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What the Taliban Told Me
by Ian FritzAn &“essential&” (Kevin Maurer, #1 New York Times bestselling author) memoir of a young Air Force linguist coming of age in a war that is lost.When Ian Fritz joined the Air Force at eighteen, he did so out of necessity. He hadn&’t been accepted into colleges thanks to an indifferent high school career. He&’d too often slept through his classes as he worked long hours at a Chinese restaurant to help pay the bills for his trailer-dwelling family in Lake City, Florida. But the Air Force recognizes his potential and sends him to the elite Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to learn Dari and Pashto, the main languages of Afghanistan. By 2011, Fritz was an airborne cryptologic linguist and one of only a tiny number of people in the world trained to do this job on low-flying gunships. He monitors communications on the ground and determines in real time which Afghans are Taliban and which are innocent civilians. This eavesdropping is critical to supporting Special Forces units on the ground, but there is no training to counter the emotional complexity that develops as you listen to people&’s most intimate conversations over the course of two tours, Fritz listens to the Taliban for hundreds of hours, all over the country night and day, in moments of peace and in the middle of battle. What he hears teaches him about the people of Afghanistan—Taliban and otherwise—the war, and himself. Fritz&’s fluency is his greatest asset to the military, yet it becomes the greatest liability to his own commitment to the cause. Both proud of his service and in despair that he is instrumental in destroying the voices that he hears, What the Taliban Told Me is a &“fraught, moving&” (Kirkus Reviews) coming-of-age memoir and a reckoning with our twenty years of war in Afghanistan.
What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar
by Colonel John Conrad Christie BlatchfordBy every principle of war, every shred of military logic, logistics support to Canada's Task Force Orion in Afghanistan should have collapsed in July 2006. There are few countries that offer a greater challenge to logistics than Afghanistan, and yet Canadian soldiers lived through an enormous test on this deadly international stage - a monumental accomplishment. Canadian combat operations were widespread across southern Afghanistan in 2006, and logistics soldiers worked in quiet desperation to keep the battle group moving. Only now is it appreciated how precarious the logistics operations of Task Force Orion in Kandahar really were. What the Thunder Said is an honest, raw recollection of incidents and impressions of Canadian warfighting from a logistics perspective. It offers solid insight into the history of military logistics in Canada and explores in some detail the dramatic erosion of a once-proud corner of the army from the perspective of a battalion commander.
What They Didn't Teach You About World War II (What They Didnt Teach You)
by Mike WrightProvides a different view of World War II.
What They Don't Tell You About: World War I
by Robert FowkeThis book explains how the war started, what it was about and who it involved. It describes the major battles and looks at what life was like for the soldiers in the trenches, the pilots in the air, the sailors at sea and the civilians back home. Written in the lively style common to this series, the author deals with this difficult subject in a sensitive and skilful manner, introducing humour only where appropriate. With black line illustrations throughout.
What They Don't Tell You About: World War II
by Robert FowkeDid you know that Adolf Hilter wasn't, in fact, German? The Second World War brought horror and heartache to millions of people all over the globe, and it turned everyday living upside down too. Any history book will give you the boring facts THEY think you should know, but only this one will tell you what life during World War II was REALLY like ...
What Tommy Took to War: 1914-1918
by Peter DoyleA century may now have passed since the Great War, but the stories of everyday soldiers serving in miserable and life-threatening conditions still have a sobering sense of immediacy. Personal records, photographs and sentimental possessions that bring us even closer to the soldier as a person have often become valuable heirlooms, passed down through the generations. Nothing better depicts an individual soldier than these items, which were kept about his person and in his kitbag, and which constituted all his worldly possessions while on service in the trenches. This book looks at fifty objects with which every Tommy would have been familiar, from official uniform and equipment to good-luck charms and letters from sweethearts. With each artifact – be it an identity disc, training manual, packet of cigarettes, postcard or foreign phrasebook – the accompanying text explains the significance of all the things that, together, help to define him both as a man and as a soldier.
What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It
by Trish Wood"A visceral account of the war ... honest, agenda-free, and chilling." New York Review of Books. The Iraq war officially began on March 20, 2003, and since then more than one million young Americans have rotated through the country's insurgent-infested hot spots. But although stories of dramatic ambushes and attacks dominate the front pages of newspapers, most of us do not truly know what the war is like for the Americans who fight it. What Was Asked of Us helps us bridge that gap. The in-depth and intensely probing interviews this book brings together document the soldiers' experiences and darkest secrets, offering a multitude of authentic, unfiltered voices--at times raw and emotional, at other times eloquent and lyrical. These voices walk us through the war, from the successful push to Baghdad, through the erroneous "Mission Accomplished" moment, and into the dangerous, murky present. "Monumental. ... Amid the glut of policy debates, and amid the flurry of news reports that add names each day to the lists of the dead, Trish Wood has produced what is perhaps, to date, the only text about Iraq that matter."--San Francisco Chronicle. "An illuminating glimpse of American fighters' experiences in Iraq ... There are moments of strange beauty in the soldiers' recollections."--Chicago Tribune. "Stunning ... chillingly eloquent. ... Powerful and unflinchingly honest, Wood's book deserves to be a bestseller."--People
What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It
by Trish Wood Bobby Muller"A visceral account of the war ... honest, agenda-free, and chilling." - New York Times Book Review. The Iraq war officially began on March 20, 2003, and since then more than one million young Americans have rotated through the country's insurgent-infested hot spots. But although stories of dramatic ambushes and attacks dominate the front pages of newspapers, most of us do not truly know what the war is like for the Americans who fight it. What Was Asked of Us helps us bridge that gap.The in-depth and intensely probing interviews this book brings together document the soldiers' experiences and darkest secrets, offering a multitude of authentic, unfiltered voices - at times raw and emotional, at other times eloquent and lyrical. These voices walk us through the war, from the successful push to Baghdad, through the erroneous "Mission Accomplished" moment, and into the dangerous, murky present. "Monumental ... Amid the glut of policy debates, and amid the flurry of news reports that add names each day to the lists of the dead, Trish Wood has produced what is perhaps, to date, the only text about Iraq that matter."- San Francisco Chronicle. "An illuminating glimpse of American fighters' experiences in Iraq ... There are moments of strange beauty in the soldiers' recollections." - Chicago Tribune. "Stunning ... chillingly eloquent ... Powerful and unflinchingly honest, Wood's book deserves to be a bestseller." -People.
What Was D-Day?
by Patricia Brennan Demuth Scott Anderson David Grayson KenyonIn the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, an armada of 7,000 ships carrying 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. Up until then the Allied forces had suffered serious defeats, yet D -Day, as the invasion was called, spelled the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany and the Third Reich. Readers will dive into the heart of the action and discover how it was planned and carried out and how it overwhelmed the Germans who had been tricked into thinking the attack would take place elsewhere. D-Day was a major turning point in World War II and hailed as one of the greatest military attacks of all time.
What Was Pearl Harbor? (What Was?)
by Patricia Brennan DemuthA terrifying attack! On December 7, 1941, Japanese war planes appeared out of nowhere to bomb the American base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was a highly secretive and devastating attack: four battleships sunk, more than two thousand servicemen died, and the United States was propelled into World War II. In a compelling, easy-to-read narrative, children will learn all about a pivotal moment in American history. .
What Was the Alamo?
by Meg Belviso Pamela D. Pollack David Groff"Remember the Alamo!" is still a rallying cry more than 175 years after the siege in Texas, where a small band of men held off about two thousand soldiers of the Mexican Army for twelve days. The Alamo was a crucial turning point in the Texas Revolution, and led to the creation of the Republic of Texas. With 80 black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, young readers will relive this famous moment in Texas history.
What Was the Bombing of Hiroshima? (What Was?)
by Jess Brallier Who HQHiroshima is where the first atomic bomb was dropped. Now readers will learn the reasons why and what it's meant for the world ever since.By August 1945, World War II was over in Europe, but the fighting continued between American forces and the Japanese, who were losing but determined to fight till the bitter end. And so it fell to a new president--Harry S. Truman--to make the fateful decision to drop two atomic bombs--one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki--and bring the war to rapid close. Now, even seventy years later, can anyone know if this was the right choice? In a thoughtful account of these history-changing events, Jess Brallier explains the leadup to the bombing, what the terrible results of it were, and how the threat of atomic war has colored world events since.
What Was the Vietnam War? (What Was?)
by Jim O'Connor Who HQLearn how the United States ended up fighting for twenty years in a remote country on the other side of the world.The Vietnam War was as much a part of the tumultuous Sixties as Flower Power and the Civil Rights Movement. Five US presidents were convinced that American troops could end a war in the small, divided country of Vietnam and stop Communism from spreading in Southeast Asia. But they were wrong, and the result was the death of 58,000 American troops. Presenting all sides of a complicated and tragic chapter in recent history, Jim O'Connor explains why the US got involved, what the human cost was, and how defeat in Vietnam left a lasting scar on America.
What Was World War I? (What Was?)
by Nico Medina Who HQThis compelling addition to the What Was? series covers what was supposed to be &“the war to end all wars&” but tragically wasn't.In 1914, the assassination of an Austrian archduke set off a disastrous four-year-long conflict involving dozens of countries with battles taking place in all parts of the world. World War I was the first to use planes and tanks as well as deadly gases that left soldiers blinded or &“shell shocked&” (a condition now called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome). There were battles that lasted for months with opposing troops fighting from rat-infested trenches, battles that often ended in a hollow victory with only a small area of land retaken. The author of many successful Who HQ titles Nico Medina gives young readers a clear and compelling account of this long and tragic event, a war that left over 20 million dead and was the lead-up to World War II barely twenty years later.
What We Did in the War
by Jennie WaltersCan you ever let go of the past? Two women unhappy with their lives seize a chance to start over during a WWII bombing raid, in this dramatic and suspenseful novel. London, 1944: As bombs start raining from the sky, two women rush out of a restaurant, leaving their possessions behind. Their chance meeting amid the chaos and destruction will have long-lasting consequences. Both beset by desperate problems, they take advantage of the wartime chaos to escape their humdrum lives and start again. Sticking together, the pair live under the radar, using a stolen ration book to feed themselves and relying on a street kid&’s help to get by. Cecil eventually finds work, while glamorous, feckless Claude looks after the flat—or doesn&’t. Gradually their friendship sours and resentment creeps in. Just as Cecil is wondering whether she should ever have trusted Claude in the first place, she makes a shocking discovery—one that will expose a web of secrets, lead to an act of violence, and set the two on separate and very different paths.Praise for The Clockmaker&’s Wife, written by the author under the name Daisy Wood: &“A ticking time-bomb of intrigue, wrapped around stark but rich descriptions of the Blitz. An unforgettable wartime debut.&” —Mandy Robotham, international bestselling author of The Berlin Girl
What We Leave Behind: A Novel
by Christine Gallagher KearneyIn 1947, war bride Ursula arrives in Minneapolis torn between guilt over leaving loved ones behind and her desire to start a new life—and a family—in this promised land. But the American dream proves elusive—she is struck with polio, and then shocked by the sudden death of her GI husband. Without a spouse or the child she so desperately wanted, Ursula must rely on her shrewd survival skills from wartime Berlin, and she takes in a boarder to help make ends meet. She soon falls in love with the Argentinean medical technician living in her spare bedroom, but his devotion to communism troubles her—and when she finds herself pregnant with his child, she is faced with a dilemma: how to reconcile her dream of motherhood with an America that is so different from what she imagined.
What Were The Causes Of The Delay Of The 79th Division Capturing Montfaucon?
by Major Paul B. Mitchell IIIOn the opening day of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I, the newly-created United States 79th Division was templated to advance nine kilometers through German-controlled terrain. However, the advance through the first four kilometers, which included the German strong point of Montfaucon, took two days. The slowed advance of the 79th Division is credited with slowing the progress of the entire American Expeditionary Forces' First Army, thus allowing time for Germans to react to the surprise American offensive. Thus, the central research question is: What were the factors that caused the delay of the 79th Division in their capture of Montfaucon? Little research has been completed on this subject, and most historians pinpoint the sole cause as inexperience on the part of the 79th Division. Therefore, an analysis will be conducted which takes into account the training received by the 79th Division in the United States, the training received in France, and other factors that influenced the outcome of the battle.
What You Leave Behind
by Diane CareyA powerful novel in the classic tradition of All Good Things... Seven years ago, Benjamin Sisko took command of an alien space station newly christened Deep Space Nine . There he met Kira Nerys, Odo, Miles O'Brien, Quark, Worf, Julian Bashir, and many others who would touch his life deeply. He also found a new and troubling destiny as the long-awaited Emissary to the mysterious wormhole entities known as the Prophets. Now, after years of triumph and tragedy, and a cataclysmic war that rocked the entire Alpha Quadrant, Captain Sisko and his valiant crew face their final challenge. No one is safe, nothing is certain, and not even the Prophets can predict the ultimate fate of Deep Space Nine!
Whatever It Takes
by Dixie Lee BrownAll three parts in one volume!Fans of Cindy Gerard and Jaci Burton will love the next thrilling novel in Dixie Lee Brown's suspenseful Trust No One series...Assassin Alex Morgan will do anything to save an innocent life--especially if it means rescuing a child from a hell like the one she endured.But going undercover as husband and wife, with none other than the disarmingly sexy Detective Nate Sanders, may be a little more togetherness than she can handle. She's used to working alone, and no man is going to change that--not even a man who makes her heart pound and her defenses crumble with just a touchNate has dodged more than a few bullets over the years, but fighting his attraction for Alex may be the bullet that does him in. Still, Nate's determined to help her find the missing kid. There's no doubt in his mind that they're walking straight into danger, but Nate's willing to face anything if it means protecting Alex. She might have been on her own once, but Nate has one more mission: to stay by her side--forever.
Whatever It Takes: Part Three
by Dixie Lee BrownThe third and final installment in Dixie Lee Brown's thrilling novel Whatever It Takes!Want to dip into the story before you decide? Start reading Parts One & Two of Three now (Chapters 1--15). It is not the whole book.Love what you've read? You can buy Part Three (Chapters 16--22) or the full-length book on August 12, 2014.Fans of Cindy Gerard and Jaci Burton will love the next thrilling novel in Dixie Lee Brown's suspenseful Trust No One series ... Assassin Alex Morgan will do anything to save an innocent life--especially if it means rescuing a child from a hell like the one she endured.But going undercover as husband and wife, with none other than the disarmingly sexy Detective Nate Sanders, may be a little more togetherness than she can handle. She's used to working alone, and no man is going to change that--not even a man who makes her heart pound and her defenses crumble with just a touch.Nate has dodged more than a few bullets over the years, but fighting his attraction to Alex may be the bullet that does him in. Still, he's determined to help her find the missing kid. There's no doubt in his mind that they're walking straight into danger, but Nate's willing to face anything if it means protecting Alex. She may have been on her own once, but Nate has one more mission: to stay by her side--forever.
Whatever It Took: An American Paratrooper's Extraordinary Memoir of Escape, Survival, and Heroism in the Last Days of World War II
by Henry Langrehr Jim DeFelicePublished to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, an unforgettable never-before-told first-person account of World War II: the true story of an American paratrooper who survived D-Day, was captured and imprisoned in a Nazi work camp, and made a daring escape to freedom. Now at 95, one of the few living members of the Greatest Generation shares his experiences at last in one of the most remarkable World War II stories ever told. As the Allied Invasion of Normandy launched in the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944, Henry Langrehr, an American paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, was among the thousands of Allies who parachuted into occupied France. Surviving heavy anti-aircraft fire, he crashed through the glass roof of a greenhouse in Sainte-Mère-Église. While many of the soldiers in his unit died, Henry and other surviving troops valiantly battled enemy tanks to a standstill. Then, on June 29th, Henry was captured by the Nazis. The next phase of his incredible journey was beginning.Kept for a week in the outer ring of a death camp, Henry witnessed the Nazis’ unspeakable brutality—the so-called Final Solution, with people marched to their deaths, their bodies discarded like cords of wood. Transported to a work camp, he endured horrors of his own when he was forced to live in unbelievable squalor and labor in a coal mine with other POWs. Knowing they would be worked to death, he and a friend made a desperate escape. When a German soldier cornered them in a barn, the friend was fatally shot; Henry struggled with the soldier, killing him and taking his gun. Perilously traveling westward toward Allied controlled land on foot, Henry faced the great ethical and moral dilemmas of war firsthand, needing to do whatever it took to survive. Finally, after two weeks behind enemy lines, he found an American unit and was rescued.Awaiting him at home was Arlene, who, like millions of other American women, went to work in factories and offices to build the armaments Henry and the Allies needed for victory. Whatever It Took is her story, too, bringing to life the hopes and fears of those on the homefront awaiting their loved ones to return.A tale of heroism, hope, and survival featuring 30 photographs, Whatever It Took is a timely reminder of the human cost of freedom and a tribute to unbreakable human courage and spirit in the darkest of times.
Whatever Remains: A True Story of Secret Lives and Hidden Families
by Penny F. GrahamWhatever Remains is a true story. The fall of Singapore is considered one of Britain’s worst defeats of the Second World War. For Penny Graham’s father, however, it became a life-changing opportunity to shed once and for all, all of the shackles of a family he no longer wanted. From 1942 onwards her parents would carry passports that gave them backgrounds that had nothing to do with reality. In 2010, a recognised Australian author claimed that her father and mother were involved in espionage for the British Government before, during and after World War 2. Although he worked in Australian naval intelligence during the war, there is no evidence whatsoever that he was an MI6 spy. He clearly had his own motives for the change of identity but they had nothing to do with espionage. Penny Graham spent most of her adult life unravelling the truth about her family history. Her journey took her around the world twice, on many twists and turns, false leads and dead ends as she discovers hew her father managed to hoodwink so many people in his long and complex life. Whatever Remains is a beautifully written story about solving mysteries, conquering adversity and ultimately finding where you belong in the world. It’s a slice of history worth telling.
What's Past: Book 2: The Future Begins (Star Trek #62)
by Michael Schuster Steve MollmannWHAT'S PAST A special six-part S.C.E. event that flashes back to previous adventures of the S.C.E. crew from the 23rd century to the height of the Dominion War, with special guests from all across the Star Trek universe! 2375: After being rescued from the U.S.S. Jenolen by the crew of the Starship Enterprise™, Captain Montgomery Scott found himself seventy-five years removed from the time he knows, a twenty-third-century engineer now living in the twenty-fourth. Now he serves as the liaison between the Starfleet Corps of Engineers and the admiralty, supervising the S.C.E.'s mission assignments. But Scott's transition into a new century is not an easy one. The horrors of the Dominion War in particular bring about a crisis of conscience that leads Scotty from the strife-torn world of Kropasar to the pleasure planet of Risa, where encounters with Admirals Alynna Nechayev and William Ross, Ensign Robin Lefler, and Lefler's mysterious mother lead Scotty to a momentous decision....
Wheat and not weeds: Honor To A Marshal
by G. G. Vega Vanessa TorreMy country, the Republic of Paraguay, a nation that was born big, was strong, independent and prosperous, which aroused the envy of neighboring nations, which allied themselves to make war. Three nations, who promised to sweep my country in three months, but the intention came to them, it took them 5 long and hard years. But it was my country, my race that paid the price, there were only human remains, malnourished and sick women, children in extreme conditions, and a few men. God did not want Paraguay to become extinct, despite the terrifying genocide that had suffered and had been hidden in history. This book reminds you that Paraguay is Wheat and not weeds. We fought two wars but for noble reasons, not because of envy, evil or criminal ambition.
Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation
by David DavisOut of the carnage of World War II comes an unforgettable tale about defying the odds and finding hope in the most harrowing of circumstances. Wheels of Courage tells the stirring story of the soldiers, sailors, and marines who were paralyzed on the battlefield during World War II-at the Battle of the Bulge, on the island of Okinawa, inside Japanese POW camps-only to return to a world unused to dealing with their traumatic injuries. Doctors considered paraplegics to be "dead-enders" and "no-hopers," with the life expectancy of about a year. Societal stigma was so ingrained that playing sports was considered out-of-bounds for so-called "crippled bodies." But servicemen like Johnny Winterholler, a standout athlete from Wyoming before he was captured on Corregidor, and Stan Den Adel, shot in the back just days before the peace treaty ending the war was signed, refused to waste away in their hospital beds. Thanks to medical advances and the dedication of innovative physicians and rehabilitation coaches, they asserted their right to a life without limitations. The paralyzed veterans formed the first wheelchair basketball teams, and soon the Rolling Devils, the Flying Wheels, and the Gizz Kids were barnstorming the nation and filling arenas with cheering, incredulous fans. The wounded-warriors-turned-playmakers were joined by their British counterparts, led by the indomitable Dr. Ludwig Guttmann. Together, they triggered the birth of the Paralympic Games and opened the gymnasium doors to those with other disabilities, including survivors of the polio epidemic in the 1950s. Much as Jackie Robinson's breakthrough into the major leagues served as an opening salvo in the civil rights movement, these athletes helped jump-start a global movement about human adaptability. Their unlikely heroics on the court showed the world that it is ability, not disability, that matters most. Off the court, their push for equal rights led to dramatic changes in how civilized societies treat individuals with disabilities: from kneeling buses and curb cutouts to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Their saga is yet another lasting legacy of the Greatest Generation, one that has been long overlooked. Drawing on the veterans' own words, stories, and memories about this pioneering era, David Davis has crafted a narrative of survival, resilience, and triumph for sports fans and athletes, history buffs and military veterans, and people with and without disabilities.