The Book Thread

[ChesshireCat]

Just finished "Until They Are Home" by Thomas T. Smith.

A personal memoir written by the Commander of the MIA search teams in Vietnam during 2003-04. The book highlights the search teams' dedication, devotion, and expertise. It includes numerous insights of Vietnamese culture and negotiations with the Vietnamese. The book also touches on political currents, repatriation ceremonies, and operations in adjacent countries. I was surprised to see the lengths that JPAC and it's predecessors go through to investigate and attempt to recover the unaccounted. Simply extraordinary.

Good book but at 126 pages it was too short.

Jim S

I recommend you also read "Code Named Brightlight" by George Vieth. John Plaster's book "SOG" also parallels much of the discussion in the Brightlight book. These will also lead you into the title "The Raid", but actually expand upon it.

gary

[ChesshireCat]

started reading the book "Shadow Flights" by Curtis Peebles. Covers the recon flights post WWII thru the U-2 era. I'm now into the development of CL-282 design in mid 1954.

gary

[Jim S]

I recommend you also read "Code Named Brightlight" by George Vieth. John Plaster's book "SOG" also parallels much of the discussion in the Brightlight book. These will also lead you into the title "The Raid", but actually expand upon it.

gary

Thank you for the recommendations ChessireCat.

[Helidriver]

Just finished the book I mentioned earlier, Long Coast. (Lang Kyst in Norwegian).

I grew up in the northern part of Norway, and I'm familiar with many of the places and boats, and even some of the people....but holy sh..t!!

Norway was at the time of WWII a fairly poor country. Especially up north the local boats and shipping was absolutely essential in keeping people and animals fed, and in keeping the economy going.

Then in April 1940 come the Germans. The needs of the local communities didn't stop "just" because of the invasion, so shipping was still essential. However now some of the boats were taken over by the Germans. If you were a seaman and tried to get away from such duty the punishment could be death.

So imagine this situation:

You continue as a skipper, deckhand etc doing your job much like you did before the war. Only now if you decide to leave the profession the Germans will hunt you down and put you right back to work...or arrest you, and might even execute you. If you are sailing from the middle part of Norway and south, chances are you will be attacked by English or Norwegian (!!!) MTBs, submarines or aircraft. Plenty of smaller ships and even fishing vessels were attacked by the allies. A lot of the survivors state that often the lifeboats were shot up after or during the sinking. If you were sailing up north it was English submarines, as well as the russians with their subs and aircraft that would attack. And all over there were mines, laid by all parties...Germans, Russians and English. And to top this off, if you didn't follow strict rules and guidelines, the Germans would attack, with boats, aircraft and coastal guns.

In the middle of all this, these men and women continued their jobs, and carried clandestine agents, illegal letters and packages as well as agents up and down the coast.

AFTER the war, the story of the Norwegian shipping serving the Allies on the North Atlantic (mostly) with their cargo ships and tankers got a lot of attention, and rightly so.

The guys doing the job back home in Norway were mostly, if mentioned at all, accused of working for the enemy.

One captain that had his ship sunk 3 times by aircraft, simply stated that at least the crews on the Atlantic didn't have to worry about being sunk by their own.

Incredible story, that needs a lot more attention, at least back home in Norway.

Ken

[Liberator24]

OML this is embarrassing but my Mom got them for me for Christamas and they were actually good....

Duck Dynasty: Phil Robertson

Si-cology 1

So embarrassing...BUT....

Got an autograph copy of Oliver North's book on the injured soldiers...AWESOME!!!!!!

and read 20000 leagues by Verne, cause I cant get my daughter to read for school.

Now I am on the Jim Henson Biography...

No other military books as of yet.

-Jim

[Tailspin Turtle]

http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2013/12/crossing-line.html

[Just4kiks]

To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

[11bee]

Just received word from Amazon that Osprey's "F-111 / EF-111 Units in Combat" (new title) has shipped and should have it by Friday. Looking forward to this one, always liked the 'Vark.

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/F-111-and-EF-111-Units-in-Combat_9781782003472

[Jim S]

A Dawn Like Thunder by Robert J. Mrazek

Fact filled account of Torpedo Squadron 8 from the early days of WWII under the command of John Waldron to disestablishment in late 1942.

Really good book. The book covers training on the East Coast, shipping out on the USS Hornet, time in Hawaii and on Midway. A large portion of the book was

also devoted to VT-8's time on Guadalcanal, first flying in support of the Marine Landings and finally alongside the Marines defending Henderson when they had

no serviceable aircraft.

The author also provides an extensive epilogue and two Appendices.

[Ishthe47guy]

Holy thread revival, Batman... I read a book a few months ago that my teenage daughter, who is really showing an interest in engineering, recommended to me that I'm sure a lot of ARC,'er will like. It's "The Martian: A Novel", by Andy Weir. Brief plot synopsis, one of the crew of the first manned landing on Mars gets accidentally left behind during an emergency, and the book chronicles his existence. What really got my is how FUNNY this book is. The protagonist is very much a clever wise fool. Best thing I can tell ya is read the reviews on Amazon.

Also, appropriately enough as I sit here in the lounge at Frankfort airport as I make my way back to Dallas, just downloaded the recent Detail and Scale e-book on the F9F. I've been out of the modeling loop for a few months, and was pleasantly surprised to see a new D&S title. I'm sure I'll read it covere to cover since its a 10 hour flight.

Any Brad Thor fans out there? Just got "Act of War". Read the Kindle sample, and purposely waited till I started my vacation to read it.

[Quiddy]

Over the last several months I have read In All Things First No. 1 Squadron at War 1939-1945, and Harrier.

[hawkwrench]

I'm reading the bible !

Nuff said!

Tim

[jfmajor60]

'Dog Company' and 'We Were One' both by Patrick K. O'Donnell

[nachjager]

The Extinction Machine by Jonathan Maberry and The Killing Floor by Craig DiLouie - US Army fights zombies and mutations to retake Washington DC (in real life Washington DC was lost since 4 years ago...)

Edited August 3, 2014 by nachjager

[Crazy Snap Captain]

Now reading 3PARA by Patrick Bishop. Cracking book.

[DutyCat]

Currently reading:

"History of WWII-Armed Services Memorial Edition." It was released right after the war. It is interesting, but tough to get through as it has a chapter on every significant military/political event of the war.

"The Strain." Vampire tie in the the new series on FX. Pretty good so far if you are into horror fiction at all.

[11bee]

George Washington's Surprise Attack - A New Look at the Battle that Decided the Fate of America

I'm really enjoying books about this time period. This one is the latest. Fascinating read, it debunks a lot of previous history about the Battle of Trenton. Most US kids are taught that Washington crossed the Delaware and easily took the Hessian brigade because they were still drunk from celebrating X-mas. That was not the case at all.

Pretty ballsy move on Washington's part, he was pretty much beaten by the Brits and threw all of his remaining resources into a final surprise attack, that if he lost, would have ended the rebellion.

Only issue is that the book is a bit tedious, I find the author to be somewhat repetitive at times, probably could have used a bit more proof-reading prior to publication.

One more gripe. The book doesn't have a single decent map!!! I can't understand how someone can write a book about a historical battle and not include a single map of the engagement. Heck, I'd pay more to have a full size map enclosed in the book so I can lay it out and follow the battle in closer detail.

Regardless of the above, I still highly recommend it.

Also reading - America's Secret MiG Squadron, the story behind Constant Peg. I'm about halfway through. It's an OK read on an interesting subject but it seems that the Author is spending more time name dropping than going into details of the program. We'll see how it turns out. I'm hoping it sheds some details on the death of USAF General Bobby Bond who reported visited the unit just prior to his retirement, demanded a quick check-out on a MiG-23 and then ended up killing himself due to unfamiliarity with a challenging, highly complex aircraft. The entire sad affair was kept classified for a long time.

Edited August 3, 2014 by 11bee

[jager]

Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. Very early days of our SF in Afganistan. Good read.

Jager

[Harrier/Viper Fan]

I have been reading:

Robert Fabbi: Vespasian series which is about a roman on his climb in the social ladder

Simon Scarrow: Eagle series about Cato and Macro 2 centurions in the Roman army.

Very good reads I have not been able to stop, mind I have been reading them over the last 2 years as they are a lot of them. But then any good books on Ancient romans and I read it just these are best I read so far.

[Rick in Maine]

Fobbit by Abrams. Fiction

Turned out to be something like Catch-22, but in the latest Iraq conflict. Built around a PAO at a FOB in Baghdad. Some funny parts, some very poignant. Oh...and lots less aviation than Catch-22! Sometimes very critical of the US involvement in Iraq.

Rick in Maine

[11bee]

Fobbit by Abrams. Fiction

Turned out to be something like Catch-22, but in the latest Iraq conflict. Built around a PAO at a FOB in Baghdad. Some funny parts, some very poignant. Oh...and lots less aviation than Catch-22! Sometimes very critical of the US involvement in Iraq.

Rick in Maine

If you want to read something similar, check out "My War - Killing Time in Iraq" by Colby Buzzell. Cynical, humorous, grunts-eye view of OIF.

[Exhausted]

So far I read Harriers in OEF, Harriers in Desert Storm, and I'm working on OIF. Osprey titles btw.

[vvac201]

FAAO 7110.65, FAAO 7110.10, AIM, ugh....

[White Wolf]

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden by "Mark Owen"

Really interesting read, but I wonder if it was okay to publicly release a book containing so much information.

[11bee]

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden by "Mark Owen"

Really interesting read, but I wonder if it was okay to publicly release a book containing so much information.

There is some discussion about how accurate this book is, I'd take the info presented with a grain of salt.

That being said, I think these days the first thing a SEAL does after getting out of the service is to write a book. Book stores should set up a new section "SEAL Stuff" just for all the books that have come out.