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Liverpool's Children in the Second World War
by Pamela RussellThis is the untold story of Liverpool's children in the Second World War. Whilst everyone is familiar with the tales of evacuees who were rushed out of the cities once the bombs started falling, many of us are unaware that many stayed behind, either by choice or necessity, as the city of their childhood disintegrated and burned around them. In the words of those who experienced the Liverpool Blitz first-hand, we hear of their adventures and misadventures, the fun and games and ever-present danger, and the humor and sorrow of those wartime years. This is an important and revealing look at the war as seen through the eyes of these children. This book not only explores the memories of a childhood ravaged by war, but also the formative effect this had on individuals' lives. It reflects the collective spirit of a city that refused to be crushed, even at the darkest hours of the Luftwaffe's bombing campaign. Ideal for anyone who lived through those times, or who is fascinated by experiences and the legacy of the wartime generation, this new title pays tribute to the war's forgotten children.
The Lives Of Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
by Marco PalmieriTHREE HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS. NINE LIVES. ONE SOUL. Mother, father, engineer, ambassador, scientist, statesman, serial killer, Starfleet officer: At one time or another, Dax has been all of these things and more. The near-immortal part of a composite species known as the Trill, Dax is a sentient, wormlike symbiont joined body and mind to a succession of humanoid hosts, carrying the memories of each lifetime Into the next. Each incarnation is different. Each has its own personality, its own triumphs, its own tragedies, its own dreams. And each one...is Dax. Here for the first time are tales from the lives of one of the most unique and compelling Star Trek characters ever created, told by voices as diverse as the hosts themselves: Steven Barnes, Michael Jan Friedman, L. A. Graf, Jeffrey Long, S. D. Perry, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Simpson, and Susan Wright. Much more than an anthology, this unique collection of stories weaves the tapestry of one being's life...through three and a half centuries of history in the Star Trek universe. Imagine who she's known. Imagine what he's seen.
The Lives of Stella Bain
by Anita Shreve'Atonement with just the tiniest dash of Downton Abbey' Red magazine'Gripping and moving' Sunday TimesHauled in a cart to a field hospital in northern France in March 1916, an American woman wakes from unconsciousness to the smell of gas gangrene, the sounds of men in pain, and an almost complete loss of memory: she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, she can draw, and her name is Stella Bain. A stateless woman in a lawless country, Stella embarks on a journey to reconstruct her life. Suffering an agonising and inexplicable array of symptoms, she finds her way to London. There, Dr August Bridge, a cranial surgeon turned psychologist, is drawn to tracking her amnesia to its source. What brutality was she fleeing when she left the tranquil seclusion of a New England college campus to serve on the Front; for what crime did she need to atone - and whom did she leave behind? Vivid, intense and gripping, packed with secrets and revelations, The Lives of Stella Bain is at once a ravishing love story and an intense psychological mystery.
Living and Surviving in Harm's Way: A Psychological Treatment Handbook for Pre- and Post-Deployment of Military Personnel
by Arthur Freeman Sharon Morgillo Freeman Bret A MooreIn Living and Surviving in Harm's Way, experts investigate the psychological impact of how warriors live and survive in combat duty. They address the combat preparation of servicemen and women, their support systems, and their interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences. The text maintains a focus on cognitive-behavioral interventions for treating various combat-related disorders, and addresses psychological health and adjustment after leaving the battlefield. The text is logically organized for easy reading and reference, and covers often overlooked topics such as preparation and training of service personnel, women in combat, and the indirect effects of combat stress on family. This book is written by clinicians who have in some ways experienced what they write about, and resonates with mental health professionals, servicemen and women, and their families. Any clinician hoping to treat a serviceman or woman effectively cannot afford to overlook this book.
The Living and the Dead
by Paul HendricksonOne of the finest books to emerge from the Vietnam experience, The Living and the Dead presents a brilliant study of Robert McNamara, his decision-making during the war, and the way his decisions affected his own life and the lives of five individuals. A monumental work about power, its abuse, and its victims, this meticulously researched, beautifully written, explosive, and passionate book is often in conflict with McNamara's version of events. First serial in the Washington Post. 8 photos.
The Living And The Dead
by Konstantin Simonov R. AinszteinThe combination of traditional Tolstoyan verbiage with the time-worn universal theme of war has not prevented this Russian author (Days and Nights) and journalist from creating an intense and absorbing World War II documentary of the first months at Russia's Western Front, as the Germans advance relentlessly toward Moscow. More than an accurate, exciting record of the actual battles, retreats, and encirclements, the novel is meaningfully overcast with an aura of war--any war of any nation--not only its horrors, but its rewards, its spirit, and above all, its blind disregard for any ""disparity between the living and the dead"". In microcosm, the hero of the book is Vanya Sintsov, a young military journalist who joins the front ranks to fight, is wounded and captured, and escapes, but without his survival guarantee--the Party Card and Identity Papers. The struggle to redeem his official status as a soldier through his own actions takes him from unit to unit, from comrade to comrade, never doubting his country's victory, but often despairing at human nature. Sinstov, with all his faith and failings, is still only an opitome; it is the Russian Army and all its emergency supporters that is the true epic hero. Aided by Ainsztein's fine translation, Simonov has managed, in a gargantuan complex of characters and events, to capture that elusive dust that inexorably settles on a people at war. Long but rewarding--both for historical accuracy and artful fiction.-Kirkus Reviews
The Living and the Dead: The Rise and Fall of the Cult of World War II in Russia
by Nina TumarkinThis eye-opening book shows how Communist state and party authorities stage-managed the Soviets' memory of World War II, transforming a national trauma into a heroic exploit that glorified the party while systematically concealing the disastrous mistakes and criminal cruelties committed by the Stalinist tyranny.
The Living and the Lost: A Novel
by Ellen FeldmanFrom the author of Paris Never Leaves You, Ellen Feldman's The Living and the Lost is a gripping story of a young German Jewish woman who returns to Allied Occupied Berlin from America to face the past and unexpected future “A deeply satisfying and truly adult novel.” —Margot Livesey, New York Times best-selling author of The Flight of Gemma HardyMillie (Meike) Mosbach and her brother David, manage to escape to the States just before Kristallnacht, leaving their parents and little sister in Berlin. Millie attends Bryn Mawr on a special scholarship for non-Aryan German girls and graduates to a magazine job in Philadelphia. David enlists in the army and is eventually posted to the top-secret Camp Ritchie in Maryland, which trains German-speaking men for intelligence work. Now they are both back in their former hometown, haunted by ghosts and hoping against hope to find their family. Millie, works in the office responsible for rooting out the most dedicated Nazis from publishing; she is consumed with rage at her former country and its citizens, though she is finding it more difficult to hate in proximity. David works trying to help displaced persons build new lives, while hiding his more radical nighttime activities from his sister. Like most of their German-born American colleagues, they suffer from conflicts of rage and guilt at their own good fortune, except for Millie’s boss, Major Harry Sutton, who seems much too eager to be fair to the Germans.Living and working in bombed-out Berlin, a latter day Wild West where drunken soldiers brawl; the desperate prey on the unsuspecting; spies ply their trade; werewolves, as unrepentant Nazis were called, scheme to rise again; black markets thrive, and forbidden fraternization is rampant, Millie must come to terms with a decision she made as a girl in a moment of crisis, and with the enigmatic sometimes infuriating Major Sutton who is mysteriously understanding of her demons.Atmospheric and page-turning, The Living and the Lost is a story of love, survival, and forgiveness of others and of self.
Living by the Sword: Weapons and Material Culture in France and Britain, 600–1600
by Kristen Brooke NeuschelSharpen your knowledge of swords with Kristen B. Neuschel as she takes you through a captivating 1,000 years of French and English history. Living by the Sword reveals that warrior culture, with the sword as its ultimate symbol, was deeply rooted in ritual long before the introduction of gunpowder weapons transformed the battlefield.Neuschel argues that objects have agency and that decoding their meaning involves seeing them in motion: bought, sold, exchanged, refurbished, written about, displayed, and used in ceremony. Drawing on evidence about swords (from wills, inventories, records of armories, and treasuries) in the possession of nobles and royalty, she explores the meanings people attached to them from the contexts in which they appeared. These environments included other prestige goods such as tapestries, jewels, and tableware—all used to construct and display status.Living by the Sword draws on an exciting diversity of sources from archaeology, military and social history, literature, and material culture studies to inspire students and educated lay readers (including collectors and reenactors) to stretch the boundaries of what they know as the "war and culture" genre.
Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War
by Michael C. AdamsA senior military historian presents an unflinching account of the human costs of the Civil War.Many Americans, argues Michael C. C. Adams, tend to think of the Civil War as more glorious, less awful, than the reality. Millions of tourists flock to battlefields each year as vacation destinations, their perceptions of the war often shaped by reenactors who work hard for verisimilitude but who cannot ultimately simulate mutilation, madness, chronic disease, advanced physical decay. In Living Hell, Adams tries a different tack, clustering the voices of myriad actual participants on the firing line or in the hospital ward to create a virtual historical reenactment.Perhaps because the United States has not seen conventional war on its own soil since 1865, the collective memory of its horror has faded, so that we have sanitized and romanticized even the experience of the Civil War. Neither film nor reenactment can fully capture the hard truth of the four-year conflict. Living Hell presents a stark portrait of the human costs of the Civil War and gives readers a more accurate appreciation of its profound and lasting consequences.Adams examines the sharp contrast between the expectations of recruits versus the realities of communal living, the enormous problems of dirt and exposure, poor diet, malnutrition, and disease. He describes the slaughter produced by close-order combat, the difficulties of cleaning up the battlefields—where tens of thousands of dead and wounded often lay in an area of only a few square miles—and the resulting psychological damage survivors experienced.Drawing extensively on letters and memoirs of individual soldiers, Adams assembles vivid accounts of the distress Confederate and Union soldiers faced daily: sickness, exhaustion, hunger, devastating injuries, and makeshift hospitals where saws were often the medical instrument of choice. Inverting Robert E. Lee’s famous line about war, Adams suggests that too many Americans become fond of war out of ignorance of its terrors. Providing a powerful counterpoint to Civil War glorification, Living Hell echoes William Tecumseh Sherman’s comment that war is cruelty and cannot be refined.Praise for Our Masters the Rebels: A Speculation on Union Military Failure in the East, 1861–1865"This excellent and provocative work concludes with a chapter suggesting how the image of Southern military superiority endured in spite of defeat."—Civil War History"Adams's imaginative connections between culture and combat provide a forceful reminder that Civil War military history belongs not in an encapsulated realm, with its own categories and arcane language, but at the center of the study of the intellectual, social, and psychological currents that prevailed in the mid-nineteenth century."—Journal of American HistoryPraise for The Best War Ever: America and World War II"Adams has a real gift for efficiently explaining complex historical problems."—Reviews in American History"Not only is this mythologizing bad history, says Adams, it is dangerous as well. Surrounding the war with an aura of nostalgia both fosters the delusion that war can cure our social ills and makes us strong again, and weakens confidence in our ability to act effectively in our own time."—Journal of Military History
Living Memory (Star Trek: The Original Series)
by Christopher L. BennettAn all-new Star Trek movie-era adventure!While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body—and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder. Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds—unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space. Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura&’s past—one that she no longer remembers….™, ®, & © 2021 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Living My Life: The Autobiography of a Social Activist, Women’s Rights Campaigner and Political Philosopher
by Emma GoldmanStep into the passionate and tumultuous world of one of history's most iconic anarchists with Emma Goldman’s powerful autobiography, "Living My Life." This riveting two-volume memoir offers an unflinching account of Goldman's life, from her early years in Russia to her rise as a leading figure in the anarchist movement in the United States and beyond.Emma Goldman, renowned for her fiery oratory and uncompromising activism, provides a deeply personal narrative that intertwines her political beliefs with her personal experiences. "Living My Life" chronicles her relentless fight for social justice, free speech, and workers' rights, painting a vivid picture of her involvement in pivotal historical events, including the Haymarket affair, the rise of the labor movement, and the fight for women's emancipation.Through Goldman's eloquent prose, readers gain insight into the challenges and triumphs she faced as a radical thinker and activist. She candidly discusses her relationships, her encounters with prominent figures like Alexander Berkman and Peter Kropotkin, and her multiple imprisonments and deportations. Goldman's reflections on her life's work provide a poignant look at the sacrifices and resilience required to pursue a vision of a more equitable world."Living My Life" is not just a historical document but also a testament to the enduring spirit of resistance and the quest for freedom. Goldman's narrative is imbued with a profound sense of humanity, capturing her unwavering dedication to her principles and her unyielding belief in the power of individual and collective action.This autobiography is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of social movements, anarchism, and feminist thought. Emma Goldman's "Living My Life" remains a compelling and inspirational work that continues to resonate with readers seeking to understand the complexities of social change and the indomitable will of those who fight for it. Immerse yourself in Emma Goldman’s extraordinary journey and discover the life of a woman who defied conventions, challenged injustices, and left an indelible mark on the world.
Living on the Edge
by Matthew Moran Dina Esfandiary Wyn BowenIn this book, the authors explore the controversial Iranian nuclear programme through the conceptual lens of nuclear hedging. In 2002, revelations regarding undeclared nuclear facilities thrust Iran's nuclear activities under the spotlight and prompted concerns that Tehran was pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied nuclear weapons aspirations, yet it cannot be disputed that the Islamic Republic has gone well beyond what is required for a civil nuclear programme based on energy production and scientific research. What, then, is the nature and significance of Iran's nuclear behaviour? Does it form part of a coherent strategy? What can Iran's actions in the nuclear field tell us about Tehran's intentions? And what does the Iranian case teach us about proliferation behaviour more generally? This book addresses these questions by exploring the nature of nuclear hedging and how this approach might be identified, before applying this logic to the Iranian case. It provides fresh insights into the inherently opaque area of nuclear proliferation and a more nuanced interpretation of the Iranian nuclear challenge.
Living Pictures
by Polina BarskovaA poignant collection of short pieces about the author's hometown, St. Petersburg, Russia, and the siege of Leningrad that combines memoir, history, and fiction.Living Pictures refers to the parlor game of tableaux vivants, in which people dress up in costume to bring scenes from history back to life. It&’s a game about survival, in a sense, and what it means to be a survivor is the question that Polina Barskova explores in the scintillating literary amalgam of Living Pictures. Barskova, one of the most admired and controversial figures in a new generation of Russian writers, first made her name as a poet; she is also known as a scholar of the catastrophic siege of Leningrad in World War II. In Living Pictures, Barskova writes with caustic humor and wild invention about traumas past and present, historical and autobiographical, exploring how we cope with experiences that defy comprehension. She writes about her relationships with her adoptive father and her birth father; about sex, wanted and unwanted; about the death of a lover; about Turner and Picasso; and, in the final piece, she mines the historical record in a chamber drama about two lovers sheltering in the Hermitage Museum during the siege of Leningrad who slowly, operatically, hopelessly, stage their own deaths.Living Pictures introduces a startlingly daring and original new voice from world literature.
Living-Room War
by Michael J. ArlenThis book attempts to figure out exactly what television does to us. This collection of essays provides a poetic look at 1960s television culture, ranging from Vietnam War to Captain Kangaroo, from 1968 Democratic convention to televised sports.
The Living Theatre (Lannan Translations Selection Series)
by Bianca TarozziWINNER OF THE 2018 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY TRANSLATION In this first US publication of celebrated Italian poet Bianca Tarozzi, narrative poems (presented bilingually in both English and the original Italian) carry us through the poet's childhood memories of World War II under Mussolini, harsh post-war conditions, and mid-century changes that transformed Italian life, specifically for women. A unique figure in contemporary Italian poetry, Tarozzi draws significant influence from acclaimed American poets-Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, and James Merrill-interweaving powerful subjects with humor and heart.After:you have packed the suitcase, shut off the gas,turned all the lights out, locked the windowand the big outside door,when you lean against a wall, afraid of falling,and wait, expecting the vehicle,the means that will transport youfar away,when the sky sails clear,blue, and annihilating above the overpass,and you have no past or future,in that empty momentpoetry pitches its tent.Bianca Tarozzi was born in Bologna in 1941. Her father was a political prisoner under Mussolini, and then a Senator after the war. She received a degree from Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and taught English and American Literature for many years at the University of Verona. The recipient of numerous literary honors, she has translated into Italian the works of Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, James Merrill, Richard Wilbur, A. E. Housman, Denise Levertov, and Louise Gluck. Also the author of many books of poetry, she began writing poems in 1947, and continues to this day. She currently splits her time between Venice and Milan, Italy.
Living Together After Ethnic Killing: Exploring the Chaim Kaufman Argument
by Roy Licklider Mia BloomThis volume attempts to critically analyze Chaim Kaufman's ideas from various methodological perspectives, with the view of further understanding how stable states may arise after violent ethnic conflict and to generate important debate in the area. After the Cold War, the West became optimistic of their ability to intervene effectively in instances of humanitarian disasters and civil war. Unfortunately, in the light of Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda, questions of the appropriate course of action in situations of large scale violence became hotly contested. A wave of analysis considered the traditional approach of third parties attempting to ensure that the nation was built on the basis of a ruling power-share between the opposing sides of the conflict to be overwhelmingly problematic, and perhaps impossible. Within this movement Kaufman wrote a series of articles advocating separation of warring sides in order to provide stability in situations of large scale violence. His theorem provoked extreme responses and polarized opinion, contradicting the established position of promoting power-sharing, democracy and open economies to solve ethnic conflict and had policy implications for the entire international community. This book was previously published as a special issue of Security Studies.
Living Up to a Legend: My Adventures with Billy Bishop's Ghost
by Diana BishopDiana Bishop recounts growing up in the shadow of her famous grandfather, Canadian First World War flying ace Billy Bishop. As a child, Diana Bishop showed up one day at school with a brown paper bag. Inside was a large breastplate of some of the most precious war medals on the planet, including the Victoria Cross. They belonged to Canada’s most celebrated First World War pilot, Billy Bishop, and until her family donated them to the Canadian War Museum, they had been kept in her father’s underwear drawer. That day at school was the first time Diana realized she was not growing up in an ordinary family. Now, after more than two decades in Canadian media, Diana Bishop looks back on her grandfather’s legacy and its profound influence over her life, and also her father’s — the only son of Billy Bishop, who had so much to live up to. Living Up to a Legend is a unique memoir that covers Billy Bishop’s legacy through the eyes of one of the people who it affected the most.
Living with Antiques: A Treasury of Private Homes in America Vol. I (Living with Antiques #1)
by Alice WinchesterIN THIS BOOK we have brought together treasures from the past and a wealth of ideas for their use and enjoyment in the present. Like The ANTIQUES Treasury of Furniture and Other Decorative Arts published in 1959, to which it is a companion, this volume is full of information about antiques, but while the previous volume concerned itself with the collections of seven great American museums, this is devoted to American private homes. It makes no recommendations as to what should be done, but it shows what has actually been done by some of America’s most discriminating collectors to bring beauty and also a sense of stability and continuity into their homes. For to these collectors living with antiques does not mean living in the past: it means preserving and enjoying the best of the past in order to add an extra dimension to the present.
Living with Antiques: A Treasury of Private Homes in America Vol. II (Living with Antiques #2)
by Alice WinchesterIN THIS BOOK we have brought together treasures from the past and a wealth of ideas for their use and enjoyment in the present. Like The ANTIQUES Treasury of Furniture and Other Decorative Arts published in 1959, to which it is a companion, this volume is full of information about antiques, but while the previous volume concerned itself with the collections of seven great American museums, this is devoted to American private homes. It makes no recommendations as to what should be done, but it shows what has actually been done by some of America’s most discriminating collectors to bring beauty and also a sense of stability and continuity into their homes. For to these collectors living with antiques does not mean living in the past: it means preserving and enjoying the best of the past in order to add an extra dimension to the present.
Living with Hitler: Accounts of Hitlers Household Staff
by Herbert Döhring Karl Wilhelm Krause Anna PlaimThis collection paints a picture of Hitler from members of his household in the unique position of being seemingly ever-present, yet totally unconnected to events.The reader is introduced to Hitler's Bodyguard Karl Krause (1934-39), his house administrator Herbert Dhring (1935-43) and chambermaid Anna Plaim (1941-43). From these accounts we get a deeper sense of Hitler in close proximity.These accounts massively add to our understanding of Hitler as a three dimensional character, especially from subjects like Plaim who only knew Hitler's home life, having rarely left Berghof.The series is able to shed light on his likes and dislikes from foods to his hobbies, creating a strange sense of humanity. This collection also provides the reader with fresh anecdotes, observations and portraits of Hitler's entourage and relatives. Plaim's images of Eva Braun come from finding torn fragments in the bin, whilst Dhring sheds light on Martin Bormann's demeanour.
Living with Hitler: Compelling recollections of Hitler's Personal Staff
by Karl Wilhelm Krause Herbert Döhring Anna Plaim Kurt KuchThis collection paints a picture of Hitler from members of his household in the unique position of being &“seemingly ever-present, yet totally unconnected to events.&” Compelling recollections from Hitler's Bodyguard Karl Krause (1934-39), his house administrator Herbert Döhring (1935-43) and chambermaid Anna Plaim (1941-43). From these accounts we get a deeper sense of Hitler in close proximity. These accounts massively add to our understanding of Hitler as a three dimensional character, especially from subjects like Plaim who only knew Hitler's home life, having rarely left Berghof. The authors shed light on his likes and dislikes from foods to his hobbies, creating a strange sense of humanity. This collection also provides fresh anecdotes, observations and portraits of Hitler's entourage and relatives. Plaim's images of Eva Braun came from finding torn fragments in the bin, whilst Döhring sheds light on Martin Bormann's demeanour.
Living with Honor: A Memoir
by Salvatore Giunta Joe LaydenThere was the sound of a single bullet, and then . . . a deafening barrage of gunfire and explosions. There were, literally, thousands of bullets in the air at once, and more tracers streaking across the sky than there were stars overhead. It was a miracle that most of us weren't killed instantly. Staff Sergeant Salvatore, "Sal," Giunta was the first living person to receive the Medal of Honor--the highest honor presented by the U.S. military--since the conclusion of the Vietnam War. In Living with Honor, this hero who maintains he is "just a soldier" tells us the story of the fateful day in Afghanistan that led to his receiving the unique honor. With candor, insight, and humility, Giunta not only recounts the harrowing events leading up to when he and his company fell under siege, but also illustrates the empowering, invaluable lessons he learned. As a seventeen-year-old teen working at Subway, Giunta was like any other kid trying to figure out which step to take next with his life after graduating from high school. When Giunta walked into the local Army recruiting center in his hometown, he just wanted a free T-shirt. But when he walked out, his curiosity had been piqued and he enlisted in the Army. Deployed to Afghanistan, Giunta soon learned from the more seasoned soldiers how "different" this war was compared to others that America had fought. Stationed with the 173rd Airborne Brigade near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the Korengal Valley-- also known as the "Valley of Death"--Giunta and his company were ambushed by Taliban insurgents. Giunta went into action after seeing that his squad leader had fallen. Exposing himself to blistering enemy fire, Giunta charged toward his squad leader and administered first aid while he covered him with his own body. Though Giunta was struck by the relentless barrage of bullets, he engaged the enemy and then attempted to reach additional wounded soldiers. When he realized that yet another soldier was separated from his unit, he advanced forward. Discovering two rebels carrying away a U.S. soldier, Giunta killed one insurgent and wounded the other, and immediately provided aid to the injured soldier. More than just a remarkable memoir by a remarkable person, Living with Honor is a powerful testament to the human spirit and all that one can achieve when faced with seemingly impossible obstacles. *** The President clasps the medal around my neck. Applause fills the room. But I know it's not for me alone. I look at my mom and dad. I look at Brennan's parents and I look at Mendoza's. And I try to communicate to Brennan and Mendoza wordlessly: This is for you . . . and for everyone who has fought and died. For everyone who has made the ultimate sacrifice. I am not a hero. I'm just a soldier. --Salvatore A. Giunta, from Living with Honor
Living with Honor
by Joe Layden Sal GiuntaThere was the sound of a single bullet, and then . . . a deafening barrage of gunfire and explosions. There were, literally, thousands of bullets in the air at once, and more tracers streaking across the sky than there were stars overhead. It was a miracle that most of us weren't killed instantly. Staff Sergeant Salvatore, "Sal," Giunta was the first living person to receive the Medal of Honor--the highest honor presented by the U.S. military--since the conclusion of the Vietnam War. In Living with Honor, this hero who maintains he is "just a soldier" tells us the story of the fateful day in Afghanistan that led to his receiving the unique honor. With candor, insight, and humility, Giunta not only recounts the harrowing events leading up to when he and his company fell under siege, but also illustrates the empowering, invaluable lessons he learned. As a seventeen-year-old teen working at Subway, Giunta was like any other kid trying to figure out which step to take next with his life after graduating from high school. When Giunta walked into the local Army recruiting center in his hometown, he just wanted a free T-shirt. But when he walked out, his curiosity had been piqued and he enlisted in the Army. Deployed to Afghanistan, Giunta soon learned from the more seasoned soldiers how "different" this war was compared to others that America had fought. Stationed with the 173rd Airborne Brigade near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the Korengal Valley-- also known as the "Valley of Death"--Giunta and his company were ambushed by Taliban insurgents. Giunta went into action after seeing that his squad leader had fallen. Exposing himself to blistering enemy fire, Giunta charged toward his squad leader and administered first aid while he covered him with his own body. Though Giunta was struck by the relentless barrage of bullets, he engaged the enemy and then attempted to reach additional wounded soldiers. When he realized that yet another soldier was separated from his unit, he advanced forward. Discovering two rebels carrying away a U.S. soldier, Giunta killed one insurgent and wounded the other, and immediately provided aid to the injured soldier. More than just a remarkable memoir by a remarkable person, Living with Honor is a powerful testament to the human spirit and all that one can achieve when faced with seemingly impossible obstacles. *** The President clasps the medal around my neck. Applause fills the room. But I know it's not for me alone. I look at my mom and dad. I look at Brennan's parents and I look at Mendoza's. And I try to communicate to Brennan and Mendoza wordlessly: This is for you . . . and for everyone who has fought and died. For everyone who has made the ultimate sacrifice. I am not a hero. I'm just a soldier. --Salvatore A. Giunta, from Living with Honor
Living with No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier
by Noah GallowayMilitary hero and beloved Dancing with the Stars alum Noah Galloway shares his life story, and how losing his arm and leg in combat forced him to relearn how to live--and live to the fullest.Inspirational, humorous, and thought provoking, Noah Galloway's LIVING WITH NO EXCUSES sheds light on his upbringing in rural Alabama, his military experience, and the battle he faced to overcome losing two limbs during Operation Iraqi Freedom. From reliving the early days of life to his acceptance of his "new normal" after losing his arm and leg in combat, Noah reveals his ambition to succeed against all odds. Noah's gripping story is a shining example that with laughter, and the right amount of perspective, you can tackle anything. Whether it be overcoming injury, conquering the Dancing with the Stars ballroom, or taking the next steps forward in life with his young family - Noah demonstrates how to live life to the fullest, with no excuses.