It is 1953. Soon to be drafted into the Korean War, Charlie Rote first seeks fame and fortune in Florida. He and friend Slick take a job on a Cuban banana boat and find they are involved in gun smuggling and an underground movement to overthrow the Batista government. Back home Charlie is embarrassed by his aborted trip. However Charlie becomes a town celebrity when the local newspapers discover and report his Cuban underground experiences. Charlie meets Russ Howell an ex-paratrooper and War veteran. Russ convinces Charlie to become a paratrooper to find his adventures. Charlie joins the Army, goes Airborne and shares with us the mental and physical rigors along with the pride in being a paratrooper. Charlie also finds some criminal activities which he exposes to help his Airborne Division bring justice.
On September 17, 1944, in broad daylight, the Allies launched the largest airborne operation ever conducted. The objective: to secure a road in Nazi-occupied Holland and a bridge across the Rhine for ground troops to advance into Germany . . . and to end the war by Christmas. For the 101st Airborne, charged with seizing key bridges, that road became known as Hells Highway, and it saw what may have been the most savagely fought single action in the divisions history. This book tells the story of that battle at its most desperate, and the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne at their most courageous. A concise, authoritative account of the bold but ultimately unsuccessful push across the Rhine, this book recounts some of the most dramatic combat of World War II. Published in conjunction with Gearbox Softwares Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway, it also features selected screen shots from the game, reenactor action, and a wealth of maps and period archival photographs that bring Hells Highway to harrowing life.
“Intense . . . anyone familiar with the Band of Brothers story will want to read this book” (Military Review). Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division has become one of the most famous small units in US history. But fewer people are aware of Fox Company of that same regiment—the men who fought alongside Easy Company through every step of the war in Europe, and who had their own stories to tell. WWII vet Bill Brown decided to research the fate of a childhood friend who had served in Fox Company. Along the way, he met Terry Poyser, who was on a similar mission to research the combat death of a Fox Company man from his hometown. Together, the two authors proceeded to locate and interview every surviving Fox Company vet they could find. The ultimate result was this book, a decade in the making, offering a wealth of fascinating firsthand accounts of WWII combat as well as new perspectives on Dick Winters and others of the “Band.” Told primarily through the words of participants, Fighting Fox Company takes us through some of the most horrific close-in fighting of the war, beginning with the chaotic nocturnal paratrooper drop on D-Day. After fighting through Normandy, the drop into Holland saw prolonged, ferocious combat and even more casualties; and then during the Battle of the Bulge, Fox Company took its place in line at Bastogne during one of the most heroic against-all-odds stands in US history. As always in combat, each man’s experience is different, and the nature of the German enemy is seen here in its equally various aspects. From ruthless SS fighters to meek Volkssturm to simply expert modern fighters, the Screaming Eagles encountered the full gamut of the Wehrmacht. The work is also accompanied by rare photos and useful appendices, including rosters and lists of casualties, to give the full look at Fox Company that has long been overdue.
The story behind D-Day begins in 1939 when Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, attacked Poland and ignited World War Two. The following year, the Germans occupied France and Western Europe and launched a vicious air war against Britain. In 1941, they invaded the Soviet Union. Seemingly unstoppable, the Nazis now held virtually all of Europe. They imposed a ruthless system of control and unleashed the horror of the Holocaust. However, by 1943, the tide had begun to turn in favor of the Allies, the forces opposed to Germany. In the east, despite huge losses, the Soviets began to force the Germans back.
The story of two inseparable friends and soldiers portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron were among the first paratroopers of the U.S. Army--members of an elite unit of the 101st Airborne D
The gripping story of the men of 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the comrades of the Band of Brothers, from their formation through the D-Day landings and beyond, in their own words. The exploits of the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment have long been overshadowed by those of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion. Yet the actions of the 3rd Battalion during the D-Day landings were every bit as incredible. This is the astounding story of how, after suffering many immediate casualties on landing, the surviving paratroopers fought on towards their objective against horrendous odds. Using fascinating first-hand accounts of the soldiers and the French civilians who witnessed the Normandy campaign, and illustrated with black and white photographs and maps throughout, the authors offer a unique and comprehensive account of the experiences of the 3rd Battalion from training through to D-Day and beyond.
After the death of two dear military friends, I decided that their stories and mine needed to be told, as these stories disappear when we depart the earth. All these stories have one thing in common, the story tellers made it through their experiences and lived to tell their tales! These are stories by Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Air-force and Coast Guard with some foreign stories. We tell these stories to ease painful memories and to try to explain their experiences to friends and family. These stories are from the American Civil War to current conflicts and range from, humorous, to unbelievable and many are told over many years and many tears We also tell these stories to other veterans as they DO understand as they have been there too!
They became America’s first black paratroopers. Why was their story never told? Sibert Medalist Tanya Lee Stone reveals the history of the Triple Nickles during World War II. World War II is raging, and thousands of American soldiers are fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, the injustice of discrimination against African Americans plays out as much on Main Street as in the military. Enlisted black men are segregated from white soldiers and regularly relegated to service duties. At Fort Benning, Georgia, First Sergeant Walter Morris’s men serve as guards at The Parachute School, while the white soldiers prepare to be paratroopers. Morris knows that for his men to be treated like soldiers, they have to train and act like them, but would the military elite and politicians recognize the potential of these men as well as their passion for serving their country? Tanya Lee Stone examines the role of African Americans in the military through the history of the Triple Nickles, America’s first black paratroopers, who fought in a little-known attack on the American West by the Japanese. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in the words of Morris, “proved that the color of a man had nothing to do with his ability.” From Courage Has No Color What did it take to be a paratrooper in World War II? Specialized training, extreme physical fitness, courage, and — until the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (the Triple Nickles) was formed — white skin. It is 1943. Americans are overseas fighting World War II to help keep the world safe from Adolf Hitler’s tyranny, safe from injustice, safe from discrimination. Yet right here at home, people with white skin have rights that people with black skin do not. What is courage? What is strength? Perhaps it is being ready to fight for your nation even when your nation isn’t ready to fight for you. Front matter includes a foreword by Ashley Bryan. Back matter includes an author’s note, an appendix, a time line, source notes, and a bibliography.
This fast-moving memoir of T. Moffatt Burriss shows his extraordinary role as a platoon leader and company commander with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Europe and North Africa during World War II. He saw a great deal of combat on Sicily, at Salerno, on Anzio Beach, in Holland during Operation Market Garden, and during the drive into Germany. This book portrays World War II as seen vividly through the eyes of the young American citizen-soldier.
