dispersed on landing, the division overcame its problems and strong German defenses to take the important town of Ste-Mère-Église. Further intense action along the Merderet River ensured that the Utah beachhead wasn’t compromised, and subsequently, the division fought on losing 5,245 troopers killed, wounded, or missing. When withdrawn after 33 days of action, the division could be satisfied it had performed heroically and helped establish the Allied forces’ foothold in France.<p> <p>The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.<p>
The 84th Infantry Division in The Battle of Germany
by Lt. Theodore DraperThe 84th Division in the Battle of Germany, November 1944 – May 1945, first published in 1946, is the account of the combat experiences of the noted “The Railsplitter Division” of the U.S. Army in the later days of World War II. Based on numerous interviews conducted immediately after each movement or encounter with the enemy, the book provides an in-depth look at the experiences of U.S. infantrymen as they moved into Germany in the face of often fierce resistance and muddy and freezing conditions. The Division fought at the Battle of the Bulge, was in the lead to cross the Roer and Rhine Rivers and the taking of the large city of Hannover, quickly followed by the successful crossing of the Elbe River. Along the way, the Division captured more than 70,000 German soldiers, liberated several concentration and internment camps, and met-up with Russian forces advancing from the east to form a critical part of the Allied victory. Included are 18 pages of maps and nearly 80 photographs and illustrations.
85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy
by Jules WitcoverThe “definitive account” (Washington Post) of Robert F. Kennedy’s seminal presidential campaign.85 Days is veteran Washington journalist Jules Witcover’s masterpiece of political reportage. It brilliantly captures a lost moment in time when the politics of conviction seemed to converge with America’s youth movement in opposition to the Vietnam War. At its center was the charismatic Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the slain President John F. Kennedy. Robert Kennedy’s impassioned opposition to the Vietnam War, and his vision for a more egalitarian United States, launched him on one of the most memorable, though brief, campaigns in U.S. political history.Witcover’s driving narrative follows Kennedy’s campaign throughout the primary season, as Kennedy mulled a run, developed his core issues and supporter base, and shot to the top of the polls, culminating in a victory in California just two days before he was tragically killed. A timeless work of political journalism, 85 Days captures the character and spirit of a man who came to symbolize an unforgettable era in America.
The 85th Infantry Division in World War II
by Paul L. SchultzThe 85th Infantry Division also known as "Custer Division", saw much service in the Second World War off of it the bitter Italian campaign in the European Theater of Operations. In this fascinating and detailed account, written by a member of the division itself, the operations, hardships and victories are recounted. Often fighting in difficulty hilly terrain, against prepared positions of great strength or defended river crossings the 85th always advanced to victory even in the most adverse circumstances.
88 Days to Kandahar
by Robert L. GrenierThe First American-Afghan War, a CIA war, was approved by President George W. Bush and directed by the author, Robert Grenier, the CIA station chief in Islamabad. Forging separate alliances with warlords, Taliban dissidents, and Pakistani intelligence, Grenier launched the "southern campaign," orchestrating the final defeat of the Taliban and Hamid Karzai's rise to power in eighty-eight chaotic days.In his gripping narrative, we meet: General Tommy Franks, who bridled at CIA control of "his" war; General "Jafar Amin," a gruff Pakistani intelligence officer who saved Grenier from committing career suicide; Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's brilliant ambassador to the US, who tried to warn her government of the al-Qa'ida threat; "Mark," the CIA operator who guided Gul Agha Shirzai to bloody victory over the Taliban; General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, a cautious man who became the most powerful man in Pakistan, struggling with Grenier's demands while trying to protect his country; and Hamid Karzai, the puzzling anti-Taliban insurgent, a man of courage, petulance, and vacillating moods. Grenier's enemies out in front prove only slightly more lethal than the ones behind his own lines. This first war is won despite Washington bureaucrats who divert resources, deny military support, and try to undermine the only Afghan allies capable of winning. Later, as he directed the CIA's role in the Iraq War, Grenier watched the initial victory squandered. His last command was of CIA's CounterTerrorism Center (CTC), as Bush-era terrorism policies were being repudiated, as the Taliban re-emerged in Afghanistan, and as Pakistan descended into fratricidal violence.
The 8th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment 1861–1865: A Biographical Roster
by Richard Michael AllenThe 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Georgia volunteer infantry regiments spent most of the Civil War fighting under Brig. Gen. George Thomas “Tige” Anderson in Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Until now, no biographical roster of their members has ever been published. These Georgians saw it all, from the bloody battle of First Manassas through the ferocious combat of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and the long siege of Petersburg. They finally furled their banners at Appomattox. Nearly 5,000 men passed through these four Georgia regiments. These rosters offer a long overdue record of these men. Each roster is organized by company in a simple and easy to use format. Entries feature full names (if known), promotions, demotions, casualties, transfers, and resignations for every rank—an unprecedented look into men and the structure and evolution of these organizations. They include the most comprehensive examination of the personnel originally enlisted and their subsequent service histories within these units in chronological order for the first time. Compiler and author Richard Allen has spent nearly two decades researching scores of archives and other sources to prepare these rosters. He utilized primary sources such as the Official Records, Compiled Service Records, newspaper accounts, diaries, letters, census information, burial records, and a variety of documents from both published sources and private collections. Students of the Civil War, genealogists, and enthusiasts of Georgia history will find these rosters invaluable. Everyone who uses them owes Rick Allen a hearty, and heartfelt, thank you.
8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer (Images of War)
by Ian BaxterCovers the operations of a leading SS Calvary Regiment and describes fighting under desperate conditions on the Eastern Front.Formed in 1942 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer was soon deployed to the Eastern Front where Hitler’s ambition to conquer Russia was stalling badly. In common with other SS units the Division was responsible for razing towns and villages, poisoning wells and genocide often against unarmed civilians. This scorched earth policy was aimed at hindering the Red Army’s advance. After moving South, the Division took part in the retreat from the Dnieper River before operating in Hungary and Croatia. The end came when trapped in Budapest by Soviet and Romanian forces, the Division was destroyed in December 1944. By the end of the siege only 800 of the 30,000 men in the SS Corps reached German lines. Using many startling contemporary images, this latest book in the Author’s Images of War series vividly illustrates the horror of warfare on the Eastern Front.
9-11: Was There an Alternative?
by Noam ChomskyIn 9-11, published in November 2001 and arguably the single most influential post 9-11 book, internationally renowned thinker Noam Chomsky bridged the information gap around the World Trade Center attacks, cutting through the tangle of political opportunism, expedient patriotism, and general conformity that choked off American discourse in the months immediately following. Chomsky placed the attacks in context, marshaling his deep and nuanced knowledge of American foreign policy to trace the history of American political aggression--in the Middle East and throughout Latin America as well as in Indonesia, in Afghanistan, in India and Pakistan--at the same time warning against America's increasing reliance on military rhetoric and violence in its response to the attacks, and making the critical point that the mainstream media and public intellectuals were failing to make: any escalation of violence as a response to violence will inevitably lead to further, and bloodier, attacks on innocents in America and around the world. This new edition of 9-11, published on the tenth anniversary of the attacks and featuring a new preface by Chomsky, reminds us that today, just as much as ten years ago, information and clarity remain our most valuable tools in the struggle to prevent future violence against the innocent, both at home and abroad.
9.11: Fully Updated and Revised
by Ian HenshallThe original 9/11 Revealed attracted lavish praise from reviewers in the Daily Mail and Sunday Times for the 'huge gaps' it exposed in the official 9/11 story. It became a non-fiction bestseller despite a wall of silence by the broadcast media and condemnation in a special web page set up by the US State Department. Since then the story has produced many sinister new twists, including: Pentagon whistleblowers have accused the 'Independent 9/11 Commission' of lying; long-suppressed eyewitness testimony has been released confirming multiple explosions in the Twin Towers before and during their collapses; the much vaunted video purporting to prove that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon showed nothing at all; and an analysis of terrorist trials and arrests since 2001 indicates that far from the '600 Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the US' (CIA) there were none at all. In this sequel to 9/11 Revealed, Ian Henshall examines the precedents of black operations by the US/UK, from Northern Ireland to Italy, from Vietnam to Kosovo; he looks at the various 9/11 theories, including the latest twists in the official story, and tests them against the evidence. Finally, he asks what might happen when the storm of popular outrage collides with the regime in Washington and London and outlines the radical changes needed if Washington and London are ever again to function as genuine democracies.
9.11: Fully Updated and Revised
by Ian HenshallThe original 9/11 Revealed attracted lavish praise from reviewers in the Daily Mail and Sunday Times for the 'huge gaps' it exposed in the official 9/11 story. It became a non-fiction bestseller despite a wall of silence by the broadcast media and condemnation in a special web page set up by the US State Department. Since then the story has produced many sinister new twists, including: Pentagon whistleblowers have accused the 'Independent 9/11 Commission' of lying; long-suppressed eyewitness testimony has been released confirming multiple explosions in the Twin Towers before and during their collapses; the much vaunted video purporting to prove that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon showed nothing at all; and an analysis of terrorist trials and arrests since 2001 indicates that far from the '600 Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the US' (CIA) there were none at all. In this sequel to 9/11 Revealed, Ian Henshall examines the precedents of black operations by the US/UK, from Northern Ireland to Italy, from Vietnam to Kosovo; he looks at the various 9/11 theories, including the latest twists in the official story, and tests them against the evidence. Finally, he asks what might happen when the storm of popular outrage collides with the regime in Washington and London and outlines the radical changes needed if Washington and London are ever again to function as genuine democracies.
9/11 And Canadian Special Operations Forces: How ‘40 Selected Men’ Indelibly Influenced The Future Of The Force
by Lt.-Col Stephen J. DayIn less than two decades, Canadian Special Operations Forces (CANSOF) grew from a 100-man hostage-rescue unit to a 2,500-person Command capable of prosecuting missions across the special operations spectrum. The seminal event causing this transformation is examined within this monograph. The common narrative explaining the rise of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) states that 9/11 is the seminal event. Herein, a new narrative is proposed. One that posits the 2001-02 deployment of a 40-man CANSOF Task Force to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is the seminal event. This Task Force's disproportionately positive impact on the Canadian national scene caused key national actors to take note of the strategic utility of special operations forces. Twenty-four interviews with defence and security subject matter experts from the political, federal public service, military and academic domains, as well as two leading Canadian national journalists provide unique insights into CANSOF's ascendancy. Analyzing published defence policy since World War II and Canada's 20-year experience with her national counter-terrorism task force prove two key points. First, defence policy is extant, consistently expressing the requirement for an irregular capability for the conduct of operations in asymmetrical environments. Therefore, 9/11 did not change Government of Canada (GoC) expectations per se. Second, the one-year CANSOF OEF commitment produces a highly positive national strategic effect for the GoC. As a result, in less than a decade CANSOF transitions from a single, domestically focused, national counter-terrorism task force to where today CANSOFCOM is employed as a distinct element of national military power. This transformation from a single strategic resource to a strategically relevant, 'hard power' option currently provides the GoC with greater strategic choice when she looks to deploy military forces alongside her allies.
9/11 and Collective Memory in US Classrooms: Teaching About Terror (Routledge Research in Education #124)
by Cheryl Lynn DuckworthWhile current literature stresses the importance of teaching about the 9/11 attacks on the US, many questions remain as to what teachers are actually teaching in their own classrooms. Few studies address how teachers are using of all of this advice and curriculum, what sorts of activities they are undertaking, and how they go about deciding what they will do. Arguing that the events of 9/11 have become a "chosen trauma" for the US, author Cheryl Duckworth investigates how 9/11 is being taught in classrooms (if at all) and what narrative is being passed on to today’s students about that day. Using quantitative and qualitative data gathered from US middle and high school teachers, this volume reflects on foreign policy developments and trends since September 11th, 2001 and analyzes what this might suggest for future trends in U.S. foreign policy. The understanding that the "post-9/11 generation" has of what happened and what it means is significant to how Americans will view foreign policy in the coming decades (especially in the Islamic World) and whether it is likely to generate war or foster peace.
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (Authorized Edition)
by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks<P> Nearly three thousand people died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In Lower Manhattan, on a field in Pennsylvania, and along the banks of the Potomoc, the United States suffered the single largest loss of life from an enemy attack on its soil. <P> In November 2002 the United States Congress and President George W. Bush established by law the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission. This independent, bipartisan panel was directed to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks, identify lessons learned, and provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism. This volume is the authorized edition of the Commission's final report.
The 9/11 Commission Report
by National Commission on Terrorist AttacksThe final report of the investigation of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks into the September 11th terrorist attacks.
The 9/11 Commission Report: The Attack from Planning to Aftermath (Authorized Text, Shorter Edition)
by Philip D. Zelikow National Commission on Terrorist Attacks"A document of historic sweep and almost unprecedented detail."--Washington Post Published for the tenth anniversary of 9/11, this new edition of the authorized report is limited to the Commission's riveting account--which was a finalist for the National Book Award--of the attack and its background, examining both the attackers and the U.S. government, the emergency response, and the immediate aftermath. It includes new material from Philip Zelikow, the Commission's executive director, on the Commission's work, the fate of its recommendations, and the way this struggle has evolved right up to the present day.
The 9/11 Terror Attacks (Odysseys In History Ser.)
by Valerie BoddenA look at the causes and global effects of the terror attacks carried out in the United States on September 11, 2001, which set in motion the events of the War on Terror and hunt for al Qaeda.
The 9/11 Wars
by Jason BurkeDAILY TELEGRAPH, ECONOMIST AND INDEPENDENT BOOKS OF THE YEARThroughout the 1990s a vast conflict was brewing. The storm broke on September 11th 2001. Since then much of the world has seen invasions, bombings, battles and riots. Hundreds of thousands of people have died. Jason Burke, a first-hand witness of many of the conflict's key moments, has written the definitive account of its course in his acclaimed book The 9/11 Wars.At once investigation, reportage and contemporary history, The 9/11 Wars is an essential book for understanding the dangerous and unstable twenty-first century. Whether reporting on the riots in France or the attack on Mumbai, suicide bombers in Iraq or British troops fighting in Helmand, Jason Burke tells the story of a world that changed forever when the hijacked planes flew out of the brilliant blue sky above Manhattan on September 11th.Reviews:'The best overview of the 9/11 decade so far in print' Economist'A magisterial history of the last decade ... The long patient sentences of The 9/11 Wars are suffused with the melancholy of a man who has learned a great deal from long exposure to atrocity and folly' Pankaj Mishra, Guardian'The 9/11 Wars warrants great respect' Metro'Pacy, well-researched, and packed with telling anecdotes, this book's strength is in its detailed, balanced overview ... At a time when there are more books out on terrorism than ever before ... this is likely to be among the best' Sunday Telegraph'[Burke] is one of the most respected and experienced foreign correspondents in the business ... A major authority on the politics and organisation of Islamic extremism and ... a talented writer with the rare gift of joining effortless prose to challenging scholarship ... [The 9/11 Wars] is a magnificent achievement' Irish Times'A reader wanting a more dispassionate survey of how 9/11, and the response to it, may have shaped parts of the world will do no better than invest in [this] brilliant book' David Aaronovitch, The Times'This remarkably balanced, well-sourced and very well-written book ... will be turned to in the future ... [Burke] has demonstrated impressive expertise as a historian who has had the advantage of having been present on many of the battlefields he describes' Andrew Roberts, Evening Standard'[A] lucid, sane account ... taut, careful reporting ... Remarkable' Scotsman'Potent ... journalism of a high order. Like all good reporters, Burke is something of a scholar, drawing meticulously on interview notes years old, and on extensive background reading. He excels, too, in describing the experiences of ordinary Muslims; such insights make this book essential for understanding the past decade' Sunday TimesAbout the author:Jason Burke is the South Asia correspondent for the Guardian. He has reported around the world for both the Guardian and the Observer. He is the author of two other widely praised books, both published by Penguin: Al-Qaeda and On the Road to Kandahar. He lives in New Delhi.
9/12: The Epic Battle of the Ground Zero Responders
by William H. Groner Tom Teicholz9/12 is the saga of the epic nine-year legal battle waged by William H. Groner against the City of New York and its contractors on behalf of the more than ten thousand first responders who became ill as a result of working on the Ground Zero cleanup. These first responders—like AT&T Disaster Relief head Gary Acker and New York Police Department detectives Candiace Baker, Thomas Ryan, and Mindy Hersh—rushed to Ground Zero and remained to work on the rescue and recovery mission, which lasted for the next nine months. Their selfless bravery and humanity were rewarded with horrible health issues resulting from the toxic stew of chemicals present in the dust and debris that government officials such as Mayor Rudy Giuliani and EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman had assured them was safe. Groner, a lead attorney in the mass tort litigation, fought for their illnesses to be acknowledged and for them to receive validation and closure, as well as for compensation—an eventual aggregate award of more than $800 million. As detailed in 9/12, the battle for the Ground Zero responders was waged not only in the courtroom but also in the press, in medical and scientific research centers, and among politicians at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as in the halls of Congress to pass the Zadroga Health and Compensation Act. 9/12 weaves together Groner’s firsthand account with glimpses into the first responders’ lives as they try to understand and overcome their illnesses. The result is an intimate look into their battles—physical, mental, and legal—that will leave you cheering for these heroes who, in spite of everything, would do it all again. Told by Groner and journalist Tom Teicholz, 9/12 is the story of the brave public servants who showed up when their country needed them most, of their fight for redress, and of their victory in the face of the seemingly insurmountable.
The 9.9 Percent: The New Aristocracy That Is Entrenching Inequality and Warping Our Culture
by Matthew StewartA scorching, trenchant, analysis of how the wealthiest group in American society is making life miserable for everyone—including themselves.In 21st century America, the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90% have lost ground. What&’s left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9% that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country—and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system. They log insane hours at the office and then turn their leisure time into an excuse for more career-building, even as they rely on an underpaid servant class to power their economic success and satisfy their personal needs. They have segregated themselves into zip codes designed to exclude as many people as possible. They have made fitness a national obsession even as swaths of the population lose healthcare and grow sicker. They have created an unprecedented demand for admission to elite schools and helped to fuel the dramatic cost of higher education. They channel their political energy into symbolic conflicts over identity in order to avoid acknowledging the economic roots of their privilege. And they have created an ethos of &“merit&” to justify their advantages. They are all around us. In fact, they are us—or what we are supposed to want to be. In The 9.9 Percent, Matthew Stewart argues that a new aristocracy is emerging in American society and it is repeating the mistakes of history. It is entrenching inequality, warping our culture, eroding democracy, and transforming an abundant economy into a source of misery. He calls for a regrounding of American culture and politics on a foundation closer to the original promise of America.
9 April 1940 German Invasion Of Norway - The Dawn Of Decisive Airpower During Joint Military Operations
by Major Brian T. BaxleyOperation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway during the Second World War, is considered by many military historians to be the first joint military operation involving the combined planning and execution of air, land, and sea forces. After a brief introduction and an explanation of the significance of Norway, Chapter Three will analyze the planning process and strategy used by the Germans in late 1939 and early 1940 for devising this joint operation. Chapter Four examines, primarily from an airpower perspective, the plan itself and its execution during the first day of the operation by the Germans, and the British response. Chapter Five determines how German airpower was used, and in particular, what effect the Luftwaffe attack on 9 April against the British Home Fleet had against Britain's campaign strategy to control the North Sea. The final chapter examines three important lessons United States military planners should extract from Operation Weserübung and apply to operations in the 21st century. They are: 1) the joint operation of air, land, and sea assets produce a synergetic effect greater than the sum of their parts; 2) a difficult part of joint operations is the air command and control; and 3) airpower can decisively deny the enemy use of the land or the sea.