1 comments about Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke, America's Rogue Ace of World War I.

1. Blaine Pardoe does a credible job telling the story of WW I Ace, Frank Luke, Jr. New information about his fiancé is interesting, but he spends too much time trying to refute other writer's claims about this Ace from Arizona's ultimate demise.
   
   The book moved along at a novel-like pace, but if it goes to a re-print, needs more careful editing. I found so many sentences with structure problems; enough to give an English teacher heartburn. Subject-predicate and pronoun problems abound. This detracted from a great story.
   
   I also disagree with his underlying assumption that Luke didn't have PTSD, which was so apparent with other Aces at the front, including Luke. Pardoe mentions some of Luke's personal problems, while glossing over others.
   
   I also found his attempt to lower Luke's number of "kills," even with data to the contrary. Let's face it, Luke doesn't need to have his reputation rehabilitated like that of Billy Bishop, the controversial Canadian Ace who's "kill" record is more than he's entitled to. Bishop was a known liar, who inflated his "kill rate" and his morals and ethics are still hotly defended/debated to this day.
   
   The Pardoe book is a great read, but needs some serious editing.

5 comments about Baa Baa Black Sheep.

1. My family and I enjoyed this show so much that my wife actually started clapping at the end of one episode! She didn't even realize it! I watched this show as a young boy and loved it. We really hope that the second season is put out on DVD!!!



2. I was deeply touched by Pappy Boyington's thoughtful and apparently honest insights about himself in this book. Especially interesting was his descriptive telling of the 20 months he spent as a secret prisoner of the Japanese. His appreciation of cultural difference seems ahead of his time. His very human flaws made the book even more interesting to me. From the difficult upbringing he had, I can appreciate what he was to accomplish in his life (flaws and all).



3. The autobiography of one of America's top five aerial combat aces of World War II, Greg Boyington, is not only a great read about a very gifted and very human pilot, but also provides some enlightening historical insight that applies even today.



4. PIPPY PAPPY SLIPPY SLAPPY DIS WAS A GOODY WOODY BOOKY WOOKY. PAPPY WAPYPY SLIPPY SLAPPY
   SQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH SQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHIM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHSQUISH SQUASH SQUISH SQUASH IM TAKEN A WASHIM TAKEN A WASH



5. I came to this book believing that "Pappy" Boyington was a pugnacious drunken spendthrift that the Marine Corps was anxious to be rid of, and that he may not have been the leading Marine Corps ace of World War II as he was thought to be. From what I had read, Boyington spent most of his time on the ground as a member of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as "The Flying Tigers," and was only credited with shooting down 3 ½ Japanese planes (although he claimed six). I also understood that Boyington left the AVG early and was the only man ever dishonorably discharged from that organization. In addition, I questioned his account of the final action in which he was shot down, another unseen action in which he claimed two more enemy planes.
   
   After reading this book, however, I'm not quite so sure. In it, Boyington readily admits that he was a "drunk" and a "bum," and he allows as how he liked to wrestle a bit. As to his claim of six enemy planes while with the AVG, his explanation is easily believable. As he explains it: In order to get credit for a kill with the AVG you almost had to bring your victim back to the landing field in your teeth and drop it where everyone could see it, whereas the majority of his kills had been 75 to 100 miles away, most times behind enemy lines. In addition, and most likely with some merit, he states that the records of his actions at Rangoon were lost when that city fell to the Japanese. With regard to his being "dishonorably discharged" from the AVG, Boyington acknowledges that he left shortly before the remaining volunteers were forced/coerced into the Army Air Corps as 2nd lieutenants. But once again his explanation rings true. Boyington correctly states that he wasn't the only member of the AVG to leave the group, that the reason he left was because he wanted to return to the Marine Corps rather than be conscripted into the Army, and that it was ridiculous to claim that you could "dishonorably discharge" someone from a civilian volunteer organization. As to his account of his final, once again unseen action, Boyington's account is so vivid as to be easily believable.
   
   Having read a number of books which touched upon the life and times of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington before reading this one, I had already formed a somewhat negative impression of the man. After reading this book, however, I have concluded that it is one thing to view a man from the outside, especially from a distance in time, recounting his every fault and failure, but it is quite another thing to view that same man from the inside looking out.
   
   So, although much about Boyington is and will always remain a mystery, he certainly was an American hero and he certainly could tell an interesting, believable, and highly entertaining tale. And this is one of them. But don't stop reading too early. You certainly won't want to miss the chapters in which he recounts his nineteen months as a "captive" of the Japanese. To me, that's the best part of the book. Six stars anyone?

No comments about The Hero.

5 comments about Memoirs (Penguin Classics).

1. Sherman is (perhaps arguably) the most articulate and intelligent autobiographer (and biographer) of the Civil War period. Yes, he was controversial, but that, in great part, came from the times, and the period politics, and later from the political agendas of modern politically correct historians/writers. The overriding elements in Sherman's autobiography are the matter-of-factness and the fairness with which he describes events and people in his life. With much the same exquisite Dignity as U. S. Grant in his memoiors, Sherman speaks to the reader with a clarity and honesty no decent person can help but admire. He is painstaking in relating military associations - sometimes wearily so. But his thorough and candid descriptions of events, people and places still present themselves in an entertaining manner time and time again. For the reader mature enough to accept those times without tainted sanctimonious judgement, Sherman's memoirs will be a fascinating and enlightening glimpse of the people and the soul of our country during one of our most trying eras.



2. INTERESTING TO READ "SHERMANS" SIDE OF THE STORY !! GOOD READ IN CONJUCTION WITH "CITIZEN SHERMAN" BY MICHAEL FELLMAN !!!



3. General William T. Sherman's memoirs, first published in 1875, are primarily an account of his service in uniform during the Civil War. Sherman rallied to the Union colors early in the conflict, but had indifferent success until the searing crucible of the Battle of Shiloh, where he fought under the command of the stalwart U.S. Grant. Shiloh was a turning point. With increasing confidence as a leader, Sherman played key roles in the siege of Vicksburg and in the relief of beseiged Union forces at Chattanooga. When Grant was called east to head up all Union forces, he hand-picked Sherman as his successor in the West. Sherman would go on to take Atlanta, march to the sea at Savannah, and pillage his way through the Carolinas to hasten the end of the war.
   
   Sherman the man, and his memoirs, stand in vivid contrast to his contemporary and close friend U.S. Grant. Where Grant was modest and reserved, Sherman comes across as all nervous energy, talking up a storm and hardly able to sit still doing it. His memoirs are reflective of his personality, passionate and argumentative in between inserted copies of key correspondence. While less polished than Grant's, they are in many ways more entertaining and certainly more revealing of Sherman's feelings and personality.
   
   Sherman expresses an opinion on practically everything. His battles with newspaper reporters, whom he despised, date from an alleged nervious breakdown in the first year of the war. His exchange of correspondence with Confederate General John Hood over the forced evacuation of Atlanta, are a malstrom in miniature of the passions behind the war itself. Sherman is more than frank about the politics within the Union Army, and its sometimes troubled relations with civilian authority. Above all, Sherman recognized the cruelty of the war, and was unwilling to sugarcoat that reality for anyone. Sherman and Grant each understood the grim arithmetic that the Confederate Armies must be bled to death in order for the Confederacy to be defeated and were prepared to carry out that strategy.
   
   This book is highly recommended to students of the Civil War, who will find Sherman to be an instructive and even at times entertaining guide through those portions that he personally experienced.



4. Clearly historians and civil war buffs will acknowledge the brilliance of this memoir for its obvious window into the mind of this most important figure of his time.
   I didn't come to this as either one of the former,but as a reader interested in understanding how this man accomplished the most decisive strokes in the war with such skill.
   The greatness of book lies not so much in its explanation of military strategy(which it is) but the powerful definition of the principles of freedom as expressed through a common foot soldier.
   Sherman understood that no elitist and patrician society could stand however strong there reputation ,against a soldier who fought for this principle.
   I found it inciteful that Shermans experience in the prewar south,and his views of its imbalanced society, became more valuable in breaking it than his geographical knowledge.
   That Lincoln approved Shermans plan to march through the heart of the confedreacy at the disapproval of all his advisors shows his wisdom to Shermans argument that the south was a shell,and hollow inside.
   Grants reluctance to this plan,which he approved only out of his loyalty to Sherman, is poignant to read.Grant thought he'd never see his best friend again.
   The genius of Sherman was his utter conviction in the goodness of men to destroy that which was evil,knowing that when his men saw not the soldiery of the south,but its hideous society,he needn't do more to motivate them.
   The miserable condition of slavery was known,but the site of 90 percent of a white population virtually no better off provided Sherman with a civilian population unable and unwilling to resist.Noone but Sherman thought this important,and that his diary records this as a current fact and not analysis years later is powerful reading.
   Defeating the confedracy on this march with no major battles and losing but 100 men of his 62,000, told the south, as well as the north the myth of southern military advantage.
   Sherman became so feared ,Southern commanders as well as thier soldiers fled before him,offering almost no opposition.
   Shermans Army of the West,recruited and trained by him,became the most feared army in the world,for it fought under the true belief of a free people against real evil.
   His own words to that effect are awe inspiring.



5. I just finished reading this book (from the library, a 19th century edition) and came to search for other books. There are modern histories, but reading the original memoirs is very satisfying. The book by Julius Ceasar of the Gallic wars comes to mind. Sherman is a clear and satisfying writer. He does remind me of Ceasar in his matter of fact recollections.
   
   I enjoyed the section on the taking of California during the Mexican war. Talking about hundreds of ships abandoned in Yerba Buena (to become San Francisco) due to the desertion of all the crews was interesting.
   
   The period between California and Louisiana and secession is less interesting, but he was preparing a memoir of his life.
   
   The war is what everyone will be looking for, and specifically the March to the Sea. The advance down from Tennessee to Atlanta is more militarily interesting. After the fall of Atlanta the battle was all logistics. Could such a large army separate from it's supply lines? According to W.T. Sherman this was all his idea and he documents it exhaustively. Presumeably this was due to disparagements of his leadership in the decades after the war and the presidency of Johnson.
   
   The extensive documentation of lines of battle and effective strength and copies of tremendous amounts of coorespondence can be tedious, but are easily scanned for what is of interest or skipped altogether.
   
   Great read, interesting book. Tecumseh Sherman is one of my heroes.

5 comments about The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage through.

1. Well written, and an eye opening account of the Somalia debaucle; an asset to Blackhawk Down and the ingedients necessay to became an Army Ranger.



2. A couple years ago, I checked this book out from the library and read it for the first time. Right there, it became one of my favorite military books, alongside Entebbe (Iddo Netanyahu) and Zvi (Elwood McQuaid). Although I didn't see Blackhawk Down until just recently (and that being an edited, more family-friendly version), Cpt. Streucker describes the battle very well, not just the physical aspects, but also the more important spiritual and moral aspects, which the film failed to touch on. I highly recommend this book; it's an inspiring read that will strengthen your faith.



3. Jeff is a proven leader and his story is one that will impact multitudes. Thanks for your courage. -A US Navy Chaplain



4. Fantastic! Jeff Struecker's personal testimony touches the heart and shows man's utter need for Christ in our lives. Themes such as courage, faith, loyalty and death are ingrained into your mind while reading Captain's Struecker's vivid recollection of events such as the Black Hawck down incident in Somalia, the Panama invasion, and his time as an elite U.S. Ranger. Jeff is truly an inspiration. I have bought a half dozen copies of this book for friends and family.



5. This book was in excellent condition exactly as described. Shipping time arrived as expected.

5 comments about Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters.

1. I think Lee would have liked this book. Remember, Robert E. Lee was a devout Christian. According to Lee's Bible, Jesus Christ said that nobody is "good" but God. Lee was a humble man, and all his life he tried to learn from his own mistakes, his father's, those of others'. That's to say, yes, Robert E. Lee did make mistakes on occasion. And so, I'd bet the one most opposed to the "Marble Man" myth would be Lee himself. I liked this book.



2. Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870) has won immortal fame among the great military captains of all time. Thousands of articles and books have been written about him. His most notable biographer is Douglas Southall Freeman's adulatory multivolumed work by a Lee worshipper. In recent years several revisionary works have appeared by the likes of Alan Nolan
   who have castigated Lee for his white supremacist views Now it is the turn of Elizabeth Brown Pryor.
   Pryor has sifted through over 10,000 pages of letters from Lee, his wife Mary and the Lee family. She has almost 200 densely written pages in her book listing first and secondary sources. She has done her homework!
   Pryor has produced what is, in my opinion, a great book on the great Virginian. We see Lee as a great and good man but one who was not perfect. Pryor begins each chapter with a letter from Lee or family memory and then illuminates how that letter became an important mirror into the life of the Confederate hero.
   We see Lee as a brave man who defended his beloved South against the North. Among salient points we learn:
   a. Lee was a white supremecist who had trouble controlling the slaves on the Arlington estate he inherited from Washington Park Custis (Custis was the father of Lee's wife Mary and the grandson of George Washington_).
   b. Lee could harsh in his treatment of slaves. Several slaves ran away from Arlington. He was not adverse to having them whipped for infractions
   of his strict rules. There are reports that Lee was also kind to slaves.
   He was a racist and believed the white race was superior to the African-Americans with whom he interacted. In this belief he was consistent with the widely held belief of the vast majority of nineteenth century Americans.
   c. Lee was a great general as manifest in the brilliant Chancellorsville campaign but had trouble in supervision of his subordinates. Lee also kept inadequate leaders in positions of leadership in the Army of Northern Virginia who should have been replaced.
   d. Lee was Virginia-centric. Lee believed in states rights.
   e. Lee was an elitist who thought upper class white males should be the leaders of society.
   f. Lee was frustrated by his antebellum army career as a member of the engineering corp. He suffered from depression and had a violent temper.
   g. Lee was a good and faithful husband to his invalid wife Mary. The Lees had several children. He was an absentee father due to his military career.
   h. Lee hated the years he spent as supt. of West Point. Following the Civil War he became President of Washington College in Lexington Va. bust disliked the work
   i. Lee was often perceived as aloof and cold. Lee was able to unwind with famiily and close friends.
   j. Lee's ideas on religion varied throughout his life from a mild Deism to evangelical belief in his later years. He was an Episcopalian.
   Not everyone will like this biography of a Southern icon without peer who has been elevated to the ranks of Dixie sainthood along with Elvis!
   As one who has read all the important biographies of Lee I consider this book an essential in understanding the great but enigmatic man. Pryor's book will engender controversy but is a vital read for anyone wanting a good understanding of Lee that does not portray him as a Lost Cause saint.
   Essential and excellent!



3. "There is indeed a certain childish willfulness in the American mind that insists on chastising the people of the past for not being like them, or else pretending that they were. Which is a certain way NOT to learn anything from history." ---Dr. Clyde Wilson
   
   Put it this way - if you are the type of person Dr. Wilson is describing, you're going to love this book! If not, you'll be wishing you had paid for it in Confederate bills instead of U.S. dollars.
   
   The book itself contains roughly 175 pages of footnotes, bibliography and index. There are 50 pages of actual letters, some of which have already been published and others of which are not even by Lee, but by other people. If you're planning on seeing 500 pages of newly discovered letters, forget it. The fewer than 50 pages of new letters by Lee himself will leave you grossly disappointed. Finally, we have 425 pages of Ms. Pryor's perseverative and monotonous interpretations of those letters, which I suppose is the "meat" of the book.
   
   According to Ms. Pryor, Lee did not release the Custis slaves immediately. The terms of the will specified "within 5 years" of the elder Custis' death (in 1857). Lee fulfilled that mandate by manumitting them in 1862. This apparently wasn't satisfactory enough for Ms. Pryor as she repeatedly drones on about Lee's failure to understand how the slaves felt.
   
   Ms. Pryor is also critical of Lee for expecting the slaves to actually work!? Oh horror! Oh horror!
   
   Of course, there is the matter of several slaves being whipped by Lee, something which has never been conclusively proven. Like a second rate shyster, Ms. Brown does her best to drum up the case against him.
   
   According to Ms. Pryor, Lee had no appreciation of other cultures and saw nothing worthwhile in the Mexican culture when he was there during the Mexican war. I'm wondering what Pryor expected Lee, an educated, well-to-do man from one of Virginia's first families, to say when he was in Mexico? "Gee! What lovely mud huts!?" I'm pretty sure that Mexico didn't have Grand Melia and Paradisus or any other resorts at that time, so I can't figure out what Ms. Pryor expected him to see in the place? I suppose to understand her reasoning, or her expectations, one would have to refer back to Dr. Wilson's quote above.
   
   Also, according to Ms. Pryor, Lee had "poor cross cultural communications skills", a term apparently taken from today's lexicon of multicultural drivel. In this case she was referring to his "communication", or lack of it, with the Comanches. I ran this past a native American friend of mine and he almost fell over laughing. I'm not sure there were too many folks at the time who had good cross cultural communication skills with the Comanches of that era, as this particular group wasn't usually given to such things themselves. Would that it were possible to transport Ms. Pryor back in time to the 1850s and observe how her "skills" with the Comanches would fare? I would be taking bets on how long she kept her pretty blond hair.
   
   In sum, this book, touted though it is by most "contemporary" historians, is one more example of the sham that has become what we used to call, "the field of history".
   
   If you feel compelled somehow to read it, buy it used and pay as little as possible. When you're through with it, it will make for an excellent target at the firing range.



4. Historian Elizabeth Brown Pryor has based her biography of Robert E. Lee on a huge collection of Lee family letters so that the reader sees Lee through his own words in repsonse to life situations. He comes through as a very complex person with a largely conflicted life. Lee of course was primariy a soldier (at one point he had been superintendent of West Point) and while Lincoln offered him the leadership of the Union army he followed his Southern background and in a few short weeks sided with the Confederacy. In this book we also see Lee as a husband and father. One example of Pryor's insight shows the reaction of Lee and his wife to the Union army taking over their Arlington estate which had been in his wife's family and their recognition that the house had been looted, and as the war progressed their land turned into a military cemetary for both Union and Confederate dead. Pryor says that that incident made the break complete and left the Lees embittered for the rest of their lives.
   This is a fine study of the man based on his own words and is a valuable addition to Civil War history. I would agree that Reading the Man will beocme a standard reference on Robert E. Lee.



5. When I first heard of this book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Now that I am finished reading it, I wish I would have spent my money elsewhere. Although this revisionist history does provide some compelling and dramatic insights into Lee as a person, the author is clearly no fan of Lee or his legacy. I found myself wondering if Elizabeth Brown Pryor had any sympathy for Lee "the man" whatsoever. The concept of the book is very good, but the writer's analysis is shallow in many areas. She breezes over several significant events in Lee's life and Civil War career, yet makes it a point to showcase Lee's "racism" throughout many chapters. She uses a surprisingly narrow scope of primary documents. The writing style in some passages is mediocre at best. If you want a book about Robert E. Lee that a Left wing Liberal could love, then this may be the book for you. If you want a true portrait of the man, I would recommend you look elsewhere.

5 comments about One Soldier's War.

1. Lots of stories about Russians soldiers stealing, scrounging for food and brutalizing each other while at the same time accepting that their fate is to die at anytime at the hands of the Chechen rebels. Little about the overall story in Chechnya (1st or 2nd war). But it's quite clear throughout that the Russian soldiers are absolutely terrified of "the Chechens." Although I might be sympethic, this book makes the regular Russian army look pretty bad...
   
   This book could have been very good had a different approach been taken to its purpose and construction.



2. I have been going back and forth to Russia on a regular basis for the last 13 years. I have had the fortune to make the aquaintance of many ex and active Russian soldiers in my wanderings of the regions there. I find this book to be one of extreme exaggeration and an over dramatic amature attempt to shock the reader into a kind of unthinking, stupified, state of horror. While some things are accurate in the big picture such as the conscription of new recruits, the "on the job" training style, atrocities commited by both sides, for the most part this book is making a "grain of sand into a beach". That is a quote of my friend who fought in both Chechen wars. If you want a good but inaccurate, unprofessional biography of someones experience there, this is the book for you. If you want a more, this is not the one. Worst 20 bucks I ever spent, and I'll mark it down to propaganda.



3. It is just a coincidence that I finished reading this sad and terrifying book while at the same day news tell us:
   
   "MOSCOW -- Missiles, tanks and other heavy weaponry rolled through Moscow's Red Square in the annual Victory Day parade Friday. President Dmitry Medvedev said "the true purpose of weapons and military equipment is to give reliable defence of the homeland....We must treat very seriously any attempt to sow racial or religious enmity, foment the ideology of terror and extremism or meddle with other states, particularly any attempt to revise boundaries"
   About three million Second World War veterans are still alive, their pensions are small and many live in poor conditions... Mr. Medvedev's first decree after taking office was to order that all Second World War veterans receive housing by 2010."
   
   So here we have it, full hypocrisy and how it is to be the soldier. "All Quiet on the Western Front" comes to my mind, because "One Soldier's War" is as much terribly shocking, candid, and will testify forever about nonsense of wars, espceially wars against insurgencies and ethnic nations seeking independence.
   Just consider this excerpt, young soldiers' line of thinking:
   "...It would be realy cool if they led Yeltsin and Dundayev out onto the landing strip and let them get struck into each other. Te one who cripples the other wins. We stand around and cheer them on: we cheer our guy and the Chechens cheer theirs. And no war, no corpses. That would be much simpler and more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting."
   
   This statement is a pure gold essence, like the whole book, showing how armies serve to fulfill agendas of leaders, politicians and presidents.
   "One Soldier's War" is a must read, it took my breath away from me.. Deeply personal, and well translated, it shows total and terrible demoralization of Russian soldiers during the wars in Chechnya. Although you will not read a lot about merciless fighting and horror of it (this is quite obvious and vivid background of the book), the bulk of the text presents what was happening to the conscripts within their units, death stalking them almost with the same intensity as on the battlefields. Ramifications of such wars are immense and summarized with passion Babchenko. Total disarray of Russian army reflects for sure the state of Russia after USSR collapse in 1991, no doubt. But is it better now? I am not sure.



4. This is a grisly account of the two Chechen wars (1990s and to this day) Mostly this is an account of how the Red Army fights, but there is ample insight into the religious nature of the conflict. The stories of the brutality among fellow members of the Army is astonishing, even among the oficers. The treatment of Russian prisoners, young soldiers utterly unprepared to fight a war, by the Muslim Chechen warriors, is equally astonishing. This was complete savagery. The Red Army has not learned from WW II; they're still just throwing people at the adversary and they're not so amply supplied with bodies anymore. The book is a series of independent vignettes and not in time order, nor clustered together by subject. It is a reporter's notebook.



5. Wow ----- never thought I would be caught up in a book until 1:30 a.m. This is an account that I will never forget. It allows a non-military person a rare look into the workings of what must be one of the most brutal military organizations in the world. The hardships are probably overcome by fear, love of mother Russia, and personal comradeship. Certainly there should be no loyalty to such a corrupt organization. A remarkable account. This book should be read by anyone with an interest in military issues or contemporary Russia. The style of writing is objective, not editorial. Young Arklady Babchenko simply tells it as it happened. Many thanks to Nick Allen for bringing this to the English-speaking world.

5 comments about The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea.

1. I first read, "The Coldest War" when I was in the military myself.
   
   My training and duty seemed hard and long to me, but compared to what the guys in the Korean War went through, it was a cake walk.
   
   This book reads smoothly, transitioning from his training to his war time in Korea. There are several pictures of his family, himself at home and in battle, letting you really get a feel for what your reading.
   
   Good book..



2. The author recounts his time in Korea where he served as a Marine rifle platoon leader during the "Forgotten War". A very intriguing narrative about a war which claimed in 3 years almost as many American lives as the Vietnam war did in ten years.



3. I found this book to a fine novel of the Korean War.Written from the perspective of a young Marine Lt.It had grit and also some light moments.I recommend it.



4. I served in Korea with 3/7, USMC from Nov 1951 to Nov 1952.
   This was a vivid reminder of that cold inhospitable place. The authot invoked many memories and for a moment I felt the bone numbing cold even in my warm home.
   Although Brady was an officer and I an enlistem man we share the honor of being awarded the Title Unites States Marine.
   Every Marine will appreciate this book



5. In "The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea," author James Brady vividly describes what it was like to be a junior officer in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Brady notes the irony of his decision to sign up for a Marine Corps officer training program: "I'd joined up to dodge the draft and ended up being sent to war." He gives many insights into the positions he held: platoon leader, company executive officer, and battalion intelligence officer. His narrative also illuminates the culture and organization of the U.S. Marine Corps.
   
   Brady's story is rich in details of life in the Korean war zone. He discusses food, clothing, recreation, relationships among the Marines, and encounters with Korean civilians. The text is also full of fascinating technical details about the tactics and hardware of war; I was particularly interested in his passages about the mortarman's deadly art and the usefulness of the Browning Automatic Rifle. Brady makes the story come to life with his evocative descriptions of sounds of different weapons, the sizzle of hot brass hitting the snow, and other realities of wartime. He doesn't shy away from discussing the real down-and-dirty details of his service. He vividly describes the personal hygiene aspect of front-line duty; I found a dry humor to his graphic discourse on one of the unpleasant side effects of not bathing for a long time.
   
   Brady's story includes vivid anecdotes about revelry at a British officers' mess, a visit to the relative luxury of a hospital ship, and more. He also recalls the punishingly cold weather, and includes some gripping accounts of combat. He presents the violence, death, and destruction of war without flinching. The text is enhanced by several black-and-white photos showing Brady, his fellow Marines, and the environment in which they lived and fought. The Korean conflict has been called a "forgotten war"; this makes Brady's thoughtful, well-written personal account even more valuable. It's both an important historical document and a powerful piece of literature.

5 comments about A Table in the Presence.

1. You don't need to fully understand the military to understand and feel the power of this book. Lt. Cash, a chaplain serving with the Marines in Iraq, writes in an easy to read style. His words aren't always easy to read, but they are full of the power of God and the enormity of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I never realized the military was such a spiritual place--yet another reason to continually support our military! I was overwhelmed reading Cash's retelling of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment's initial push into Baghdad and all the miracles that surrounded the horror of that night. It was like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time: How could you not believe in God? After reading this book and the Marine's who experienced God's continual protection, He too is "always faithful," just like a Marine.



2. A Table in the Presence is a very good book. It is about how God still has a presence even in the chaos of the war in Iraq. The Marine who is telling the story is LT. Carey H. Cash, a Chaplain in the United States Marine Corps. He gives accounts of the trials and hardships that Marines encounter physically and spiritually. One of the main points in the book is how God seeks out the souls of the Marines even in the darkest and loneliest places of the world. Almost every one of the Marines in LT. Cashes unit experienced the protection and love that God offers for those who seek Him. Some stories are so amazing that you will just have to read them for yourself. A Table in the Presence is a very good read and will truly show you the power and deity of God. Buy this book!



3. A Table in the Presence: The Dramatic Account of How a U.S. Marine Battalion Experienced God's Presence in Iraq
   
   I was so blessed to have had red this book. We do not see God work in such dramatic ways in the US. I believe are so blessed we think we do not need God and rely on ourselves. My faith was increased and I have purchased 4 other copies to give to family and friends.
   
   Carol Savorn



4. Very good book with a look at what it is like in Iraq. If your loved one is being deployed this is a good book to read. It is a view through a chaplin's eyes.



5. An inspiring journey through war and back with one of the U.S. Navy's Chaplains assigned to the Fleet Marine Force (1/5, 1st MARDIV). Cash takes us from his initial call to ordained ministry, through seminary to his reporting for duty aboard 1/5. Especially fascinating is Cash's discovery of the sacraments (he is Southern Baptist) as essential to the Christian's life. The tales of heart ache and of thankfulness for God's abundent grace make this a great read. It certianly made me more aware of the the wonderful work of US Navy chaplains, particulary those with the FMF.

5 comments about Snake Pilot: Flying the Cobra Attack Helicopter in Vietnam.

1. Talk about "Take me back!" Randy Zahn did just that. What a memory! The heat, the killing of friends and the enemy, incoming and the showers, it's all there! I was there three years earlier than Randy, but I met his persona every day, 19 years of age, but much more mature. The soldiers aged ten years in one month in the "Nam." Great read, thanks for baring your sole Randy.
   
   Richard L. Snider, M.D., author of Delta Six, Soldier Surgeon



2. Sure, everyone's going to hate me when they read this, but maybe I'll save someone like me from reading this. After reading Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills (couldn't put it down!), I thought I had to read Snake Pilot. Now I know that I could've skipped it. I am sure that war is hell to go through, that people miss their families, that the Army doesn't always take care of their own, etc, etc. Having said that, this account is really a lot more about having a lame time in Vietnam than "Flying the Cobra Attack Helicopter in Vietnam". I was really looking for more operational info, mission sorties, weapon load outs, hair raising tales, things like that. The author seemed to overlook most of that though. Maybe he was trying to spare the casual reader the technical mumbo-jumbo, and make it more about his personal demons. Just not what I wanted to read about though.



3. This book would make a great movie.... The way it is written makes you feel like you are out there with him... I believe I've read about every book written about the war and this is one of my favorites. The Author has a very good way of telling a story of a small group of young men doing a job that not many people could accomplish in a war zone.



4. Randy sent a copy with a very personal message and signature to my mom back in the states, upon finally recieving it here in Iraq I read it cover to cover closing it only to go on mission. It brought back a lot of memories of stories my father, Charles Frazier, used to tell me about the days in Tay Nihn, Phouc Vihn and all the insanity of losing friends. Being at war myself, I really connected with a lot of the stories. It was a great book deeply personal, full of the heartache of Vietnam.

   PFC Frazier, Jason J
   21 M.P. (ABN)




5. Evidently, the publisher's printing press has a maximum number of pages that it can print in a book of this size. Regrettably, Randy was forced to cut major portions from the original manuscript that detailed more than the actions of a cobra pilot.

   In spite of this, Randy has completed the impossible task: He has documented the details correctly, and has also caught the tone, captured the frustration, and has put into writing what it was like to be a very young cobra pilot in Charlie Troop, 1/9 Cav.

   This is personal. This is a personal account; with all of the personal feelings and interactions that one is expected to have in combat. He has not blown his personal, the troop's, nor the 9th Cav's exploits out-of-proportion (like another author has), and has tried his best to describe the unit as it was.... a great Troop in the highly recognized 9th Cavalry, "doing it all like it was supposed to be done" in Nam. As such, the good and the not so good are both reported as fairly as any human being in combat can. When you are done reading his excellent book, you will no doubt have assimilated his personal feelings for what it was like to be a "Snake Pilot."

   Grover Wright
   Charlie Troop, 1/9 Cav
   1969-1970
   Snake Pilot