“THERE I WAS” BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
EAGLES OVERHEAD: THE HISTORY OF US AIR FORCE CONTROLLERS, FROM THE MEUSE-ARGONNE TO MOSUL
by Matt Dietz
U.S. Air Force Forward Air Controllers bridge the gap between air and land power. They operate in the grey area of the battlefield, serving as an aircrew who flies above the battlefield, spots the enemy, and relays targeting information to control close air support attacks by other faster aircraft.
Eagles Overhead is the first complete historical survey of the USAF FAC program from it’s origins in WWI to the modern battlefield. Dietz examines their role, status, and performance in every USAF air campaign from the Marne in 1918 to Mosul in 2017.
Eagles Overhead asks why FACs have not been heavily used since 2001, despite their importance. Dietz examines their theoretical, doctrinal, institutional, and historical frameworks to assess if the nature of the air warfare has changed so significantly that the utility of the FAC has been left behind.
SO CLOSE TO HOME: A TRUE STORY OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY’S FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL DURING WORLD WAR II
by Michael J. Tougias and Alison O’Leary
There are hundreds of books about WWII, but very few about the German attacks that occurred just a few miles off the coast of America during the war. And there is not a single book written about one of the most amazing and inspiring stories of that time – how an American family survived against all odds after being cast into the sea, so close to home.
So Close to Home reconstructs the events leading up to May 19, 1942, when a German U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey, the freighter Heredia, forty miles offshore from New Orleans, LA.
While So Close to Home is about a seminal time in the past, the themes addressed are as relevant as ever today. This is a book about heroism and what everyday folks are capable of in extreme situations. It is the story about the strength of a family’s love and their determination to stay together and support each other – during their ordeal and over the course of their lives.
A MARINE’S STORY “OKAY, BUDDY, LET’S GO! HOORAH!”: A MARINE SNIPER SURVIVES VIETNAM
by Phil Lenser
Mike lived by the Marine sniper mantra:
One shot, one kill.
During his time in the jungles of Vietnam, Mike was confronted with having to hunt and kill the enemy and being hunted in return.
Now, for the first time, Marine veteran and debut author, Phil Lenser, guides readers through Mike’s extraordinary final mission. This historical combat thriller reveals to readers the real experiences of a combat sniper in one of America’s bloodiest wars.
After forty-four years of life beyond his time as a Marine, Mike learns that his actions in this final mission, the things he did to survive, caused one of the eyewitnesses to submit a recommendation of citation for combat valor.
Now, many years beyond the war days of his youth, the citation his actions earned is discovered to have been approved but never issued.
Mike’s actions earned one of the Nation’s highest combat citations – the Bronze Star. He had lived his life never knowing anyone noticed.
Hero’s wear our Nation’s medals. Mike is one of them.
HEROES LIVE HERE: A TRIBUTE TO CAMP PENDLETON MARINES SINCE 9/11
Amy Forsythe
Heroes Live Here: A Tribute to Camp Pendleton Marines Since 9/11 is filled with more than 150 full-color vivid photographs of memorials and markers placed aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton with a detailed map showing the location of several important monuments. Written by a former U.S. Marine combat correspondent, Amy Forsythe, it also includes reflections and remembrances from those who were stationed at Camp Pendleton over the past two decades and who still have strong ties to the base. The book serves to honor the men and women who deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Amy Forsythe is an award-winning military journalist who served five combat tours supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and has been on assignment for several other overseas missions.
WHAT WE GIVE: FROM MARINE TO PHILANTHROPIST: A MEMOIR
Terry Salman
What makes a Marine? What makes a business mind? What makes a philanthropist? In this rich memoir, Canadian icon of mining finance and public service Terry Salman reflects on his remarkable life, offering inspiration and mentorship for others seeking to build their own legacies.
Salman traces his journey from his modest beginnings in Montreal as the son of a Turkish immigrant father and Quebec-born mother, to the traumas of the Vietnam War, to his rise up the Canadian business world, and the growing dedication to service that earned him the Order of Canada.
He recounts the moments that shaped him: the brotherhood of the U.S. Marines and the lifelong duty of loyalty and community they instilled in him; the traumas he endured as a young sergeant in Vietnam; his return to Canada and the mentors who helped guide his success; and his many roles in helping others.
As he climbs the corporate ladder, his deep-seated faith and commitment to social responsibility grows. He takes on leadership roles, including chairman of the Vancouver Public Library Foundation and the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation―where he helped fund a hospice for AIDS patients―and Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Singapore.
Offering an inside view at the Canadian business, political, and philanthropic landscape, What We Give is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand how some are driven to succeed, and to give back.
When the Tempest Gathers
Col Andrew Milburn, USMC (Ret)
These are the combat experiences of the first Marine to command a special operations task force, recounted against a backdrop of his journey from raw second lieutenant to seasoned colonel and task force commander; from leading Marines through the streets of Mogadishu, Baghdad, Fallujah and Mosul to directing multi-national special operations forces in a dauntingly complex fight against a formidable foe.
The journey culminates in the story’s centerpiece: the fight against ISIS, in which the author is able to use the lessons of his harsh apprenticeship to lead the SOF task force under his command to hasten the Daesh’s eventual demise.
Milburn has an unusual background for a US Marine, and this is no ordinary war memoir. Very few personal accounts of war cover such a wide breadth of experience, or with so discerning a perspective. As Bing West comments: “His exceptional skill is telling each story of battle and then knitting them into a coherent whole. By the end of the book, the reader understands what happened on the ground in the wars against terrorists over the past twenty years.”
Milburn tells his extraordinary story with self-effacing candor, describing openly his personal struggles with the isolation of command, post-combat trauma and family tragedy. And with the skill and insight of a natural story teller, he makes the reader experience what it’s like to lead those who fight America’s wars.
