Danger and intrigue of the US Army Bomb Disposal teams in the European Theatre of Operations, as young Eric Pedersen from Little Falls, Minnesota, enlists in the Army at the outbreak of World War 2, and volunteers for the newly established Bomb Disposal program. He is quickly shipped to North Africa with his squad, takes part in the victory of the desert campaign, then moves on to Sicily and Italy, and finally becomes embroiled in the landing at Normandy and the march through France, culminating with the final victory in Germany. As Eric moves through the combat arenas, he befriends men of the famous Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and forges a lasting relationship with his new friend from the 3rd Infantry Division, Audie Murphy.
Hailed as "the single most effective pilot at Midway" (World War II magazine), Dusty Kleiss struck and sank three Japanese warships at the Battle of Midway, including two aircraft carriers, helping turn the tide of the Second World War. This is his extraordinary memoir. NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "AN INSTANT CLASSIC" —Dallas Morning News On the morning of June 4, 1942, high above the tiny Pacific atoll of Midway, Lt. (j.g.) "Dusty" Kleiss burst out of the clouds and piloted his SBD Dauntless into a near-vertical dive aimed at the heart of Japan’s Imperial Navy, which six months earlier had ruthlessly struck Pearl Harbor. The greatest naval battle in history raged around him, its outcome hanging in the balance as the U.S. desperately searched for its first major victory of the Second World War. Then, in a matter of seconds, Dusty Kleiss’s daring 20,000-foot dive helped forever alter the war’s trajectory. Plummeting through the air at 240 knots amid blistering anti-aircraft fire, the twenty-six-year-old pilot from USS Enterprise’s elite Scouting Squadron Six fixed on an invaluable target—the aircraft carrier Kaga, one of Japan’s most important capital ships. He released three bombs at the last possible instant, then desperately pulled out of his gut-wrenching 9-g dive. As his plane leveled out just above the roiling Pacific Ocean, Dusty’s perfectly placed bombs struck the carrier’s deck, and Kaga erupted into an inferno from which it would never recover. Arriving safely back at Enterprise, Dusty was met with heartbreaking news: his best friend was missing and presumed dead along with two dozen of their fellow naval aviators. Unbowed, Dusty returned to the air that same afternoon and, remarkably, would fatally strike another enemy carrier, Hiryu. Two days later, his deadeye aim contributed to the destruction of a third Japanese warship, the cruiser Mikuma, thereby making Dusty the only pilot from either side to land hits on three different ships, all of which sank—losses that crippled the once-fearsome Japanese fleet. By battle’s end, the humble young sailor from Kansas had earned his place in history—and yet he stayed silent for decades, living quietly with his children and his wife, Jean, whom he married less than a month after Midway. Now his extraordinary and long-awaited memoir, Never Call Me a Hero, tells the Navy Cross recipient’s full story for the first time, offering an unprecedentedly intimate look at the "the decisive contest for control of the Pacific in World War II" (New York Times)—and one man’s essential role in helping secure its outcome. Dusty worked on this book for years with naval historians Timothy and Laura Orr, aiming to publish Never Call Me a Hero for Midway’s seventy-fifth anniversary in June 2017. Sadly, as the book neared completion in 2016, Dusty Kleiss passed away at age 100, one of the last surviving dive-bomber pilots to have fought at Midway. And yet the publication of Never Call Me a Hero is a cause for celebration: these pages are Dusty’s remarkable legacy, providing a riveting eyewitness account of the Battle of Midway, and an inspiring testimony to the brave men who fought, died, and shaped history during those four extraordinary days in June, seventy-five years ago.
Daniel Hernandez helped save the life of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and his life experience is a source of true inspiration in this heartfelt memoir, “an absorbing eyewitness view of a shocking event wrapped in a fluent, engaging self-portrait” (Kirkus Reviews). “I don’t consider myself a hero,” says Daniel Hernandez. “I did what I thought anyone should have done. Heroes are people who spend a lifetime committed to helping others.” When Daniel Hernandez was twenty years old, he was working as an intern for US Representative Gabrielle Giffords. On January 8, 2011, during a “Congress on Your Corner” event, Giffords was shot. Daniel Hernandez’s quick thinking before the paramedics arrived and took Giffords to the hospital saved her life. Hernandez’s bravery and heroism has been noted by many, including President Barack Obama. But while that may have been his most well-known moment in the spotlight, Daniel Hernandez, Jr., is a remarkable individual who has already accomplished much in his young life, and is working to achieve much more. They Call Me a Hero explores Daniel’s life, his character, and the traits that a young person needs to rise above adversity and become a hero like Daniel. “His story is inspiring not only for his bravery during the shooting, but also for his commitment to education advocacy and public service, including his appointment to Tucson’s Commission on LGBT issues and election to the local school board. Photos of Hernandez with family, friends, colleagues, and political figures are included” (Publishers Weekly).
A small dog, separated from his owner during Hurricane Katrina, helps in rescuing victims of the storm, and is adopted by the family of one of the volunteer rescuers.
Wang Shuo imagines an Olympics where nations compete not on the basis of athletic prowess, but on their citizens' capacity for humiliation. China is determined to win at any cost. Enter a slacker pedicab driver from Beijing, a degenerate nihilist who rips off his own face in order to win the gold for his country.
New from Eliza Lentzski: Damaged Goods - the sequel to Don't Call Me Hero. The past few years had been difficult for former Marine, Cassidy Miller. She'd left the military, joined the Minneapolis city police, only to voluntarily remove herself from active duty. In the tiny town of Embarrass, Minnesota, she met Julia Desjardin, the distant yet devastatingly beautiful city prosecutor, sparking a romance neither could have anticipated. Now, back in Minneapolis, things are starting to look up for Cassidy: she and Julia have reconciled, and she's hoping to be reinstated with the Minneapolis police soon. But life is never that simple. Cassidy can take off the uniform, but she can't shake the soldier. Her flashbacks of Afghanistan are getting progressively worse, her new police partner resents her existence, and she's not sure she's truly forgiven Julia for what happened in Embarrass. Can she enjoy this Happily Ever After or will memories of a not-so-distant past slowly tear her (and Julia) apart?
Please Don't Call Me Hero picks up where Alive Day left off, when a mysterious voice from Chief's dark and covert intelligence past calls him from his daughter's cell phone and sends Chief into combat mode. Do they have her? Can he protect her? Chief knows the voice. So why can't he remember who it is and why, after so many years, is this voice back in his life? This book is dedicated to the families who didn't sign up to go to war, but get to pay the consequences anyway. Follow the journey from Alive Day as Chief comes home, meets his new family and faces a diagnosis he neither understands, nor believes in. PTSD. Chief's story encapsulates what happens when soldiers, in this case a 30 year Veteran of Intelligence Operations, comes home to "Fort Living Room". Chief investigates his own moral wounds, attempts to mitigate his own PTSD and the impact it has on the family he loves so dearly---all the while fighting the agony of spinal injuries, surgical reconstructions and an old enemy from his covert intelligence past. This heart wrenching story takes a deep dive into the realities of war and the impact it has on families. After three decades of Covert Intelligence Operations, Chief is faced with a life altering decision: Does he share his past life with his new wife? Or should he keep her in the dark, risking feelings of hurt and betrayal? This voice on the phone reminiscent of an enemy from his past, propels Chief into a downward spiral to an epiphany that changes his life. Please don't call me Hero will bring you inside the heads and the hearts of America's Veterans as they return from a 20 year Global War on terror and the trials they face as they attempt to come home and acclimate into a society they no longer fit into. This is the compelling story of what families of our Veterans have to deal with and the consequences of going to war!
Just the mention of St. Andrews stirs excitement in the heart of every golfer. But to young Angus MacKay, living in the Swilken Bank Hotel, overlooking the eighteenth hole of St. Andrews Old Course was not particularly awe inducing. But it was, an adventure. Dont Call Me Angus is a mixture of fiction and memoir that recounts the story of a Scottish family during the 1960s and 1970s. In this pleasant and amusing collection of tales, author Gus Mackenzie writes of the emotions and moderate dramas generated by years of telling and retelling family tales. With beautifully descriptive narratives tinged with an ever-present humorous wink and a nod, the adventures begin with the MacKay family; Angus, the youngest son, his brother, sister, parents, and assorted relatives who live in and manage the Swilken Bank Hotel. Despite encounters with Bing Crosby, Sean Connery, Tony Jacklin, and Christopher Lee, Anguss real adventures stemmed from the fire in room 9 and eventful trips to his grandmothers house in Kirkcaldy. Layered with light hearted insight, Angus delves into the posh and unique life of the family Mackay as they live in the shadow of the iconic St. Andrews.
This biography tells the true story of one of history's forgotten women, a Englishwoman named Alice Seeley Harris who has also been called the Mother of Human Rights. She has been hidden by her husband's shadow since she started her African journey near the end of the Victorian era, but now her story is brought to light by author Judy Pollard Smith in Don't Call Me Lady: The Journey of Lady Alice Seeley Harris. Armed with her Bible, zeal, and a camera, Harris arrived in the steaming African jungle of Congo and documented the worst atrocities known to humanity. She captured enough evidence on her glass lantern slides to bring down the Belgian King Leopold, who ruled the colony of the Congo Free State. In this biography, Smith uses imagined conversations based on in-depth research to tell Harris's story of her work. She also provides questions that allow her book to be used in classes or discussion groups. The world gave credit to the men in this story, but Smith provides evidence that it was the young, English missionary and photographer whose bravery truly changed history.
