Playing trumpet in the 9th Infantry Division Band should have been a safe assignment but the Viet Cong swarmed throughout the Mekong Delta, and safety was nonexistent. The band's twofold mission--boosting morale and helping win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese--required them to leave their Đồng Tam (a.k.a. Mortar City) base camp and travel through a vast area of rice paddies, dense jungle and numerous villages. By 1969, home-front support for the war had dwindled and the U.S. Army in Vietnam was on the brink of mutiny. No one wanted to die under the command of career-minded officers in a war lost to misguided politics. This memoir of a conscripted musician in Vietnam provides a personal account of the lunacy surrounding combat support service in the 9th Infantry Division during the months prior to its withdrawal.
Don Tweedie, Fighting Bandsman’s Last Stand is a story of courage, determination, heroism, faith, love, and mateship throughout World War II. Don Tweedtie’s last stand against the Japanese was in 1942 at Holland Hill, Singapore where he was severely wounded. Most stories that have been written have been more of a historical sense, whereas this is a more personal story. This book is written in three parts, and outlines his childhood/teenage years and leads into World War II, and then how he dealt with the images of war when he returned home in 1945. Part 2 is written from the heart, as it was told to his son about his war experience. Don Tweedie grew up throughout the Depression years, leading into WWII. He worked in a clothing warehouse in Sydney, and always wanted to play in a brass band. He joined the militia in 1937, and then enlisted in the infantry in 1940 to fight for his country. Don Tweedie was posted with the 2/20th Battalion in the Australian 8th Division to Malaya. It was while he was in the infantry that he became a bass drummer for the 2/20th Battalion band. However, he was severely wounded and captured in the fall of Singapore and was placed in captivity in Changi, Burma Railway, Saigon, Singapore, and Japan for the rest of the war.
Don Tweedie, Fighting Bandsman's Last Stand is a story of courage, determination, heroism, faith, love, and mateship throughout World War II. Don Tweedie’s last stand against the Japanese was in 1942 at Holland Hill, Singapore where he was severely wounded. Most stories that have been written have been more of a historical sense, whereas this is a more personal story. This book is written in three parts, and outlines his childhood/teenage years and leads into World War II, and then how he dealt with the images of war when he returned home in 1945. Part 2 is written from the heart, as it was told to his son about his war experience. Don Tweedie grew up throughout the Depression years, leading into WWII. He worked in a clothing warehouse in Sydney, and always wanted to play in a brass band. He joined the militia in 1937, and then enlisted in the infantry in 1940 to fight for his country. Don Tweedie was posted with the 2/20th Battalion in the Australian 8th Division to Malaya. It was while he was in the infantry that he became a bass drummer for the 2/20th Battalion band. However, he was severely wounded and captured in the fall of Singapore and was placed in captivity in Changi, Burma Railway, Saigon, Singapore, and Japan for the rest of the war. Don Tweedie was a quiet honest and respectful person. He was a very proud man who loved the fact that he fought for his country. More importantly, he was not going to give in to his captors. He had a strong bond between himself and those POWs who suffered or died and witnessed all those atrocities with him. While the physical problems were an issue, it was the emotional and psychological scars that a lot of these men suffered that would haunt them for a lifetime. However, life goes on, and Don Tweedie fulfilled his dreams to own his own cattle studs and play in a brass band. He played in the Forbes Town band for forty-six years right up until he passed away. This book is to pay tribute to Don Tweedie and all his fellow POWs, and also the families and friends of those POWs including the mothers, wives, and girlfriends who suffered along with their husbands, sons, uncles, brothers, grandfathers, or friends.
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)
9th edition, 2019. A comprehensive list of books, articles, theses and other material covering the brass band movement, its history, instruments and musicology; together with other related topics (originally issued in book form in January 2009)
A first-hand account of the Falklands War from the perspective of the Royal Marine Band Service members who fought in the conflict. The Royal Marines are renowned for their military skill and also for having one of the finest military bands in the world. These highly trained and talented musicians are equally at home parading at Buckingham Palace, playing at the Royal Albert Hall, or on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in a foreign port. Why then when the Argentines invaded the Falklands in April 1982 did these superb musicians get involved in what became a serious and deadly military campaign? The answer is that, in addition to their musical expertise, the RM Band Service members are trained for military service and fully qualified in a multitude of military and medical skills, providing support to their comrades, the fighting commandos. The Band That Went to War is a graphic first-hand account of the Falklands War as it has never been told before. It describes the roles played by Royal Marine musicians in the conflict; unloading the wounded from helicopters, moving tons of stores and ammunition, burying their dead at sea and guarding and repatriating Argentine prisoners of war. These and other unseen tasks were achieved while still ready to provide morale boosting music to their commando brethren and other frontline troops. These men are not just musicians; they are Royal Marines. Praise for The Band That Went to War “I really enjoyed this account of how the Band of the Royal Marines were involved in the attempt to liberate the Falkland Islands back in 1982 . . . Brian Short’s excellent book is really entertaining.” —Books Monthly
