Title: I'll be in the Fourth Grade Forever
Author: Maria Ruiz
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Barbara Peacock
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1475041748
A memoir of years from 1942 to 1953 as seen by a young girl who was transported from California to war torn Europe to Kansas with her army officer father.
Title: Sword of Shiva
Author: Jeff Edwards
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Reviewer: Sandra Linhart
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0985044381
A SINGLE SPARK CAN IGNITE A WAR THAT CONSUMES THE WORLD.
Three Tibetan rebels attack a train carrying Chinese soldiers into the Tibet Autonomous Region. The rebels escape across the Himalayas into India, unaware that the son of China’s First Vice-Premier lays maimed and dying among the burning wreckage of the train.
As an escalating series of retaliations drive China and India toward outright war, hostilities spill over into the sea, and the Bay of Bengal becomes a crucible of naval warfare.
The president of the United States orders a U.S. Navy strike group into the area as a stabilizing force, but the situation between the two nations has already deteriorated beyond any hope of peaceful resolution.
With Asia hovering on the brink of annihilation, a small force of U.S. warships must defeat the Chinese Navy to preempt the coming firestorm.
The fuse has already been lit…
Title: Hamfist Down!: Evasion, Survival and Combat in the Jungle (Volume 2)
Author: George Nolly
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Ed Cox
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0975436228
It's August, 1969. Hamilton “Hamfist” Hancock has been shot down over Laos, and must use all his skill, and luck, to avoid capture and certain, violent death. To facilitate his rescue, he must become a ground FAC and direct airstrikes against North Vietnamese targets on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. And, to survive, he must engage in hand-to-hand combat. But Hamfist may face his greatest battle after his rescue. Back in Vietnam, while recuperating at the hospital at Cam Ranh Bay, he experiences a sapper attack. And, following his return to the air, Hamfist is tormented by a flying error, an error which may have cost a comrade his life. Only time will tell if Hamfist can regain his self-respect and passion. On his final flight, Hamfist faces a brutal enemy in a life-or-death duel that will determine if he will be shot down once again or return home to his soul-mate. The rescue, the airborne mistake and the final battle force Hamfist to reevaluate his priorities in his career, in his flying, and in his life.
Title: Blackhorse Riders
Author: Philip Keith
Genre: History
Reviewer: John Monteith
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0312681925
Philip Keith's Blackhorse Riders is the incredible true story of a brave military unit in Vietnam that risked everything to rescue an outnumbered troop under heavy fire—and the thirty-nine-year odyssey to recognize their bravery.
Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, the famed Blackhorse Regiment, was a specialized cavalry outfit equipped with tanks and armored assault vehicles. On the morning of March 26, 1970, they began hearing radio calls from an infantry unit four kilometers away that had stumbled into a hidden North Vietnamese Army stronghold. Outnumbered at least six to one, the ninety-man American company was quickly surrounded, pinned down, and fighting for its existence. Helicopters could not penetrate the dense jungle, and artillery and air support could not be targeted effectively. The company was fated to be worn down and eventually all killed or captured.
Overhearing the calls for help on his radio, Captain John Poindexter, Alpha Troop’s twenty-five-year-old commander, realized that his outfit was the only hope for the trapped company. It just might be possible that they could “bust” enough jungle by nightfall to reach them. Not making the attempt was deemed unacceptable, so he ordered his men to “saddle up.” With the courage and determination that makes legends out of ordinary men, they effected a daring rescue and fought a pitched battle—at considerable cost. Many brave deeds were done that day and Captain Poindexter tried to make sure his men were recognized for their actions.
Thirty years later Poindexter was made aware that his award recommendations and even the records of the battle had somehow gone missing. Thus began the second phase of this remarkable story: a “battle” to ensure that his brave men’s accomplishments would never be forgotten again.
The full circle was completed when President Obama stepped to the podium on October 20, 2009, to award the Alpha Troop with the Presidential Unit Citation: the highest combat award that can be given to a military unit.
Title: The Recipient's Son: A Novel of Honor
Author: Stephen Phillips
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewer: Betsy Beard
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1612511163
Set at the U.S. Naval Academy in the 1990s, this novel tells the story of a young man's struggle to come to terms with his legacy as the son of a war hero and with doubts about his own courage. Donald Durago's father was killed in the Vietnam War where his actions as a POW earned him the Medal of Honor. That honor provided Durago with an appointment to the Naval Academy, a benefit offered to all children of Medal of Honor recipients. But in his plebe year, Durago struggles under the burden of being worthy of his father s memory. With the help of Master Chief Strong, he begins to identify with his father s sacrifice, his own naval heritage, and Academy life. An incident in his senior year brings on terrifying nightmares that make Durago realize he has not completely dealt with his father s death. However, with the support of his roommate and a pretty JAG officer he finds the confidence to pursue a military career. The Recipient's Son is a stirring tale of a young man coming to grips with the heroism of his father and overcoming his self-doubts to accept the challenge of serving his country on his own terms.
An Academy graduate himself, author Stephen Phillips draws an intimate picture of life in the Yard as he examines the concepts of leadership, honor, service and personal sacrifice in the Navy. Readers of Phillips' award-winning first novel, Proximity, will find his new novel an equally authentic read.
