Purple Heart Radio: Recent Episodes
Arroe Collins
We are the Storytellers. Through this channel you no longer have to hear it secondhand. If you are military. Share your story. Arroec@gmail.com.
Pod Crashing episode 386 with U.S. Army Veteran JR Martinez from the podcast Medal Of Honor Stories. Rewarded for bravery that goes above and beyond the call of duty, the Medal of Honor is the United States' top military decoration. The stories we tell are about the heroes who have distinguished themselves by acts of heroism and courage that have saved lives. From Judith Resnik, the second woman in space, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice, these are stories about those who have done the improbable and unexpected, who have sacrificed something in the name of something much bigger than themselves. Every Wednesday on Medal of Honor, uncover what their experiences tell us about the nature of sacrifice, why people put their lives in danger for others, and what happens after you've become a hero. Special thanks to series creator Dan McGinn, to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Adam Plumpton. Medal of Honor begins on May 28.
Episodes available here:
Https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-medal-of-honor-stories-of-126797849/
Marking the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing, Atomic Echoes: Untold Stories of World War II, a new documentary from Blue Chalk Media, will air on public television stations nationwide beginning the week of August 1. The film includes rarely seen archival footage and interviews with 100-year-old American veterans who were eyewitnesses to the devastation in the immediate aftermath of nuclear warfare.Atomic Echoes follows Karin Tanabe and Victoria Kelly, two friends whose families were on opposite sides of the war, as they embark on an emotional journey to uncover their family legacies. Through their exploration, the film sheds light on the enduring scars of the "hibakusha"-the estimated 650,000 Japanese survivors of the bombings and the "atomic veterans"-the estimated 200,000 American soldiers who responded in the immediate aftermath of the bombings.Karin Tanabe and Victoria Kelly bring deeply personal connections to this project. Karin is a bestselling historical fiction novelist and former Politico reporter whose great-great-uncle was the first president of Hiroshima University and dedicated his life to peace-building after the bomb. Victoria is an award-winning author and poet whose grandfather, an American atomic veteran who served in Nagasaki, died young, haunted by his experiences.Directed and produced by Beatrice Becette, and executive produced by Greg Moyer, Atomic Echoes was filmed in both Japan and the United States, combining deeply personal storytelling with interviews from historians and the last remaining survivors. The film presents a fresh perspective on the nuclear age and its enduring consequences, urging reflection and peace as this pivotal anniversary approaches."With Atomic Echoes, we're preserving the voices of those who have experienced one of history's most significant and devastating events," said Greg Moyer. "This story and its lessons are vital, and we're honored by the trust placed in us by Karin, Victoria, and the survivors who have bravely shared with us."As the remaining survivors enter their later years, Atomic Echoes stands as a powerful testament to their experiences, and a reminder of the human cost of nuclear warfare. The film invites viewers to listen, reflect, and reckon with a past that continues to shape our present.Here's the trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=4iUpvDhoPOw
Joey Guerrero, a native of the Philippines, was diagnosed with leprosy (Hansen’s disease) as World War II unfolded in Europe and Asia. Soon after the Japanese occupied the Philippines, Joey—believing she would die soon—joined the guerrilla movement to complete covert missions in support of the Allies. Because of her condition, she was rarely searched by Japanese soldiers, which allowed her to courier secret messages, including an invaluable minefield map that she taped to her back. She was eventually awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and admitted to the National Leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, where she lived for nine years. When she was cured and released, she found it difficult to find work because of racial discrimination and her health history and was forced to pawn her Presidential Medal to make ends meet. Eventually, she shed her previous identity. When she died in 1996, her obituary identified her as a secretary from Manila. But Joey Guerrero was much more than that—she was a hero who changed the course of history.
Remember Us, by Robert Edsel-#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men (which was turned into a blockbuster film with an all-star cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett) -begins in the pre-dawn hours of Hitler's invasion of Western Europe on May 10, 1940, when his forces rolled into the small rural province of Limburg in the Netherlands shattering more than 100 years of peace. Their freedom gone, the Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until American forces reached Limburg in September 1944, the last portion of Western Europe liberated by the Allies before their advance on Nazi Germany slammed to a halt.
Like The Monuments Men, Remember Us is an ensemble piece that follows twelve main characters over a six-year span, zeroing in on ordinary people including Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who falls in love with an American soldier; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; and Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama for yet another indignity-digging graves.
Drawing on never-before-seen letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, on the battlefields and inside American homes. In this rich, dramatic, and suspenseful story, he captures both the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude, showing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. Remember Us is exactly the book we need-a reminder that grief is universal, that humanity knows no national or racial boundaries, and that we all want to be remembered, somehow, someway, by somebody.
Michael Walsh's new book A Rage to Conquer is a journey through twelve of the most important battles in Western history. As Walsh sees it, war is an important facet of every culture - and, for better or worse, our world is unthinkable without it. War has been an essential part of the human condition throughout history, the principal agent of societal change, waged by men on behalf of, and in pursuit of, their gods, women, riches, power, and the sheer joy of combat. In A Rage to Conquer, Walsh brings history to life as he considers a group of courageous commanders and the battles they waged that became crucial to the course of Western history. He looks first at Carl Von Clausewitz, the seminal thinker in the Western canon dealing with war. He then moves on to Achilles at Ilium, Alexander at Gaugamela, Caesar at Alesia, Constantine at the Milvian Bridge, Aetius at the Catalaunian Plains, Bohemond at Dorylaeum and Antioch, Napoleon at Austerlitz, Pershing at St.-Mihiel, Nimitz at Midway and Patton at the Bulge with a final consideration of how the Battle of 9/11 was ultimately lost by the U.S. and what that portends for the future.
In the heart-pounding military thriller Valiant One, a routine mission spirals into a fight for survival when a US Army helicopter crashes deep within North Korean territory. With their communications equipment destroyed, Captain Edward Brockman (Chase Stokes) and Specialist Selby (Lana Condor) must lead the team through hostile terrain, cut off from US military support as they attempt a daring escape across the treacherous Demilitarized Zone
The growing presence of cyber-terrorism in today’s fiction not only entertains, but warns us about the ever-increasing threat of cyberattacks and potential outcomes on society in America and around the world. George Mehok https://www.georgemehok.com/ is an author based in Cleveland, who is a technologist, and entrepreneur with a distinguished career in designing software and leading high-performing teams in the financial services, telecommunications, and aerospace industries. His insights have been featured in prestigious tech journals and notable publications like the Wall Street Journal, CIO Review, and InformationWeek, covering wireless communications, cybersecurity, and data analytics. George’s expertise has earned him accolades, including Crain’s Business Magazine CIO of the Year award, and his work has been recognized in InformationWeek’s Annual Elite 100 ranking of the most innovative technology users in the United States. Mehok weaves his real-world knowledge into gripping narratives, crafting thrilling plots that captivate readers.
The geography speaks for itself. The bad guys are just kilometers away, across the river. We are the only international (or locals) with a brick and mortar office downtown, for them to go for help. No assistance from govt unless elderly, and the assistance they get is shit. Office safe from “normal” shelling (tank fire, most mortars). Glide bombs and attack drones are new since Ukrainians landed on other side and have beachhead. Quietly, that is a total massacre over there — poorly kept secret here. can’t do much about the big stuff … if we get hit with a glide bomb we’re fucked. I like our chances. Monday Wednesday and Friday the FREE STORE AT THE FRONT is open at our office. Basic foods medicines hygiene and winter clothes. Mondays we run bread into insanely dangerous places by the Antonivky bridge, do other stuff like that. Off the radar. For city admin. We are an important “off the books asset” for them.
From former Navy SEAL, entrepreneur, father, and New York Times bestselling author Mark Divine comes Uncommon- an inspirational book following Mark Divine's trademark warrior monk philosophy that will lead you to the summit of personal development.
To be common is to be an everyday person. It's to do the things that you are expected to do, whether that's what your parents want for you, or your employer, or your spouse, et cetera. But if you want to be more than you are, more than you think you can be, then you need to recognize and learn from your mistakes to lead a life of excellence.
As an elite Navy SEAL, entrepreneur, author, speaker, professor of leadership, and philanthropist, as well as the creator of SEALFIT, Kokoro Yoga, and Unbeatable Mind, Mark Divine uses years of wisdom, business development, martial arts, eastern philosophy and military experience to take you through life's most important principles for finding your pursuit of excellence--so that you or anyone with the proper motivation can become uncommon.
America is divided and at a crossroads. Are its best years behind it or ahead? How can we raise a new generation of leaders to make our nation strong, healthy, and successful?
One inspiring man, who has seen people at their most courageous in the military and their most vulnerable as an emergency physician, is raising a young family of three children and wants to see them and our country’s youth have a bright future. He encapsulates his motivational prescription for the United States in an award-winning, best-selling book, Be The Weight Behind The Spear.
It outlines the leadership ethos of author Dr. (Colonel) Josh “Blackjack” McConkey. With over 20 years of working in the trenches of America's emergency rooms and with two decades of decorated military service, Dr. McConkey combines lessons of leadership and poignant examples of how we can move American forward.
From the battlefields of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom to the death and destruction right here at home caused by the opioid crisis, Be the Weight Behind the Spear encourages a national dialogue on the importance of motivating all Americans to be the weight behind the spears of America's heroes, and focuses on developing our youth into the future heroes and leaders America really needs.
A revealing account of National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster's turbulent and consequential thirteen months in the Trump White House. At War with Ourselves is the story of helping a disruptive President drive necessary shifts in U.S. foreign policy at a critical moment in history. McMaster entered an administration beset by conflict and the hyper partisanship of American politics. With the candor of a soldier and the perspective of a historian, McMaster rises above the fray to lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump's presidency and give readers insight into what a second Trump term would look like. While all administrations are subject to backstabbing and infighting, some of Trump's more unscrupulous political advisors were determined to undermine McMaster and others to advance their narrow agendas. McMaster writes candidly about Cabinet officials who, deeply disturbed by Trump's language and behavior, prioritized controlling the President over collaborating to provide the President with options. McMaster offers a frank and fresh assessment of the achievements and failures of his tenure as National Security Advisor and the challenging task of maintaining one's bearings and focus on the mission in a hectic and malicious environment. Determined to transcend the war within the administration and focus on national security priorities, McMaster forged coalitions in Washington and internationally to help Trump advance U.S. interests. Trump's character and personality helped him make tough decisions, but sometimes prevented him from sticking to them. McMaster adroitly assesses the record of Trump's presidency in comparison to the Obama and Biden administrations. With the 2024 election on the horizon, At War with Ourselves highlights the crucial importance of competence in foreign policy, and makes plain the need for leaders who possess the character and intellect to guide the United States in a tumultuous world.
Climate concerns are top of mind, especially with young adults. AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteering, administers a program for adults ages 18 to 26 to help them take action. AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a team-based national service program that engages young adults in 10 to 11-month hands-on service experiences to develop leadership skills and strengthen communities. Forest Corps is a partnership between AmeriCorps NCCC and the United States Forest Service. The program is for young adults passionate about combating the climate crisis and protecting public lands. The first cohort of NCCC Forest Corps members will be sworn in to begin their service in mid-July. The Forest Corps program is the first major interagency partnership under President Biden’s American Climate Corps (ACC), a new initiative to train young people in high-demand skills for jobs in the clean energy economy.
Thank you for being part of the conversation. This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward. Episode 635 is with Brigadier General Paul Greg Smith the author of the book Confessions Of A Weekend Warrior. America's National Guard was once considered a ragtag gaggle of pretend soldiers. Beginning in the 1980s the National Guard gradually transformed into today's highly flexible operational force that answers our nation's call for overseas combat deployments as well as domestic emergencies that run the gamut from lifesaving disaster responses to staffing Covid clinics. Brigadier General Paul "Greg" Smith describes his personal journey during these years, from a callow cadet to a committed commander leading military forces in response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Smith gives a humorous, gritty, and sometimes touching glimpse into the inner workings of this unique military organization while offering portraits of the men and women who serve as the minutemen of our age. His reflections on service, duty, and the complexities of command will enlighten anyone who seeks to better understand the challenges of leadership. Their stories reveal more than mere imitations; they demonstrate the fascinating ways ideas evolve as they cross borders.
You are measured by what you do for others, not by what you have accomplished for yourself.
The Gouge, in military parlance, is what you really need to know. So here's the Gouge on Bob. As a Navy SEAL Admiral with four decades of war-fighting experience, including Bosnia, Panama, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen, he never lost a single man under his command. But his experience runs much wider and deeper than that.
While growing up in Iran in the 1970s, he hitchhiked throughout Asia and the Middle East; his grueling daily workout has been performed in at least five continents; and his latest adventure involved setting a world record for parachuting onto Mount Everest. In this book, he boils all of this down into the Gouge philosophy: how to move yourself and the people around you forward using the best information picked up from a lifetime of experience.
The result? PFM: In military parlance, that's Pure F**king Magic.
A former Secret Service agent said counter-snipers at the Pennsylvania rally where a would-be assassin wounded former President Donald Trump should have had "360-degree coverage" of the event and surrounding buildings.
"I don't know how many they had, but they usually always look for 360-degree coverage," former Secret Service agent Anthony Cangelosi told Business Insider. "So that's one thing that's going to be considered."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation identified the shooter as a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Cangelosi, who is now an adjunct professor at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, said the primary question law enforcement would likely be asking is how the suspect could have made it to the top of a nearby building undetected.
Butler Township Sheriff Michael Slupe told The Washington Post that a local officer encountered the suspect before the shooting but dropped to the ground because he did not have his weapon.
For a large event where the president or former president is speaking, the Secret Service on the scene would typically work with law enforcement to design a "site plan" with a mock-up of the event space and all surrounding buildings, Cangelosi said.
This plan will be paramount for investigators in determining what possible failures occurred during the rally, according to Cangelosi.
"All the posts - meaning personnel, Secret Service or uniformed police officers, where they were positioned, what their duties were to secure that post, what considerations were given to the outer perimeter, in this case, the other building," will be included in the site plan, Cangelosi said.
Cangelosi said the Secret Service would sometimes use "counter-sniper response units," which are posted on the ground and can quickly move into position if they notice a threat.
"However, time could also be of the essence, right?" Cangelosi said. "You might not have the ability to send a counter-sniper response team up to the location"Snipers often quickly have to make a decision when they notice a potential threat like an open window or a person sitting on a roof Cangelosi said.
"What if you find out, 'Oh, I just killed a kid, 20-year-old kid who loves the protected, and he couldn't get in the venue, and he just wanted to get up on that roof,'" Cangelosi added. "No one wants to be in that position."
Cangelosi said he expects the Secret Service to amp up security at future events moving forward. Trump has already confirmed he plans to speak at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin next week.
"The Secret Service is well aware of the fact that they have to be perfect all of the time," Cangelosi said. "And the one time you're not, it's going to bring an increased scrutiny."
2024 is another banner year for fans of Mark Greaney-his most recent Gray Man thriller, CHAOS AGENT, just came out in February and was an instant New York Times bestseller. And now, readers can start their excitement for a SECOND Mark Greaney novel this year: SENTINEL (on sale June 25), the second in his new Armored series.Greaney is known for keeping an eye on the current world political stage, and his stories are rooted in real world events. He's also traveled to over 35 countries to extensively to research each novel's location, as well as gotten firsthand experience in firearms training, scuba diving, stunt driving, SWAT training, Navy fighter plane flying, field medical training, and more.
If you're a fan of Greaney's Gray Man series or action-packed of spy thrillers, Greaney's Armored series features a very different kind of action thriller hero: Joshua Duffy, a Close Protection Agent-a professional bodyguard-one of the world's elite operatives. That is, he was, until his last mission in Lebanon. Against all odds, Josh got his principal out alive, but the cost was high. Josh lost his lower left leg. This makes Josh Duffy a different kind of protagonist than Jack Ryan, Court Gentry, Mitch Rapp, or Pike Logan. With a substantial injury, a wife, kids, and a mortgage, Josh is one of the most realistic characters in this genre.
ARMORED (the first in the series) began as a script for an audio play that Audible produced and gave away to its listeners; it was so popular Mark decided to turn it into a full-length novel.
In SENTINEL, an African coup may force Josh Duffy to choose between his mission and his family. Josh Duffy and his wife Nikki are both working for the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service providing protection for diplomats in the field. They've been sent to Ghana with a team of US embassy personnel who are there to highlight American commitment to the construction of a new dam.
In the early morning hours in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013, Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis gave of himself in a way most of us could never imagine. An act of courage, and the greatest sacrifice one can make, would prove to be an inspiration to all who knew him and fought alongside him. Ever since he was a youngster, Ollis wanted to be like his soldier father, who fought valiantly in Vietnam. His deep desire to serve in the military was hardened when on September 11, 2001, his beloved New York City (born and raised on Staten Island) was attacked. From that tragic day on-ward his only goal was to serve and to protect. Award-winning and bestselling author Tom Sileo captures the true heart and soul of Michael Ollis in his new book, I HAVE YOUR BACK: How an American Soldier Became an International Hero (St. Martin's Press, On Sale Date June 4, 2024, $27.00). In 2013, Staff Sergeant Ollis was serving with the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light). Following two tense combat deployments in the mountains of Afghanistan, Ollis earned the U.S. Army's Ranger tab. On August 28, however, Ollis and his entire coalition military base, Forward Operating Base Ghazni, were caught in the middle of a major Taliban assault. Though he was ordered to retreat, Ollis took up the fight. At that moment he encountered a desperate Polish army officer, Lt. Karol Cierpica. Surrounded by enemy fighters, and running low on ammunition, Ollis would not leave Cierpica's side. He would have his back. His bravery would cost the 24-year-old Ollis his life. A life given saving a man he didn't know. Posthumously, Ollis was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and The Audie Murphy Medallion. Perhaps as equally distinguished as these honors from his own country for his service, Ollis received the highest honor that the nation of Poland can bestow upon an allied soldier: The War Order of Wojenny Virtuti Militari, the oldest military decoration in the world still in use. Today his spirit lives on in the SSG Ollis Freedom Foundation, founded in 2014 and based out of Staten Island. As an American - and internationally honored - soldier, he proved he had all our backs. His spirit also lives on with Lt. Karol Cierpica, or rather, with Cierpica's young son, whom the Polish Lieutenant named in honor of Michael Ollis at his birth in 2015. Tom Sileo's powerful account of Ollis' brave 24-year journey will motivate all of us to "live like Mike," and always put family, friends, and country first.
The geography speaks for itself. The bad guys are just kilometers away, across the river. We are the only international (or locals) with a brick and mortar office downtown, for them to go for help. No assistance from govt unless elderly, and the assistance they get is shit. Office safe from “normal” shelling (tank fire, most mortars). Glide bombs and attack drones are new since Ukrainians landed on other side and have beachhead. Quietly, that is a total massacre over there — poorly kept secret here. can’t do much about the big stuff … if we get hit with a glide bomb we’re fucked. I like our chances. Monday Wednesday and Friday the FREE STORE AT THE FRONT is open at our office. Basic foods medicines hygiene and winter clothes. Mondays we run bread into insanely dangerous places by the Antonivky bridge, do other stuff like that. Off the radar. For city admin. We are an important “off the books asset” for them.
From Special Forces veteran and internationally respected teacher of Ronin Tactics to streaming and videogame fan favorite, Tu Lam's memoir will captivate, astonish, exhilarate, and even profoundly resonate. Tu Lam has become known not just for his accomplishments as a decorated Green Beret, but also for his work outside the military, including: * Training citizens and law enforcement professionals all over the country . Providing aid to both active and retired soldiers with physical and mental health issues . * Co-hosting the History Channel's Forged in Fire: Knife or Death . * Appearing in and contributing to the world's bestselling video game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare In The Way of Rōnin, he reveals his against-all-odds story. Tu Lam's resilience, dedication, and relentless pursuit of freedom saw him achieving Full Spectrum US Special Operations across twenty-seven countries worldwide for more than twenty years, only to pay the price of his own physical and mental trauma as well as addiction. That decision led him to more than two decades of grueling instruction in every facet of the special forces, then deployment to war and conflict zones-all while channeling his inner anger in secret underground no-holds barred fighting matches. When he finally retired from the military after more than two decades, his demons caught up with him, leading to years of addiction. But even that didn't defeat him. Confronting his demons, he emerged triumphant. Now he shares the gripping details and riveting intricacies of this awe-inspiring journey. Tu Lam's life is, at times, all too real, and at many others times, almost unbelievable.
What started as a military coup in Pakistan has ignited South Asia and threatens to spread to the world's largest democracy in India. American and British allies struggle to rescue Western civilians who have been cut off in Islamabad. What starts as a desperate race turns into a grim siege. But the fate of a few innocents pales in comparison to one inescapable fact: Pakistan is a nuclear power and some of those weapons are unaccounted for. Gripping and thought-provoking, THE LONG NOVEMBER is perfect for fans of Brad Thor and Larry Bond. I’d love to know if you might be interested in covering the book or Walt.
FAT LEONARD: #1 New York Times bestselling author Craig Whitlock's masterful account of one of the biggest public corruption scandals in American history-exposing how a charismatic Malaysian defense contractor bribed scores of high-ranking military officers, defrauded the US Navy of tens of millions of dollars, and jeopardized our nation's security. All the admirals in the US Navy knew Leonard Glenn Francis-either personally or by his legendary reputation. He was the larger-than-life defense contractor who greeted them on the pier whenever they visited ports in Asia, ready to show them a good time after weeks at sea while his company resupplied their ships and submarines. He was famed throughout the fleet for the gluttonous parties he hosted for officers: $1,000-per-person dinners at Asia's swankiest restaurants, featuring unlimited Dom Pérignon, Cuban cigars, and sexy young women. On the surface, with his flawless American accent, he seemed like a true friend of the Navy. What the brass didn't realize, until far too late, was that Francis had seduced them by exploiting their entitlement and hubris. While he was bribing them with gifts, lavish meals, and booze-fueled orgies, he was making himself obscenely wealthy by bilking American taxpayers. Worse, he was stealing military secrets from under the admirals' noses and compromising national security. Based on reams of confidential documents-including the blackmail files that Francis kept on Navy officers-FAT LEONARD is the full, unvarnished story of a world-class con man and a captivating testament to the corrosive influence of greed within the ranks of the American military. "Explosive, brilliantly reported and meticulously documented, Craig Whitlock's Fat Leonard reads like a thriller but depicts one of the most sordid chapters in U.S. military history, a tale of brazen corruption that soiled the Navy and is an infuriating insult to the American taxpayer. You won't be able to put this book down, and you won't stop wondering how it could have happened."-David E. Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Billion Dollar Spy
The geography speaks for itself. The bad guys are just kilometers away, across the river. We are the only international (or locals) with a brick and mortar office downtown, for them to go for help. No assistance from govt unless elderly, and the assistance they get is shit.
Office safe from “normal” shelling (tank fire, most mortars). Glide bombs and attack drones are new since Ukrainians landed on other side and have beachhead. Quietly, that is a total massacre over there — poorly kept secret here. can’t do much about the big stuff … if we get hit with a glide bomb we’re fucked. I like our chances.
Mon wed Friday the FREE STORE AT THE FRONT is open at our office. Basic foods medicines hygiene and winter clothes. Mondays we run bread into insanely dangerous places by the Antonivky bridge, do other stuff like that. Off the radar. For city admin. We are an important “off the books asset” for them.
The extraordinary story of American special operator and trailblazer Shannon Kent, who hunted high value targets on classified missions in the most dangerous locales on earth while trying to balance her life as a wife and mother. Of the 1.3 million active-duty service members in the US military, only a tiny fraction are selected as "operators." Shannon Kent was one of the first women to serve at this level and was widely recognized as one of the best. Shannon served as a Navy cryptologic technician, responsible for signals intelligence and electronic warfare, but her proficiency with language set her apart. She was assigned to a unit so secretive that its name can't even be printed here, where she worked clandestinely to hunt the most wanted terrorists in the world. Send Me is Shannon's heroic life story, revealing the truth of both her work and the challenges she faced while trying to raise a family with her husband Joe, himself a Special Forces soldier. He and Shannon met in a war zone, their love forged during a special operations training course, their dedication spanning multiple combat deployments and the birth of their two boys. It is the legacy of an extraordinary woman who rose to the apex of the military, working with the most elite forces in the world, lifting the veil from the life of a Special Forces family to share their duty, sacrifice, and humanity. Drawing on their own extensive experience in special operations, Joe Kent and Marty Skovlund Jr. bring Shannon's heroic story to life, while providing a rare peek into the secretive world of special ops intelligence and a glimpse into the complexities of domestic life for a Special Forces family.
The geography speaks for itself. The bad guys are just kilometers away, across the river. We are the only international (or locals) with a brick and mortar office downtown, for them to go for help. No assistance from govt unless elderly, and the assistance they get is shit.
Office safe from “normal” shelling (tank fire, most mortars). Glide bombs and attack drones are new since Ukrainians landed on other side and have beachhead. Quietly, that is a total massacre over there — poorly kept secret here. can’t do much about the big stuff … if we get hit with a glide bomb we’re fucked. I like our chances.
Mon wed Friday the FREE STORE AT THE FRONT is open at our office. Basic foods medicines hygiene and winter clothes. Mondays we run bread into insanely dangerous places by the Antonivky bridge, do other stuff like that. Off the radar. For city admin. We are an important “off the books asset” for them.
Mark Greene, Retired Navy SEAL, faced an accident that stripped away his protective armor, leaving him unsealed and vulnerable. His journey from college athlete to dropout, SEAL training to enlisted SEAL, and sniper to civilian was met with many adversities. However, amidst the challenges, Mark found strength in his community; he never faced his struggles alone. Navigating his difficult transitions and aiding fellow veterans, Mark identified six predictable phases in any transformation. Embracing these phases serves as a reminder to welcome change and life's transitions with confidence and tenacity.
Despite facing a career-ending injury in football and dropping out of college, Mark Greene's resilience led him to become a Navy SEAL. Along his journey, he earned two master's degrees. As an esteemed author and speaker, he inspires audiences from students at USC to veterans in Virginia. Amid his accomplishments, his true happiness lies in being a devoted father to four wonderful children.
Additionally, Talaria Media is now developing a new comedy series loosely based on stories from Mark Greene’s book “Unsealed” as well as writer and director Jamie Anderson’s own life and relationship with her father, who was himself a veteran. The official logline for the series states it is “about a retired Navy SEAL struggling to adjust to civilian life after he’s forced to work at a new age spiritual center with his estranged daughter.”
Tom Garvey, an Airborne, Ranger and Special Forces qualified officer, served as an A-Team Leader in Viet Nam in 1968 and returned home to mixed reviews about his stability and state of mind. Like many other Viet Nam Veterans, he found few who cared to hear about his time overseas. Now, with his wife Peggy and his wonderful family of five step children and their mates and two world class grandchild, he has finally come home. Life is good. Life is very good indeed.
The geography speaks for itself. The bad guys are just kilometers away, across the river. We are the only international (or locals) with a brick and mortar office downtown, for them to go for help. No assistance from govt unless elderly, and the assistance they get is shit.
Office safe from “normal” shelling (tank fire, most mortars). Glide bombs and attack drones are new since Ukrainians landed on other side and have beachhead. Quietly, that is a total massacre over there — poorly kept secret here. can’t do much about the big stuff … if we get hit with a glide bomb we’re fucked. I like our chances.
Mon wed Friday the FREE STORE AT THE FRONT is open at our office. Basic foods medicines hygiene and winter clothes. Mondays we run bread into insanely dangerous places by the Antonivky bridge, do other stuff like that. Off the radar. For city admin. We are an important “off the books asset” for them.
The first and only book to be written by a member of America's most secret military unit! Adam Gamal (pseudonym), one of the only Muslim Arab Americans to serve inside "The Unit" - as the Department of Defense has asked us to refer to it - has written one of the most explosive and unlikely stories of immigration, service and sacrifice -- THE UNIT: My Life Fighting Terrorists as One of America's Most Secret Military Operatives, written with Kelly Kennedy (St. Martin's Press, on sale date February 20, 2024, $32.00). As a heads up - Adam will be disguised on camera and voice altered for audio due to security concerns Within the U.S. military there is a team so secretive that not only is the name of this unit classified, its members are like ghosts to the military personnel in the country. Veterans Affairs doesn't even have them listed. Phantoms or not, this highly-trained team has been responsible for preventing dozens of terrorist attacks against the U.S. and Western world. This is the world in which Adam Gamal lived. Before that, his life in Egypt was one of great dismay as the Muslim Brotherhood overran a once-free country. When he arrived in the U.S., he spoke no English, was 5'1", 112 pounds, and certainly was far from what one would expect a future soldier to be. He loved his new country, and soon enlisted in the U.S. Army, feeling a great compulsion to serve a nation that gave him the freedom he craved. From his first deployment in Bosnia, to his search for Saddam Hussein in Iraq, to his work in Africa fighting against the very same Muslim Brotherhood that terrorized his community in Egypt when he was a child, he offers a gripping first-hand account of our nation's most secret military unit. His tales of a cat-and-mouse game tracking terrorist Aden Hashi Ayro - the head of the Hizb al-Shabab, or youth wing of the Islamic Courts Union, who it was believed led militias within Somalia - are filled with tension.Gamal also goes into great detail about the diversification of our nation's defenses. As he says in THE UNIT, he was often mistaken for being Hispanic, and relates stories of other members of the military who were from a Middle Eastern background who passed for Latino. But because they could blend in within those communities overseas when hunting bad guys, they gave the U.S. an advantage in gathering intelligence necessary to capture terrorists. Fair-haired and fair-skinned American soldiers are going to stick out in many nations dealing with conflict, especially those representing threats to the U.S. Gamal strongly believes that immigrants would make extraordinary soldiers. He feels that women, people of color, and immigrants do things differently. They see things differently, and meld different views, strategies, and thought processes when engaging enemies. This is crucial and often overlooked. Gamal talks about the importance of keeping up with intelligence and why future wars will resemble nothing like they have throughout the 20th century and the very early years of the 21st century. America needs to do a better job relating with the citizenry of our allies, and those defending them. Along the way, we abandoned the idea of winning hearts and minds, he argues, and America needs to return to that way of thinking.
x-spy Jack Beaumont reveals how he maintained five false identities at once by Emily Pidgeon A former spy has opened up about one of the most grueling aspects of his secretive job. Jack Beaumont (not his real name) is a former operative in the clandestine operations branch of the French foreign secret service, known as the DGSE. Speaking to news.com.au's podcast, I've Got News For You, Beaumont explained that the job required him to have five false identities on the go at all times, and detailed the incredible effort it took to maintain them all. "If it's an ID you use to try to recruit a human source, and it's a long-term manipulation, then the ID has to be quite solid," Beaumont told podcast host Andrew Bucklow.That meant that each false identity had to have a social media presence and a different address. "Every one of those IDs have to be, if necessary, dismantled in 24 hours," he said. "So you can't just rent a flat because you will leave a trace of payment. "You have to find some place in Paris or in the countryside where you have some empty flats and then you're going to make them yours."
In True Face: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked (PublicAffairs; on sale March 5, 2024) is full of high-stakes stories, like when Mendez came face to face with a rogue Jihadi who had brought down an American plane and when she helped steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet embassy. While In True Face takes readers into the shadowy sides of some of the most important episodes during the Cold War; it also explores the culture within the CIA, making an honest assessment of what it took for a woman to even get a job there-never mind rise through the ranks to one of the agency's most important jobs. This is the story of an incredible spy career and what it took to achieve it.
The geography speaks for itself. The bad guys are just kilometers away, across the river. We are the only international (or locals) with a brick and mortar office downtown, for them to go for help. No assistance from govt unless elderly, and the assistance they get is shit.
Office safe from “normal” shelling (tank fire, most mortars). Glide bombs and attack drones are new since Ukrainians landed on other side and have beachhead. Quietly, that is a total massacre over there — poorly kept secret here. can’t do much about the big stuff … if we get hit with a glide bomb we’re fucked. I like our chances.
Mon wed Friday the FREE STORE AT THE FRONT is open at our office. Basic foods medicines hygiene and winter clothes. Mondays we run bread into insanely dangerous places by the Antonivky bridge, do other stuff like that. Off the radar. For city admin. We are an important “off the books asset” for them.
The day before his discharge from the Army, General Garrett Sinclair is freed from Ft. Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks by his former Delta Force operative, Jake Mahegan. Meanwhile, his imprisoned teammates are released from Naval incarceration by a manipulative tech magnate, Mitch Drewson, solely for the purpose of having Sinclair and his Dagger team protect his Project Optimus. Author A. J. Tata uses his vast military experience to create thrillers that feel as if they're ripped from today's headlines. In his new masterpiece, THE PHALANX CODE: A Garrett Sinclair Novel (St. Martin's Press, on sale date February 27, 2024; $29.00), Sinclair, newly freed, has to save members of his team while learning of a devastating family secret in the process. Project Optimus - an ambitious endeavor to empower citizens to protect financial and personal data in the face of increasingly authoritarian federal governments - is going face to face against the threat from Aurelius Blanc and Phalanx Corporation. Phalanx's data collection and media application is enabling a global security state through partnerships with the major industrialized nations, creating a form of technofascism that monitors the activity of everyone with a smartphone, tablet, computer, or any web connected device. Though Sinclair is a "free agent," with no military chain of command to deal with, he directly challenges Drewson's motives for gathering his entire team for this mission. At that moment, though, Phalanx assassin squads take over an Optimus server farm in California and grab an Optimus coder named Blair Campbell. With Campbell's well being in jeopardy, Sinclair deploys his team in an attempt to save him and protect the remainder of Optimus so they can complete their vital work, which is highlighted by deciphering the mysterious Phalanx Code, suspected to contain the Phalanx kill list of Optimus employees. Caught in a deadly game between two tech moguls, and with Phalanx squads hunting him and those he loves, Sinclair must determine who he can trust while a devastating part of his family past comes back to haunt him and everything and everyone he holds dear.
DEAD MAN'S HAND: A Pike Logan Novel (William Morrow; January 23, 2024; $32.00), the eighteenth entry into New York Times bestselling author Brad Taylor's longstanding Pike Logan series, features authentic operational details that will stun even the most prolific military thriller reader. Leaning on his over two decades of service in the Army, Taylor delivers his most timely and prescient thriller to date, pitting Pike Logan and the Taskforce against Putin and his henchman in an all-too-real scenario that could be ripped from today's headlines. To finally end the war between their nations, a rogue band of Ukranian partisans known as the Wolves teams up with members of Russia's military intelligence to assassinate Vladimir Putin. But Putin is aware of the traitors in his midst and assigns the loyal commander of the Russian national guard to root them out. It's a mission Victor Petrov is expected to undertake after he prevents Sweden from joining NATO-by assassinating a deputy minister of foreign affairs. After receiving intelligence about the threat in Sweden, the United States sends Pike Logan to identify Petrov's target-only for him to get caught in the crossfire between Putin's agents and the Wolves. When the smoke clears, Pike makes no effort to stop the Wolves on their ultimate mission, believing it just, until he discovers that their operation has unimaginable consequences. For Putin is preparing a devastating endgame: activating the Dead Man's Hand nuclear response that will launch Russia's missiles in the event of his death. . . This riveting new novel delivers top notch action with each turn of the page. Taylor incorporates current events involving the US military complex to deliver one of the most prophetic thrillers of 2024. This authoritative blend of ripped from the headlines action complemented by authentic characters allows for praise that proclaims with each new entry into his bestselling series, Brad Taylor is "laying claim to being the American John le Carre." (Providence Journal).
AMERICAN GUN: The True Story of the AR-15 by Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson is about the most lethal handheld icon of the 21st century - the AR-15 rifle - which has become the weapon of choice for mass shooters. The same gun, under the name M16, was the gun that was carried by soldiers in Vietnam. Now, that weapon - or even just the silhouette of its barrel and trigger - has come to symbolize freedom for millions of Americans and the essence of evil for millions of others. AMERICAN GUN tells the essential and extraordinary story of the AR-15 for the first time. Jonathan Eig writes, "With hard-core reporting and gripping prose. [t]his is social history at its finest." AMERICAN GUN authors McWhirter and Elison are both journalists at the Wall Street Journal who have covered gun culture and the industry, including mass shootings, for years. They tell the story in three parts. The first is about an iconoclastic engineer with no formal training, Eugene Stoner, who came up with the idea for the gun in his garage workshop in Los Angeles, solving an age-old problem in weapons design - how to make a lightweight, easy to fire gun that essentially powers itself. He then, somewhat heroically, took on the military industrial complex with a small company and ultimately overcame lies and deceit at the top of the government to establish this weapon as by far the better option for the military. The book then moves to the jungles of Vietnam. It tells another part of the story of the AR-15 where the government modified the gun, naming it the M16, which didn't work very well - jamming repeatedly, costing many lives, and causing a major Congressional investigation. In the final part of the book, the terrifying story of how this weapon that has no use in hunting became more and more popular in the civilian market, beginning in the 1970s and accelerating most recently, is told. We meet upstarts and transgressive gun manufacturers as well as video game developers who celebrate the A-15's outlaw mystique in order to promote it. And we see how attempts to ban and restrict it are foiled again and again, even as mass shootings proliferate.
In November 1963, Paul Landis was a witness to history. But despite seeing the fatal shot from 20 feet away and being at President John F. Kennedy's side at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Landis was never called on by the Warren Commission to tell his story of the president's assassination. Sixty years later, the former Secret Service agent is telling his story of safeguarding the Kennedy family and the explosive moment in Dallas that changed the course of history-and his life. In The Final Witness (Chicago Review Press, October 10, 2023), Landis shares his role in of one of American history's most shocking events, and the one action that alters our understanding of one of the most notorious murders of the 20th Century. Special Agent Paul Landis was stationed in the car directly behind the president's in Dealey Plaza. He was inside Trauma Room #1 as the president was pronounced dead. He was on Air Force One with the president's casket on the flight back to Washington D.C.-an eyewitness to Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office. What he saw indelibly imprinted on his psyche. By mid-1964, the nightmares from Dallas remained, and he resigned. It wasn't until the fiftieth anniversary that he began to talk about it and read his first books about the assassination, realizing that they had the story wrong. He has kept his recollections private until now, including details surrounding a key piece of evidence that may permanently change our understanding of this critical moment of U.S. history.
"A rip-roaring read about spycraft and the CIA's inner workings . . . an inspiring group portrait of extraordinary CIA women whose careers are multisided profiles in courage."-Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars The acclaimed author of Code Girls returns with a revelatory history of three generations at the CIA-the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spy craft, and tracked down Osama Bin Laden. Created in the aftermath of World War Two, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency's secrets. Despite discrimination-even because of it-women who started as clerks, secretaries, or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA's shrewdest operatives. They were unlikely spies-and that's exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA's critical archives-first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn't see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of Al Qaeda-though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside. After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the Agency as a new job, "targeter," came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape-an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA's successful efforts to track down Bin Laden in his Pakistani compound.
One of the most hotly contested issues of our time - the US-Mexico border - stretches more than 2,000 miles. It's protection is led by a thin-line of overworked and underfunded US Border Patrol agents. Vincent Vargas, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the US Army's 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, later served with the Border Patrol. His new book, BORDERLINE: Defending the Homefront, which publishes November 14, 2023, provides a thorough insiders look at just how dangerous defending the border is.
"The most bracingly honest, refreshing account of the Afghan war" (Sebastian Junger, New York Times? bestselling author) from a Marine Corps Combat Cameraman and director of the acclaimed documentary Combat Obscura. At just eighteen years old, Miles Lagoze joined the Marine Corps a decade after the war began and found himself surrounded by people not unlike those he'd left behind at home-aimless youth searching for stability, community, and economic security. Deployed to Afghanistan as a Combat Cameraman-an active-duty videographer and photographer-Lagoze produced slick images of glory and heroism for public consumption. But his government-approved footage concealed a grim reality. Here, Lagoze pulls back the curtain and illustrates the grisly truth of the longest war in American history. As these young men and women were deployed to an unfamiliar country half a world away-history's "graveyard of empires"-they carried the scars of the fractured homeland that sent them. Lagoze shows us Marines straddling the edge of chaos. We see forces desensitized to gore and suffering by the darkest reaches of the internet, unsure of their places in an unraveling world and set further adrift by the uncertain mission to which they had been assigned abroad. Whistles from the Graveyard: My Time Behind the Camera on War, Rage, and Restless Youth in Afghanistan shows the parts of the Afghanistan War we were never meant to see-Afghan locals and American infantry drawn together by their fears of the ghostly, ever-present terror of the Taliban; moments of dark resignation as the devastating toll of years in war's crossfire reveals itself between bouts of adrenaline-laced violence; and nights of reckless, drug-fueled abandon to dull the pain. In full, vivid color, Miles Lagoze shows us an oft-overlooked generation of young Americans we cast out into the desert, steeped in nihilism, and shipped back home with firsthand training in extremism, misanthropy, and insurrection.
When Ian Fritz joined the Air Force at eighteen, he did so out of necessity. He hadn't been accepted into college thanks to an indifferent high school career. He'd too often slept through his classes as he worked long hours at a Chinese restaurant to help pay the bills for his trailer-dwelling family in Lake City, Florida. But the Air Force recognizes his potential and sends him to the elite Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to learn Dari and Pashto, the main languages of Afghanistan. By 2011, Fritz was an airborne cryptologic linguist and one of only a tiny number of people in the world trained to do this job on low-flying gunships. He monitors communications on the ground and determines in real time which Afghans are Taliban and which are innocent civilians. This eavesdropping is critical to supporting Special Forces units on the ground, but there is no training to counter the emotional complexity that develops as you listen to people's most intimate conversations. Over the course of two tours, Fritz listens to the Taliban for hundreds of hours, all over the country night and day, in moments of peace and in the middle of battle. What he hears teaches him about the people of Afghanistan-Taliban and otherwise-the war, and himself. Fritz's fluency is his greatest asset to the military, yet it becomes the greatest liability to his own commitment to the cause. Both proud of his service and in despair that he is instrumental in destroying the voices that he hears, What the Taliban Told Me is a brilliant, intimate coming-of-age memoir and a reckoning with our twenty years of war in Afghanistan.
THE SPACE RACE weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden, among many others. In THE SPACE RACE, directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortés profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight's quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in THE SPACE RACE, turning science fiction into science fact and forever redefining what "the right stuff" looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate and a fresh history to explore.
The war in Afghanistan impacted Americans in profound ways, yet only a small percentage of Americans know what it's like to be there, fight there, come home from there, and then live the rest of their lives wondering if their service made a difference. This Troubled Ground (Koehler Books; September 12, 2023) by Les Carroll goes there-to the cold, dark, and heartbreaking tarmac at Dover Air Force Base, to the Kabul newsrooms, to briefing rooms, and to the deadly battlefields in their many forms across Afghanistan. Inspired by true events, this book follows a haunting, sometimes uplifting but ultimately tragic journey into war through the eyes of an Air Force officer searching for meaning as his path intersects with a mother's desperate quest to find hope after her son is killed serving with the US Marines in Afghanistan. Les Carroll grew up in South Carolina, served in the Air Force and Air National Guard for twenty-eight years, and retired in 2013. He served two tours in Afghanistan and one tour at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center at Dover Air Force Base. This Troubled Ground was created out of those experiences. He is an award-winning military and civilian journalist and acclaimed documentary filmmaker. His documentary Bringing the Fallen Home aired nationally in 2014. He wrote and published three books in the mid-1990s.
On December 5, 2005, Air Force Special Ops Paratrooper Israel Del Toro's life changed completely when, returning to his base, the Humvee he was in ran over an IED. The resulting explosion and fire burned Del Toro over 80% of his body. He survived, somehow, and was transported back to a U.S. hospital. Against enormous odds, his trials and tribulations to live were just beginning. For the first time, Del Toro tells the full story of his ordeal in his truly inspiring memoir, A PATRIOT'S PROMISE: Protecting My Brothers, Fighting for My Life, and Keeping My Word (St. Martin's Press, on sale July 4, 2023, $28.99).
For the next four months, Del Toro lay in a coma. On three separate occasions his devoted wife, Carmen, was called to his side as doctors feared he would not make it overnight. His story is not only one of courage and overcoming horrific obstacles from war, but also conquering myriad roadblocks throughout his life. At age 12, he lost his father and became the man of the house. Having been told by his high school guidance counselor he should just concentrate on going to a local junior college, the determined teen ended up with a scholarship to the University of Illinois. But just as things started rounding into shape in his young life, his mother unexpectedly died. Now Del Toro had to fully embrace the promise he gave his father to take care of his younger siblings. He walked away from his college dream and returned home to care for his family.
With his siblings growing up, and family members close by, Del Toro made the tough decision to enlist in the Air Force. His skills were a natural fit and his superior officers could see his natural leadership qualities. Though recently married, with a baby boy to care for as well, he was deployed to Afghanistan. His strength and perseverance made his fellow cadets gravitate towards him. And then.December 5, 2005. Still, after being told he'd spend 18 months in the hospital, Del Toro was so determined to return home that he was released only two months into his stay. He still needed daily care from his wife, Carmen, and his greatest fear remained - would his young three-year-old son be frightened of his physical appearance? When father and son met again after months of separation, the young boy ran into his father's arms. All he wanted was his Dad back.
His amazing story began inspiring other wounded troops, and soon thereafter Del Toro became an advocate for others in the Burn Unit and those badly injured. He continues to inspire today, speaking at numerous organizations and foundations, and numbers among his strongest friends President George W. Bush, Prince Harry, Gary Sinise, and Jon Stewart. Del Toro has gone on to set records and win medals at The Warrior Games and The Invictus Games. He won the Pat Tillman Courage Award at the ESPYs. Perhaps his most amazing accomplishment, though, occurred in February of 2010 when he became the first completely disabled airman ever to re-enlist in the Air Force and become an instructor. Though he couldn't deploy again he was at least back in the game.
Pod Crashing Episode 257 Jacob And Ashley Schick From The Good Stuff The Good Stuff Podcast delves into the inspiring stories of success and perseverance. Through well-crafted story monologues, we showcase individuals who have made a positive impact through their acts of kindness, successful careers, businesses, and military service.
What we see on television, as well as what we read in newspapers, watch on YouTube, and hear on the radio, routinely glorifies the military, obscures the real costs of war, and dehumanizes people the U.S. government has deemed dangerous or expendable. In War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine (Hardcover; $27.99; 978-1-62097-791-0; On sale 6/13/2023) acclaimed journalist and political analyst Norman Solomon takes American media and political leaders to task for selectively concealing tragic consequences of war. From Iraq through Afghanistan and Syria and on to little-known deployments in a range of countries around the globe, the United States has been at perpetual war for at least the past two decades. Yet many of these forays remain still off the radar of average Americans. Additionally, the increased use of high technology, airpower, and remote drones has put distance between soldiers and the civilians who die. And back at home, the cloak of invisibility masks massive Pentagon budgets that receive bipartisan approval even as policymakers struggle to fund the domestic agenda.
Pod Crashing Episode 250 With Coach Bill Courtney From An Army Of Normal Folks Coach Bill Courtney of Oscar-Winning Undefeated launches 'An Army of Normal Folks' Movement and podcast empower Americans to change our country by 'each of us doing what we can. Business leader and football coach Bill Courtney joins with other "ordinary" Americans doing extraordinary work to solve our nation's problems through the new movement, An Army of Normal Folks. "Our country's problems will never be solved by a bunch of fancy people in nice suits talking big words in Washington, but by An Army of Normal Folks just deciding 'hey, I can help,'" said Courtney. Based on his own example, Courtney is joining with the nonprofit Iron Light Labs to launch An Army of Normal Folks. Founder of Classic American Hardwoods, Inc., in 2003, he became a volunteer football coach in America's third poorest zip code and yet 31 out of 32 seniors in his last two seasons went to college. Their success on and off the field was the subject of the documentary film, Undefeated, which won an Academy Award in 2012. "We believe that everyone has the power to create change, no matter how 'ordinary' they or their actions may seem," said Courtney. "And if there's An Army of Normal Folks just doing what we can, imagine how different our country could be." As part of the movement, Courtney hosts the iHeartMedia podcast An Army of Normal Folks. iHeartMedia is the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac. The podcast features interviews with members of the Army such as Arkansas Police Officer Tommy Norman and Back on My Feet Founder Anne Mahlum. It aims to inspire listeners and present fascinating models that can be replicated in their own communities. All individuals are invited to join An Army of Normal Folks.
Inspiring lessons learned from a lifetime of honor, service, and leadership from Captain Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and renowned Navy officer. Amid one of the darkest times in American history, it was a moment that captured the attention of the nation. Brett Crozier, captain of the most powerful and prestigious aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, walked off his ship for the last time while thousands of his sailors saluted and chanted his name in admiration. This remarkable moment occurred after Crozier made the decision to try to protect his sailors by pleading with his superiors for help when COVID-19 swept through the vessel. Two days later, he was relieved of command. Now, Crozier reflects on his life, career, and commitment to doing the right thing in a book that celebrates the power of kindness, the importance of teamwork, and the value of standing up for what you believe in. Through a series of captivating stories set all around the world, Crozier takes us along on the grand adventures of his extraordinary career and introduces the incredible people he met along the way. From his days as fighter pilot facing near-death experiences to commandeering suspected pirate vessels in the Persian Gulf, and of course, seizing any opportunity to enjoy one of his favorite hobbies-surfing-Crozier distills the lessons he has learned and the principles that have guided him, showing how you can apply them to your personal and professional life.
After twenty-six years in the CIA, Daniel J. O'Connor releases his debut spy thriller: A True American Patriot: On Your Six O'Clock (Permuted Press, May 16, 2023; ISBN: 9781637588338; $ 18.99 | $ 25.99, Trade Paperback) which hones in on a multitude of national security threats from today's headlines including our current global relationships with China, Russia and North Korea. Daniel has spent his life serving and protecting our country and has taken his experience of "being on the inside" to create a fast-paced story about extraordinary minds and willpower to protect The United States of America.
With his extensive background as an Executive Senior Intelligence Service Officer, and the Chief of Security for five CIA Directors of Intelligence, Daniel can expound on future national security and geo-political events featured in the book:
* In light of the current events, is our Nation headed for war? * How likely is a nuclear event with the current Russian President? * Will an enormous number of people around the globe starve because of food shortages? * The ins and outs of Russia's invasion of Ukraine * China's interest in undermining America
One of the top fighter pilots in the world teaches readers to make clear decisions in everyday life. Hasard Lee is arguably the top fighter pilot in the US Air Force. Lee flies the F-35 joint strike stealth fighter, the most advanced (and expensive) fighter jet in the world. Pushing a cutting-edge fighter jet to its limits at almost twice the speed of sound means you have to perform at the very top of your game, and every split-second decision you make has potentially catastrophic consequences. For the vast majority of people, they'll never have to make those types of decisions with life and death hanging in the balance. Even if most of the decisions we make don't have quite that much drama, we still have myriad choices and game plans in our lives. Hasard Lee has taken what he's learned about decision-making from his years in the Air Force as an elite fighter pilot and pilot instructor, and applied it to the real world in his new book, THE ART OF CLEAR THINKING: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions (St. Martin's Press, on sale date 5/23/23, $29.99). In THE ART OF CLEAR THINKING, Hasard distills what he's learned from his amazing career and compellingly and accessibly makes it applicable to the general readership. In his book he presents the ACE Helix - Assess, Choose, Execute - a three-part decision-making foundation that anyone can use, whether it's managing a team, developing a product for the marketplace or calming a boisterous family situation. Why a "helix" and not a loop as a graphed strategy? Hasard has found that decisions are dynamic, with side effects that rarely end up at the point they started. A decision framework needs to adapt. When graphed over time, this forms a helix.
Last year, Melas and her family visited the set of Masters of the Air, the Playtone (Tom Hanks)/Amblin Entertainment (Stephen Spielberg) Apple+ series coming in early 2023. Her grandfather is the basis of the character featured in the series and planed by Jonas Moore. Now, along with her mother and grandmother, she has shepherded the reissue of Murphy's 2001 memoir, LUCK OF THE DRAW: My Story of the Air War in Europe (St. Martin's Press Griffin; on sale February 28, 2023; $18.99 USD) to coincide with the premiere of the series. "My grandfather once told me he spent the rest of the life walking with ghosts but looking back with pride," Melas writes in the foreword she co-wrote with her mother, Elizabeth Murphy and with the support of her grandmother, Ann Murphy. "Our family's goal is to keep Frank's memory and that of his fellow men alive and pass on the greatness to the next generation." Murphy was a member of the 100th Bomb Group, one of five B-17 bomb groups sent to England in the spring of 1043 to form the new 4th Bomber Wing. He landed in England in June and by the time his plane was shot down in October, her served 126 hours in combat over Europe, experiencing some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. In 2001, Murphy wrote about his combat tour, "It lasted only four months - four months, however, in which were compressed many of the most exciting, and all of the most frightening and life-threatening, experiences I have known in my entire life." Given today's technology, stepping into a WWII vintage B-17 is akin to entering a tin can - one that flies and is manned by a crew of ten. Four of the crew members were officers in the front, the pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, and the navigator - the position held by Murphy. The navigator, Murphy wrote, "climbed aboard lugging a briefcase crammed with maps, Mercator charts, books, paper, pencils, drawing instruments, a hand-held calculator, and strange looking optical instruments. He was invariably hunched over his narrow shelf-like table in front of which was a repeater set of basic flight instruments and radio controls. He looked at his watch constantly, drew lines, and scrobbled notes to himself on the papers, maps, and charts in front of him, much like Scrooge's wretched drudge, Bob Cratchet, in Dicken's classic tale, A Christmas Carol." In typical self-deprecating style, Murphy neglected to mention that he also led them to their target and got them home safely.
Court Gentry is caught between the Russian mafia and the CIA in this latest electrifying thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Gray Man series. When you kick over a rock, you never know what's going to crawl out.
Alex Velesky is about to discover that the hard way. He's stolen records from the Swiss bank that employs him, thinking that he'll uncover a criminal conspiracy. But he soon finds that he's tapped into the mother lode of corruption. Before he knows it, he's being hunted by everyone from the Russian mafia to the CIA.
Court Gentry and his erstwhile lover, Zoya Zakharova, find themselves on opposites poles when it comes to Velesky. They both want him but for different reasons.
That's a problem for tomorrow. Today they need to keep him and themselves alive. Right now, it's not looking good.
The Iraq War's only living Medal of Honor recipient reveals the untold story of the remarkable brotherhood behind one of the war's legendary acts of valorIn 2004, he stormed an enemy stronghold to save his platoon. Fourteen years later, his unit reunited and saved him. This is their story."Acting on instinct to save the members of his platoon from an imminent threat, Staff Sergeant Bellavia ultimately cleared an entire enemy-filled house." So reads the Medal of Honor citation describing one of the Iraq War's most celebrated acts of heroism. But the full story of the brotherhood at the heart of these events is untold-and far more remarkable.In 2004, David Bellavia's U.S. Army unit, an infantry battalion known as the Ramrods-2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division-fought and helped win the Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest episode of the Iraq War. On November 10, 2004, Bellavia single-handedly cleared a fortified enemy position that had pinned down a squad from his platoon. Fourteen years later, Bellavia got a call from the president of the United States: he had been awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions in Fallujah and would receive America's highest award for bravery in combat during a ceremony at the White House.
From the New York Times bestselling author of MRS. KENNEDY AND ME and FIVE PRESIDENTS comes MY TRAVELS WITH MRS. KENNEDY by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin Hill (on-sale October 11, 2022; hardcover), a collection of never-before-told stories and more than 200 rare and never-before-published photographs documenting Secret Service Agent Clint Hill's travels with Jacqueline Kennedy throughout Europe, Asia, and South America.
A United States Secret Service Agent from 1958 to 1975, Clint Hill was assigned to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and was in the motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. For his courage and swift actions that day, Hill received the nation's highest civilian award for bravery.
Recently, while preparing to sell his home, Clint discovered an old steamer trunk in his garage containing forgotten photos, handwritten notes, personal gifts, and treasured mementos from the trips on which he accompanied Jackie Kennedy as her personal Secret Service agent. These trips took the pair through Paris, London, India, Pakistan, Greece, Morocco, Mexico, South America, and more, during which Jackie Kennedy became, according to Hill, "one of the best ambassadors the United States has ever had."From the tender moments, the private laughs, the wild adventures, and the deep affection he shared with one of the world's most iconic women, Hill provides new insight into the intensely private figure he always called "Mrs. Kennedy" and who always called him "Mr. Hill." Hill also reveals startling details about how traveling helped them both heal during the excruciating and grief-filled weeks and months following the assassination of President Kennedy. He writes of the year he spent protecting Mrs. Kennedy after the assassination, a time in his life he has always been reluctant to speak about.
Gordon Sondland, candidly reveals where Sondland stands in life and in politics-describing himself as a "Republican who is a sensible centrist" with a 'cut to the chase' attitude. The memoir provides a frank and honest, self-deprecating assessment of the state of American politics, international relations, and the impeachment trial, as well as detailing his prosperous personal story, and his behind-the-scenes dealings with former President, Donald J. Trump.
American journalist Joe Lindsley stationed in Lviv Ukraine.
If you can help. Please send donations to Lvivlab.com
A deadly strike on Ukraine now includes two missiles hitting Poland. Ukraine is dark and the world is waiting for answers. NATO's chief says, "It's not Ukraine's fault. The deadly strike was likely fired by Ukraine's defenses. But Russia beats ultimate responsibility." It's been nearly two weeks since Joe and I spent a moment together. Overlooking the darkness he struggles to locate enough digital space to keep our conversation connected.
American journalist Joe Lindsley stationed in Lviv Ukraine.
If you can help. Please send donations to Lvivlab.com
American journalist Joe Lindsley stationed in Lviv Ukraine.
If you can help. Please send donations to Lvivlab.com
Dan Hampton brings us the action-packed story of an American hero, Lieutenant Bill Harris, who survived a harrowing imprisonment in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. Through an unpublished memoir provided by Harris’ daughter, military documents and personal photos Harris’ experiences are dramatically revealed.
William Frederick “Bill” Harris was 25 years old when captured by Japanese forces during the Battle of Corregidor in May 1942. This son of a decorated Marine general escaped from hell on earth by swimming eight hours through a shark-infested bay; but his harrowing ordeal had just begun. Evading and fighting for months, he embarked on another agonizing voyage to Australia, but was betrayed by treacherous islanders and handed over to the Japanese. Held for two years in the notorious Ofuna prisoner-of-war camp outside Yokohama, Harris was continuously starved, tortured, and beaten, but he never surrendered. Teaching himself Japanese, he eavesdropped on the guards and created secret codes to communicate with fellow prisoners. After liberation on August 30, 1945, Bill represented American Marine POWs during the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay before joining his father and flying to a home he had not seen in four years.
Former Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper reveals the shocking details of his tumultuous tenure while serving in the Trump administration.
From June of 2019 until his firing by President Trump after the November 2020 election, Secretary Mark T. Esper led the Department of Defense through an unprecedented time in history-a period marked by growing threats and conflict abroad, a global pandemic unseen in a century, the greatest domestic unrest in two generations, and a White House seemingly bent on breaking accepted norms and conventions for political advantage. A Sacred Oath is Secretary Esper's unvarnished and candid memoir of those extraordinary and dangerous times, and includes events and moments never before told.
From former Republican Congressman and CIA Officer Will Hurd, a bold political playbook for America rooted in the timeless ideals of bipartisanship, inclusivity, and democratic values.
It's getting harder to get big things done in America. The gears of our democracy have been mucked up by political nonsense. To meet the era-defining challenges of the 21st century, our country needs a reboot.
In American Reboot, Hurd, called "the future of the GOP" by Politico, provides a clear-eyed path forward for America grounded by what Hurd calls pragmatic idealism-a concept forged from enduring American values to achieve what is actually achievable.
Hurd takes on five seismic problems facing a country in crisis: the Republican Party's failure to present a principled vision for the future; the lack of honest leadership in Washington, DC; income inequality that threatens the livelihood of millions of Americans; US economic and military dominance that is no longer guaranteed; and how technological change in the next thirty years will make the advancements of the last thirty years look trivial.
Hurd has seen these challenges up close. A child of interracial parents in South Texas, Hurd survived the back alleys of dangerous places as a CIA officer. He carried that experience into three terms in Congress, where he was, for a time, the House's only Black Republican, representing a 71 percent Latino swing district in Texas that runs along 820 miles of US-Mexico border. As a cyber security executive and innovation crusader, Hurd has worked with entrepreneurs on the cutting edge of technology to anticipate the shockwaves of the future.
Hurd draws on his remarkable experience to present an inspiring guide for America. He outlines how the Republican party can look like America by appealing to the middle, not the edges. He maps out how leaders should inspire rather than fearmonger. He forges a domestic policy based on the idea that prosperity should be a product of empowering people, not the government. He articulates a foreign policy where our enemies fear us and our friends love us. And lastly, he charts a forceful path forward for America's technological future.
We all know we can do better. It's time to hit "ctrl alt del" and start the American Reboot.
A memoir by the highest-ranking covert warrior to lift the veil of secrecy and offer a glimpse into the shadow wars that America has fought since the Vietnam Era.
Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric's legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism. Operating in the shadows, Ric and his fellow CIA officers fought a little-seen and virtually unknown war to keep USA safe from those who would do it harm.
After duty stations in Central, South America, and the Philippines, Black Ops follows Ric into the highest echelons of the CIA's headquarters at Langley, Virginia. In late 1995, he became Deputy Chief of Station and co-founding member of the Bin Laden Task Force. Three years later, after serving as head of Korean Operations, Ric took on one of the most dangerous missions of his career: to re-establish a once-abandoned CIA station inside a hostile nation long since considered a front line of the fight against Islamic terrorism. He and his team carried out covert operations and developed assets that proved pivotal in the coming War on Terror.
A harrowing memoir of life in the shadowy world of assassins, terrorists, spies and revolutionaries, Black Ops is a testament to the courage, creativity and dedication of the Agency's Special Activities Group and its elite shadow warriors.
"Ric Prado is an American original, a shadow warrior whose combat and street skills actually live up to Hollywood's spy movie fantasies. Any story of his life and his C.I.A. career will stand out in the genre of such memoirs and biographies, not only because of Ric's outsized experiences, but because his adventurous work included some of the most important covert actions in recent Agency history." -Steve Coll, New York Times bestselling author of GHOST WARS and DIRECTORATE S and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward. Episode 430 with legendary author Mark Greaney.
Praised by reviewers, booksellers, the most recognizable names in the industry, and readers, Mark Greaney has cemented himself into the pantheon of go-to thriller writers. The year 2022 will be an exceptional year for Greaney with the publication of the eleventh book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series: SIERRA SIX
Brad Taylor was born on Okinawa, Japan, but grew up on 40-acres in rural Texas. Graduating from the University of Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry.. Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), is a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces, including eight years with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta, popularly known as Delta Force, where he commanded multiple troops and a squadron. Taylor retired in 2010 after serving more than two decades and participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as classified operations in Afghanistan and around the globe. His final military post was as Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Citadel. He holds a Master's in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, with a concentration in Irregular Warfare.
This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward. Episode 367 is with U.S. Navy Seal Jocko Willink author of Final Spin
Jocko Willink's life and career following a decorated turn as a Navy SEAL has seen him achieve great success as a writer, businessman, and podcast host. He used tremendous self-discipline to accomplish these goals. He is also a true renaissance man who wants to tell a story that burns in him. One about people down on their luck, struggling to find their way, and of those that, when their one chance arises, don't pass it up. With that he presents a powerful and poignant debut novel, FINAL SPIN
A former CIA officer and the creator of the hit TV series The Americans makes the case that America's policy towards Russia is failing-and we'll never fix it until we rethink our relationship.
Coming of age in America in the 1970s and 80s, Joe Weisberg was a Cold Warrior. After briefly studying Russian in Leningrad, he joined the CIA in 1990-just in time to watch the Soviet Union collapse.
But less than a decade after the first Cold War ended, a new one broke out. Russia changed in many of the ways that America hoped it might-more capitalist, more religious, more open to Western ideas. But US sanctions have crippled Russia's economy; and Russia's interventions have exacerbated political problems in America. The old paradigm-America, the free capitalist good guys, fighting Russia, the repressive communist bad guys-simply doesn't apply anymore. But we've continued to act as if it does.
In this bold and controversial book, Joe Weisberg interrogates these assumptions, asking hard questions about American policy and attempting to understand what Russia truly wants. Russia Upside Down makes the case against the new Cold War. It suggests that we are fighting an enemy with whom we have few if any serious conflicts of interest. It argues that we are fighting with ineffective and dangerous tools. And most of all, it aims to demonstrate that our approach is not working.
With our own political system in peril and continually buffeted by Russian attacks, we need a new framework, urgently. Russia Upside Down shows the stakes and begins to lay out that new plan, at a time when it is badly needed.
This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward. Episode 316 with J-Dog Jerry Flanagan.
New TV series, Operation Hidden Treasures follows enterprising U.S. Military Veterans and their families whose mission is to salvage and repurpose otherwise unused items and turn them in to 'treasures' for people in need. The series premieres on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern on Discovery Channel.
Operation Hidden Treasures features a nation-wide effort by hard-working military veterans from J-Dog Junk Removal and Hauling, America's largest veteran-owned franchise system, who utilize their unique service skills to change lives by recovering and repurposing 'junk' donated by ordinary citizens into valuable treasures for families and veterans in need.
JDog Junk Removal & Hauling is a franchised operation wholly owned and operated by Veterans and their families. Giving back to people in need is part of Military tradition. In every episode, we witness JDog's quest to recycle or repurpose as much as 80% of the objects that their teams pick up from each job - with unexpected items embarking on a new journey to benefit a family or veteran in need.
THE LONG WAR: The Inside Story of America and Afghanistan Since 9/11 (St. Martin's Press, on sale October 5, 2021, $29.99), by award-winning foreign correspondent David Loyn, tells the most complete and detailed story yet on the 20-year campaign in Afghanistan - America's longest war.
At first, it was easy for the U.S. to defeat the Taliban with overwhelming air power. However, they've risen again amid general discontent across Afghanistan, coupled with rampant corruption and instability within the government in Kabul. Eight Generals (seven American, one British) led the war against the Taliban. Loyn interviewed Generals David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, David McKiernan, and Dan McNeill at length about their leadership during the war. Collectively, their military experience dated as far back as Vietnam; however, they now found themselves tested as never before. McChrystal, for instance, had the reputation of a "warrior monk," and was considered one of the most gifted military leaders of his generation. So where did they all go wrong?
THE LONG WAR uncovers failures at the beginning of the war that made long-term engagement inevitable, arguing that the decision to rely on a "light footprint," and give large amounts of cash to tribal warlords allowed fractures to emerge, and created a vacuum shortly after the initial defeat of the Taliban. That alone was a recipe for prolonging the war and made necessary the need for a much larger ground force. In addition, the U.S. failure to understand the context of its relationship with these warlords resulted in the blocking of a functioning country (that had its own skilled army with the ability to defend itself), and an honorable elected government (not one that ended up rife with massive corruption).
If that wasn't enough, the distraction of the simultaneous plan for war in Iraq led to a loss of focus on stabilizing the government in Kabul and the nation as a whole. It soon became the "other war," at least until the Obama administration ordered a 2010 surge in U.S. troops to defend the gains initially made there in 2001-2002.
Afghanistan was the only war in NATO's 70-year history which began under its founding principle: an attack on one is considered an attack on all. Holding together this intricate web after 9/11 was a unique leadership challenge, calling on highly developed political and military skills. Throughout these two decades, the generals had to fight the Taliban while juggling the political rhetoric coming from Washington D.C., Brussels, and Kabul. And, they had to lead troops in the field while grappling with the multi-dimensional puzzles of the most significant geopolitical event of the new century.
Full of in-depth interviews with the four-star generals who commanded the international coalition of troops - at its peak 150,000 strong, 100,000 of them Americans - THE LONG WAR provides the most vivid inside story yet written of the challenges they all faced during the combat years. It explains the deteriorating situation on the ground and the complex challenges of protecting the lives of thousands of American and European soldiers, all while facing down intense criticism from the public and political leaders.
David Loyn, who covered Afghanistan intensely for years as a reporter for the BBC, and then later as a U.S. government-funded strategic communication advisor to the Afghan president, is as versed as any media expert on both modern day Afghanistan as well as centuries of the country's conflicts.
July 16, 2021
Robert Sykes. A frequent visitor on my daily path. Until yesterday he was always as the aged man who downed two huge Red Bulls before shopping for groceries. I didn’t know his story. Not til fate put me next to him while manning the beer and wine bar at Harris Teeter. Robert Sykes wanted another glass of the house juice. He wanted to know where I was from, “You talk funny. People don’t sound like you.” I learned while choosing to listen that Robert Sykes had walked nearly the entire nation. Walked meaning he hitch hiked. That doesn’t always mean getting a ride. Nor does it always offer shelter. The worst storm he’s ever seen was in North Dakota. He had to take shelter under an overpass. Robert Sykes is a U.S. Marine. He wanted Air Force but felt he’d take whatever they’d give. 1968. His hero John Wayne would do it. So he needed to. Get over to Vietnam. In the moments he arrived, the platoon that which he was part of was ambushed. They lost six including their leader. Robert Sykes remembers every man that was part of his team, including the cities they were from. Robert Sykes found reason to chuckle about a helicopter that almost landed on him while trying to free an area under attack. Today, he finds solitude sitting in the far corner of a grocery store beer and wine bar. Slowly sipping on the juice. When it was time to go. I called Yellow Cab. I watched as he struggled to get into the vehicle. Not because of the wine. It was the effects of time. I thanked Mr. Sykes for his stories. He quickly returned, “There’s a lot of us out here that want to talk. We just can’t find the listeners.”
Few thriller writers today have the background and experience of A.J. Tata: bestselling author, and more so, decorated Brigadier General (U.S. Army - Ret.). His latest thriller, CHASING THE LION (St. Martin's Publishing Group; on sale date June 1, 2021; $27.99), introduces his new lead character, Army Lieutenant General Garrett Sinclair, in a tale that feels all too real in the world we live in.
America is on the verge of history - the inauguration of our country's first female President is rapidly approaching. At the same time, intelligence has uncovered a frightening plot led by Iranian Quds Force Commander General Dariush Parizad, known as The Lion of Tabas. Parizad has his hands on a psychoactive nerve agent. A viral spread of this agent would result in thousands, if not millions, of deaths initially and over time.
The largest crowd ever for an inauguration is expected in Washington D.C. - the perfect target for Parizad. Garrett Sinclair and his team race against time to prevent a catastrophe of epic proportions. As his team plumbs the depths of their mission a more sinister and personal mystery comes into clear focus: was Garrett Sinclair's wife murdered for her connection to the president-elect? Sinclair now has two puzzles to solve - his wife's murder and stopping the madman Parizad who continues to be one step ahead of Sinclair and his team. Time is running out.
CHASING THE LION feels like it's jumped straight off the headlines of today's newspapers and landed in our laps. With all that is happening in the U.S. and around the globe, the sensation that this could be an all-too-real story never leaves the reader as you dart from page to page. The author's career in the military, especially in the global hotspots where he's led U.S. troops, lends an air of complete authenticity to both the story and the characters. A new hero is in town, at a time when the country and the world needs him.
It was 1945 and Romek Wajsman had just been liberated from Buchenwald, a brutal concentration camp where more than 60,000 people were killed. He was starving, tortured, and had no idea where his family was—let alone if they were alive.
Along with 472 other boys, including Elie Wiesel, these teens were dubbed “The Buchenwald Boys.” They were angry at the world for their abuse, and turned to violence: stealing, fighting, and struggling for power. Everything changed for Romek and the other boys when Albert Einstein and Rabbi Herschel Schacter brought them to a home for rehabilitation.
Romek Wajsman, now Robbie Waisman, humanitarian and Canadian governor general award recipient, shares his remarkable journey in this memoir for young readers written by Waisman and Susan McClelland. Boy from Buchenwald is a gripping tale of transforming pain into resiliency and overcoming incredible loss to find incredible joy.
Romek Wajsman, who changed his name to Robbie Waisman when he moved to Canada in 1949, is an accountant by training, a successful businessman, father, grandfather, and beloved international speaker on topics of the Holocaust, healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness. This memoir is about an unsung historical group, and the focus on Romek’s recovery makes this a fresh approach to the Holocaust memoir genre. Boy from Buchenwald also brings to mind the journey that too many teens face today when recovering from personal and national tragedies
Hey it’s Arroe. This is Play It Forward. A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus.
Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward.
Episode 229 with Dr Randall Bell.
His new book is titled Post Traumatic Thriving
Trauma has a way of showing up when we least expect it, and society sends many signals telling us that it's admirable to put on a brave face and soldier on. But our grief is normal - even healthy, says this world-renowned expert on disasters and trauma.
That’s Play It Forward. You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.
Gibby’s older brothers have already been to war. Robert died in the jungles of Vietnam, while Jason came back misunderstood and hard, a decorated killer and drug addict now freshly released from a three-year stint in prison. Jason won’t speak of the war or of his time behind bars, and he’s estranged from his father, a detective, as well as his mother. But Jason does want a relationship with the younger brother he hasn’t known for years. Determined to make that connection, he coaxes Gibby into a day at the lake: long hours of sunshine and whiskey and older women. But the day turns ugly when the four encounter a prison transfer bus on a stretch of empty road. Beautiful but drunk, Jason’s girlfriend Tyra taunts the prisoners, leading to a riot on the bus. She finds it funny in the moment, but is savagely murdered soon after. The man behind this violence is a deranged, wealthy serial killer, incarcerated yet running the prison through money and intimidation. Given Jason’s violent history, suspicion turns first to him; but when Tyra’s friend, Sara, is kidnapped days later, the police suspect Gibby, too. Determined to prove Jason innocent, Gibby must avoid the cops and dive deep into his brother’s hidden life, a dark world of heroin, guns, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. What he discovers there is a truth bleaker than he could have imagined: not just the identity of the killer and the reasons for Tyra’s murder, but also the forces that shaped his brother in Vietnam, the reason he was framed, and why the most dangerous man alive wants him back in prison.
John Hart is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, most recently The Hush. The only author in history to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel consecutively, John has also won the Barry Award, the SIBA Award for Fiction, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and the North Carolina Award for Literature. His novels have been translated into thirty languages and can be found in more than seventy countries.
Only once during the nearly two decades-long war in Afghanistan has an active-duty combat member been pulled from duty due to the deaths of two family members in war. Beau Wise is that man. His brother, Navy SEAL combat veteran Jeremy Wise was killed in a suicide bombing that targeted the CIA. A terrorist sleeper agent working with al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, perpetrated the sneak attack, which marked the worst loss of life for the CIA in a quarter century. Less than three years later, U.S. Army Green Beret sniper Ben Wise was fatally wounded after volunteering for a dangerous assignment during a firefight with the Taliban. Jeremy received the Intelligence Star, one of the rarest awards bestowed by the U.S. government, and also a star on the CIA's Memorial Wall. Ben was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
The Wise brothers' story of service began shortly after 9/11. Each brother volunteered to serve their nation. Their family is steeped in the richness of the heartland of America, woven into the historical fabric of the military for generations of service, and they are a family that has sacrificed much in the defense of the U.S. In THREE WISE MEN, written with Tom Sileo (St. Martin's Publishing Group, on sale 1/5/21, $28.99), Beau Wise not only pays tribute to his fallen brothers Jeremy and Ben, delving into his family's long history of patriotism, but also pays honor to the many who have sacrificed so much during our post-9/11 wars.
As a recipient of the Department of Defense's "Sole Survivor' designation, Wise writes a stirring and intimate portrait of combat and the strength of family under the most trying of situations. No military family has sacrificed more during the lengthy Afghanistan war than the Wise family. Told in Beau's voice, this is an incredible memoir of family, service, and dedication to the freedom of the United States.
This is this one: You may know Joe Drape as the author of 6 books and as an award-winning sports reporter for the New York Times. He takes a turn now with The Saint Makers: Inside The Catholic Church and How a War Hero Inspired a Journey of Faith, about how saints are “made.” Drape chronicles the unlikely alliance between Father Hotze and Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, a country priest and a cosmopolitan Italian canon lawyer, as the two piece together the life of a long dead Korean War hero and military chaplain and fashion it into a case for eternal divinity.
"Engaging... this profile in sainthood is humane and compelling." ―Kirkus Reviews
“An illuminating exploration of the heroism of Korean War military chaplain Emil Kapaun….[A]moving account of courage and faith in the killing fields of Korea.” ―Publishers Weekly
“…hope and inspiration seem in short supply as this pandemic persists, but a bit of divine intervention seems to burst from Drape’s new book...”—National Book Review, Hot Books List
Drape had complete access to the priests, attorney, and lay people involved in the process with the Vatican, allowing him to tell the detailed and dramatic story of the saint making process like never before. Few of the 1.2 billion Catholics understand what goes on behind the scenes of the saint making process. Now they will.
Hey it’s Arroe. This is Play It Forward. A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus.
Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward.
Episode 142 Wayne Nelson from Little River Band
They’ve released a brand new song "The Lost and The Lonely" just prior to Veteran's Day. An incredible piece of music that honors the men and women across the military. Its available on all major streaming platforms.
The Lost and The Lonely illustrates the depth and emotions of that initial choice to join the military. It was recorded with the Craig Turley Rock Symphony and is the first track to be released from Little River Band's forthcoming album, "Black Tie."
"'The Lost and The Lonely' spells out the conversation between a young person with his parents as he or she explains why they've chosen to put on a uniform, hoping to make a difference for the lost and lonely of the world.
The song is not an endorsement of war. It's meant to praise those who put their lives on the line for freedom."
That’s Play It Forward. You can listen to the full conversations with these artists on three different podcasts. Like Its Live, Unplugged and Totally Uncut and View from the Writing Instrument found on all digital platforms.
Learn how to be a leader in your own life and career with expert advice from one of the Navy's elite TOPGUN instructors. During a twenty-year career in uniform, Guy Snodgrass became one of the most skilled fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy, commanding combat jets over some of the most dangerous war zones in the world -- and he did it all using the lessons he learned at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). The real-life inspiration for the blockbuster films Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick, the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School trains the top one percent of our nation's fighter pilots. Over the course of twelve weeks, these pilots are drilled on aerial tactics, combat, and skills required to win in any organization. Ordinary people are transformed into world-class leaders. Pilots, like Commander Snodgrass, who remain on staff as TOPGUN instructors, are held to even higher and more demanding standards.
In TOPGUN's Top 10, Commander Snodgrass distills some of the most important lessons he's learned and taught over the course of his career into a taut, engaging book for readers of all ages and experience levels. It's the perfect gift for anyone looking to change careers, excel in the workplace, or find their way in the world after college graduation. Smart, practical, and direct, Snodgrass's account of real TOPGUN experience will inspire a new generation of leaders.
THE FLYING TIGERS back story of the American volunteer pilot unit that flew in China in the early days of World War II.
How the unit was made famous by their shark-faced P-40s and the John Wayne movie of the same name.
How he obtained and used handwritten WWII love letters to trace the story of the Flying Tigers.
Working with Flying Tigers families to track down letters, diaries and photographs from the unit’s exploits in China and Burma.
Meeting the last surviving Flying Tiger, Frank Losonsky, who took him to see one of the P-40s at a museum in Georgia.
Attending the private meetings of the family member group -- Flying Tigers Association and learning the history of those families after their veterans returned from WWII.
Tracing the minute-by-minute accounts of the battles he found in combat reports left in the basement of an unremarkable building in Washington D.C.
Though the Flying Tigers’ shark-nosed P-40s remain one of the memorable images of America at war, the authentic story of the Flying Tigers had never been told before. It’s a story of young Americans who came from all walks of life and from all over the country but banded together for a common purpose and went on to become the first Americans to strike back against the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. It’s a story of how the Roosevelt administration was secretly sending over planes and men to help China even before Pearl Harbor.
The Sergeants Daughter from Terresa Shelton. My all out upfront and honest book reading lovely wife of 27 years couldn't put this down. A moving account of overcoming extreme adversity in the pursuit of independence, reminiscent of The Glass Castle and Tara Westover’s Educated. Teressa’s sergeant father brings his military life to their already unstable home, meeting each of his daughters’ infractions with extreme punishment while their mother remains unsupportive and silent. Aided only by the solace of books, music, and a few kind figures, Teressa finds an eventual path to survival and redemption, finding pride in the fact that her father was never able to break her, no matter how hard he tried. From the arroe.net studio we are Unplugged and Totally Uncut!!!
At the age of 24, U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell was named commander of a forty-man elite infantry platoon, known as the Outlaws, and was tasked with rooting out Pakistan-based insurgents along Afghanistan's eastern frontier. His New York Times bestselling memoir Outlaw Platoon, tells how close combat reshaped the lives of Parnell and his men, and how the love and faith they found in one another kept them alive. Parnell captured a story of brotherhood and painted an intense searing portrait of war that has rarely been so acutely and realistically captured.
Now Parnell brings his boots-on-the-ground experience to ONE TRUE PATRIOT (William Morrow, on sale 9/3). With Outlaw Platoon, Parnell gave readers a vivid, action-packed true story of enormous sacrifice and bravery that landed readers in the heat and smoke of combat. He brings that same heart and passion to One True Patriot which features special operator Eric Steele-an Alpha-an elite soldier under the direct command of the president of the United States.
When Steele and his mother are ambushed at his home, she lands in the ICU after the brutal attack. While on the hunt for the men who put his mother in a coma, Steele discovers he's become entangled in a far more sinister plan-one that could lead all the way back to his father's clandestine days in the military. A terrorist named Zakayev has escaped the Russian prison and has joined forces with Hassan Sitta, a man who has a bomb planted in the Middle East. But that is only the beginning of a horrifying plan that, if it succeeds, will shatter international alliances and bring the world to the brink of war. S
At a time in history when nuclear weapons are easily available, and certain global leaders have eschewed rationality while possessing hair-trigger tempers, the fear of a nuclear attack is as high as it's been since the height of the Cold War. Who protects us from what could be our certain demise? Having the most powerful military force on earth is some comfort for citizens of the U.S., but only to a degree. Any launch of an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) could result in countless lost lives, damage to property, and a way of life that might never recover. Standing in the way of our nation being harmed are roughly 300 men and women of the U.S. Army's 100th Missile Defense Brigade and 49th Missile Defense Battalion.
In his new book, Daniel Wasserbly, editor of the renowned military journal Jane's International Defence Review, has written a first-of-its-kind examination of this small group who work in secret to watch the world and keep us safe: THE 300: The Inside Story of the Missile Defenders Guarding America Against Nuclear Attack (St. Martin's Publishing Group, on sale June 16, 2020, $28.99 US).
North Korea, with actual nuclear capabilities, currently sits atop the watch dog list of rogue nuclear nations. Kim Jong Un is both a loose cannon and a calculating demagogue. Consider this: A missile launch inside North Korea would take slightly less than 30 minutes to arrive in Seattle. Within that 30 minute stretch there is a 7-minute window from the time the inbound missile crosses over into our interceptor missile system's third radar horizon. Testing has shown that the first two minutes and the last two minutes of that seven-minute window are statistically very bad for an intercept. Now, it really comes down to a 3-minute time frame in the middle. Just 3 minutes to save the country from nuclear disaster. Would Kim Jong Un actually ever consider a nuclear strike or is it all just a bargaining chip?
For decades the U.S. had been virtually powerless to truly stop an incoming missile attack. We've relied on NORAD and U.S. Northern Command buried deep under a granite shield in the Cheyenne Mountains. The attacks of 9/11 and the growing threat of rogue nations like North Korea and Iran, let alone Russia and China, changed the thinking. Our best hope for stopping a nuclear catastrophe rides with a three-pronged Missile Defense system in our military. Wasserbly shows how, spearheaded by the Missile Defense Agency in Virginia, the years of testing by those two MDA's divisions have set up the U.S. for what may be our only best hope to deter disaster.
In 2004, despite political wrangling, the U.S. moved forward with the Missile Defense Agency. Time and money were spent establishing this unit in Fort Greely, Alaska, and Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Testing on advanced interceptor weapons had as many roadblocks as successes. This unique 300-personnel unit took on the task of developing a system with the near-impossible objective: destroy an inflight ballistic weapon aimed at the U.S. Under the leadership of Richard Michalski, Dave Meakins and Michael Yowell, et al, in Colorado Springs; Greg Bowen and Mark Kiraly, et al in Alaska; and, Ron Kadish, Trey Obering and James Syring in the Virginia headquarters, the fate of 300 million Americans were in their hands. From desolate fields in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to the mountains of Colorado their engineering brain trust struggled to perfect this system of highly advanced, sensitive, and at times, unreliable technology. After a decade-and-a-half, they have created a shield that can successfully protect our nation. Their slogan, "300 for 300 Million." Daniel Wasserbly had unprecedented access and dozens of exclusive interviews, combined with years of research to craft their amazing and heroic story, one that will allow us to sleep better at night knowing these brave men and women are on watch.
Martha McSally is a fighter, a survivor, a leader, and a champion of never giving up. In DARE TO FLY, McSally shares inspiring life stories and timeless principles on how to overcome obstacles and adversity. She believes that none of us is born either courageous or afraid, but rather we all possess the ability to see opportunity in obstacles, cultivate inner resilience, and to succeed when others expect us to fail.
At age twelve, McSally was devastated by the sudden death of her father. His dying words, "make me proud,"became her motto, and she turned to them to inspire her to break barriers and overcome fear. She went on to excel at the Air Force Academy, and, despite initially being rejected for pilot training because she was too short, McSally become America's first female fighter pilot to fly a jet in combat and the first woman to command a combat fighter squadron. She flew 325 combat hours and rose to the rank of Colonel. And she did it while having to face friendly fire: sexism, harassment, and worse by her peers and even her commanders.
She fought for others too, in and out of the cockpit. As a young officer, McSally sued the Pentagon-and won-to free American servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia from archaic restrictions requiring them to travel fully veiled in traditional, black Muslim abayas, ride in the backseats of cars, and be treated more like property than valued service members. Determined to serve her country and to defy her detractors, McSally excelled in the Air Force andwas deployed six times to the to combat zones, earning the Bronze Star and six Air Medals.
After her retirement from active duty, McSally has continued to serve America, first in the House of Representatives, and now as a U.S. Senator from Arizona.
In DARE TO FLY, McSally shares deeply personal stories and gems of advice, such as: 'Do Things Afraid,' in which she recalls a white-knuckle, manual combat run in an Afghanistan canyon to rescue American troops unde fire after her plane's entire electronic targeting system failed. In 'Don't Hesitate to Call a Knock It Off,' she discusses mental health, suicide, and the devastating losses of friends and colleagues. In 'Thrive Through the Darkness' McSally shares deeply personal episodes of grief, abuse and assault, and how she found her own way through the darkness. In 'Thanksgiving in Botswana,' she shares uplifting stories of other pioneers and boundary-breakers. Throughout the book she delves into the importance of faith, family, perseverance, learning how to get yourself to the first water station, and more.
DARE TO FLY takes you into the cockpit and across the world with Martha McSally as your guide to discover your personal courage. Filled with candor and insight, readers will be inspired to break barriers, endure turbulence, thrive through darkness, and soar.
"Like the A-10 aircraft she flew in combat, retired colonel and fighter pilot Martha McSally is a gritty individual who loves our Air Force and personified its core values of excellence, integrity, and service before self,while standing up to make it a better institution for everyone who serves. How to be resolute, do the right thing, persevere, find gratitude, and learn compassion are just some of the lessons in her inspirational life story." -Ron FOGLEMAN, General (ret.), U.S. Air Force; former Air Force Chief of Staff
"I was honored to be in the very first group of US women military pilots as a World War II WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). I have known Martha McSally for decades, and am proud of how she has preserved and carried on our legacy. She is a fighter and leader who still serves our country. A woman who is as good as her word and gets things done. Congratulations Martha on your book and your life." -Nell Bright, WWII veteran, U.S. Airforce Service Pilot (WASP)
"Martha McSally paved the way for others, endured hardship, and exuded courage. The lessons she learned and the stories she shares are inspiring for anyone - in and out of the cockpit."-Heather Wilson, Captain (ret) U.S. Air Force, former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force
In 1973, the draft was abolished and replaced by an all-volunteer military and, for the past 46 years, all of the services have relied on recruits signing up to sustain their enlisted ranks. The success of any volunteer military begins with recruiting. It’s the engine that drives it and makes the difference between an armed force that is strong and viable or one that is degraded where military readiness is threatened and national defense is compromised.
According to a new report by CNA* commissioned by the Department of Defense, the current environmental factors impacting recruiting pose serious challenges to the AVF. Among them:
· A smaller pool of youth qualified to serve: a little more than 1/4 of the 35 million 17 to 24-year-olds who are eligible to serve could do so without a waiver. Medical issues, including obesity, are the largest disqualifying factor.
· An economy with low youth unemployment
· Risks of service due to military engagements in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other fronts adversely affect the recruiting effort
· Changing culture along with feeling disconnected from and lower awareness of the military among 17 to 24-year-olds.
The report looks at these and other issues that need to be addressed if we’re going to have a strong volunteer military. It examines where the weaknesses are in the system and recommends what must be done to shore them up.
Courage begets trust; trust begets respect; respect leads to growth; growth leads to excellence; excellence forges resiliency; and resiliency gives you the power to constantly align with your team. That is the foundation of what it takes to command a team of elite individuals, laid out in expert fashion by former Navy SEAL, entrepreneur, and New York Times bestselling author Mark Divine in his arresting new book, ?STARING DOWN THE WOLF: 7 Leadership Commitments That Forge Elite Teams (St. Martin's Publishing Group, on sale 3/3/20, $28.99).
Divine applies principles gleaned from the battlefield, his training of SEALs, and his own growth company ventures to reveal the keys to getting your team to commit to and achieve elite status. With his own diverse background, he knows how teams can get there but more importantly for every reader, how to avoid the pitfalls that can breach these commitments. As he notes:
. Courage - Divine states the principle to stand up for truth is both a universal as well as personal truth. Embrace inclusiveness and interconnectedness with your team, and have the courage to follow your own calling instead of doing what others think is "right." Every day, expand your risk tolerance and lead from the heart as much as the head.
. Trust - The main principle of trust within your team is that you first commit to becoming trustworthy yourself. One of the most powerful actions you can take as the leader of your team is to admit your mistakes. Own them, day in and day out. Everyone will benefit.
. Respect - Divine says to clarify your specific and implied objectives, and what acceptable victory and failure look like, then communicate these with disciplined integrity and a moral compass. You have to earn respect every day, and you do that with communication steeped in integrity.
. Growth - The principle of true growth for your team is embracing "vertical" character development, both for the team as a whole and you as an individual. Mark Divine believes in committing to "training" yourself daily in his stated seven leadership commitments, akin to a physical workout. Going hard at them every day, and occasionally changing your approach keeps your perspective fresh.
. Excellence - In his book, the author proclaims that excellence is first found in the leader and then expressed to his team though the leaders' character and actions. Excellence is not so much a way of acting as a way of being.
. Resiliency - Fall down seven times, but get up eight, each time stronger and more resolved, accepting the times you fall and embracing what they can teach us. For leaders, instead of adapting and then overcoming, they should overcome and then adapt.
. Alignment - the principle of alignment in the team is to share everything worth sharing. Open yourself to sharing exposure to risk, reward, and the experience of the whole team. Everyone's got a unique skill. Don't hide yours or squash others.
Elite leaders challenge themselves and their teams every day in order to achieve extraordinary results. They aren't worried about who gets the credit. They won't point fingers of blame; they will accept their mistakes and correct them. Embracing and honing the leadership commitments laid out by Mark Divine in STARING DOWN THE WOLF will insure every team can thrive in environments that are volatile, uncertain, complex and even ambiguous.
Created from the #1 business podcast on iTunes, JOCKO PODCAST, former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink brings to the reader his methods for success first honed in battle in Iraq as leader of SEAL Team Three. For most of his adult life Willink served with the SEALs, rising through the ranks to become the commander of the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit in Iraq. In his new book, DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM - FIELD MANUAL (St. Martin's Press, on sale October 17, 2017, $24.99), Willink describes how he lives the mantra that the mental and physical disciplines he imposes on himself allow him to achieve freedom in all aspects of life.
The marketplace is littered with scores of books that offer advice on how to overcome obstacles and reach your goals, but every one of them fails to touch on the most important aspect of making this a reality - DISCIPLINE. Without it, there is no real progress. Without it, there is always a chance of slipping up. Without it, there's a stronger desire to take the easy way out.
In DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM, Jocko begins with how to mentally prepare yourself to succeed. He follows with the actions necessary to implement your game plan. Jocko discusses how fuel and proper nutrition are vital to keeping your mind and body in peak form. He also discusses injury prevention and recovery when engaging in physical activity, and then concludes with workouts you need to make your personal machine - your body - the peak operating "vehicle" it needs and deserves to be.
The increased requests for toys. Although many of us now see the recession as a thing of the past, those in the lower economic groups have yet to see full recovery. We have also had a tremendous increase in support requests for areas impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael.
Corporate Support. We have over 94 National Corporate Sponsors who are supporting our program and thousands of local corporate sponsors. Please support their efforts.
Hasbro, a longtime partner of Toys for Tots, will be donating toys valued in the millions
The UPS Store has sponsored the Toys for Tots Literacy Program since 2008, and is raising dollars to purchase quality books for children. The UPS Store has helped Toys for Tots distribute 40 million books to children;
Disney is conducting the world’s largest toy drive. From Nov 2-Dec 15, 2019, for every new, unwrapped toy donated at a Disney store in the U.S. or online through shopDisney.com, Disney store | shopDisney will donate $1 to Toys for Tots.
Build-A-Bear Workshop is donating 20,000 of their furry friends to children in need, as well as raising dollars for Toys for Tots in their stores throughout November and December.
Five Below is raising dollars in their stores in support of Toys for Tots from Nov 9th – Dec 8th.
Stein Mart is raising dollars in their stores in support of Toys for Tots from Nov 4th – Dec 15th.
Sears is raising dollars in their stores from Oct 1st – Dec 15th while Kmart stores are conducting toy drives through Dec 15th.
How your listeners can get involved in the 2019 campaign in your area
THE DESERTER is the first in a timely and thrilling new series from an unbeatable team of true masters. Loosely inspired by the Bowe Bergdahl case, THE DESERTER takes readers inside one of the most dangerous places in the world—only the second locale in Nelson’s twenty-one book career that was too dangerous for him to research in person!!
And it introduces a brilliant cast of new characters whose intelligence, romantic tension, and biting humor showcase Nelson at his best and signal an exciting breakout talent in Alex.
The Deserter is a blistering new thriller featuring a brilliant and unorthodox Army investigator, Scott Brodie, and his sharp but inexperienced new partner, Maggie Taylor, in their hunt for the Army's most notorious—and dangerous—deserter who is hiding out in Caracas, Venezuela.
When Captain Kyle Mercer of the Army’s elite Delta Force disappeared from his post in Afghanistan, a video released by his Taliban captors made international headlines. But circumstances were murky: Did Mercer desert before he was captured? Then a second video sent to Mercer’s Army commanders leaves no doubt: the trained assassin and keeper of classified Army intelligence has willfully disappeared.
When Mercer is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela, by an old Army buddy, top military brass task Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor of the Criminal Investigation Division to fly to Venezuela and bring Mercer back to America—preferably alive. Brodie knows this is a difficult mission, made more difficult by his new partner’s inexperience, by their undeniable chemistry, and by Brodie’s suspicion that Maggie Taylor is reporting to the CIA.
New York City, 1941: Charles Mossman has lost his job, his wife, and his future prospects after a short stint in prison for a bar fight gone awry. The only bright spots in his life are the afternoons he spends with his daughter after school, picking her up from the nanny who watches her and delivering her home before his wife gets home from her factory job in the evenings.
But one day he meets the elderly Swiss couple living next door to his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Bauer, and something seems...not right about them. Maybe it's the German they’re teaching his daughter, maybe it’s all of the strangers he sees going in and out of their apartment. Though they claim to be as distraught over Hitler’s actions in Europe as other Americans, Mossman isn’t sure he believes them, and soon, he’s convinced that there’s more to these people than meets the eye. And he’s determined to find out what’s really going on.
What he finds could not only endanger his daughter but also all of New York City. As the shadow of war creeps closer to the States, one man has the ability to bring down a nest of Nazi spies doing Hitler’s work in America. Based on the true story of the Duquense Spy Ring, Gross once again delivers a tense, stirring thriller set against the backdrop of a nation about to go to war.
Badly injured while stopping a rogue agent from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, elite warrior Eric Steele is drawn back into service before he’s ready when unknown assailants break into his home near Pittsburgh, injuring his mother and stealing his father’s pistol.
An Alpha—an elite soldier under the direct command of the president of the United States—Steele is hell-bent on finding the attackers and bringing them to justice. While tracking his foe, Steele discovers he’s become entangled in a far more sinister plan that’s already been set in motion.
A terrorist named Zakayev, once locked away in a maximum-security prison in Russia, has escaped and joined forces with Hassan Sitta, a man who’s shown his prowess and ingenuity with a spectacular bomb planted somewhere in the Middle East that hasn’t been ignited—and no one can find. But that is only the beginning of a horrifying plan that, if it succeeds, will shatter international alliances and bring the world to the brink of war. Now, the hunted must turn the tables on the hunter—Steele must find a way to stay alive and stop Zakayev before innocent lives are lost.
Sean Parnell is the author of the bestselling memoir Outlaw Platoon and the novel Man of War. He is a retired U.S. Army Infantry captain who served in some of the heaviest combat of the Afghan War. He recounts those battles in vivid detail during his leadership presentations for the nation’s most successful teams and corporations. He is also the cofounder of the American Warrior Initiative, a charity that honors and empowers our veterans. Sean lives with his three children near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
His full name is H.I. That's it. Nothing more. A total conversationalist. Willing with his way of bringing up any subject. Including his love for the Steelers and pottery. In an age where the big box stores have bastardized pottery pots and other decor H.I. pulls from his imagination how rich with history pottery is. Archaeologists have dug up pipes from thousands of years ago. Which H.I. giggles about. He knows that something's been calling him to return to those footsteps long gone but not forgotten. To use modern tools to handcraft the art of smoking. While still creating mind blowing other items such as one of kind cups, vases, stained glassed crosses to bubblers. The goal is to spend the next year of multiple with this potter. To get into the brainchild of an authentic maker of taking a thought and turning it into a lifestyle of positive purposes. No piece of pottery should ever go unused.
Marshall Bennett (Michael Roark) is a young soldier with the Army Motorcycle Unit who survives an IED explosion in combat overseas, and is medically discharged with a broken back and leg and sent back to the U.S. When he gets home to his family farm, he discovers that his dad, Cal Bennett (Trace Adkins), is behind in the mortgage and may lose the farm. Against all odds, Marshall Bennett pledges to help his family by the only means he knows how, as a motocross racer.
Michael Roark began his acting career in theatre at Illinois State University while also majoring in Business Finance. He went on to law school and passed the bar exam before moving from stage to screen to pursue an acting career. His film roles have included Dolphin Tale, Magic Mike and Alabama Dirt, which he also co-produced. On TV he has had regular or recurring roles on several series including “Sleepy Hollow,” “Finding Carter” “Young and the Restless” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Download Michael's Bio
Allison Paige plays Sophie Bennett in Bennett’s War. She is known for her work across film and TV. She has gained particular renown for her portrayal of Gigi Darcy on the TV series The Lizzy Bennett Diaries, as well as the spin-off series, Domino: Gigi Darcy. She earned her first professional acting credit in 2006 in the family film Hip Hop Kidz: It's a Beautiful Thing. In 2015, she was cast to play the DC comic book character Trajectory on the CW series The Flash.
"Bob Lee Swagger is a true American literary icon."--Mark Greaney, New York Times Bestselling Author of Mission Critical
“Nothing short of a legend” (The Washington Post), American sniper Bob Lee Swagger is back in the eleventh installment of Stephen Hunter’s New York Times-bestselling thriller series. In GAME OF SNIPERS, Swagger is enmeshed in an electrifying mission that will pit this undisputed master against a mysterious mercenary who is the rarest of things: a match for Swagger himself. From the deserts of Syria and the streets of Tel Aviv to America’s Great Plains, he becomes locked in pursuit of this elusive enemy, who seems to be planning an impossible shot.
Swagger is enjoying his retirement on his Idaho ranch with no plans of ever again shooting anything other than black circles on white paper. Then an unusual visitor arrives, uninvited. Janet McDowell, the self-dubbed “Madwoman of Baltimore,” has spent years and tens of thousands of dollars in pursuit of the sniper who killed her son, a Marine, in Iraq. She believes she at last has pinpointed the killer’s secret location and Swagger agrees to help, stunned by the intel Janet has laid her life on the line to amass.
In Tel Aviv, Swagger meets with high contacts in the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, and learns what little is known about the sniper called Juba. After a particularly brutal attack on a school bus, the Israelis have been pursuing the assassin themselves, but unlike Swagger, they want him alive. The hunt for Juba will lead Swagger to unexpected places well beyond the Middle East conflict—to the American heartland, and into the murky juncture where terrorism, drug cartels, and global geopolitics intersect in pathological ways. Ultimately, Swagger uncovers a conspiracy aimed at America’s most fragile political reality.
With all-too-real threats and a twisty, masterful storytelling, GAME OF SNIPERS is another gripping addition to a bestselling Bob Lee Swagger series.
Fortified by the bonds of sisterhood, a resilient young woman charts an unconventional course in pursuit of her dreams and navigates adversity, tragedy, and love along the way in THE FLIGHT GIRLS (MIRA Books; July 2).
Inspired by the real-life female pilots who aided the military during World War II, this exquisite book by author Noelle Salazar illuminates a little-known historical chapter and re-imagines the heroines at its center.
October 1941. With Europe already at war, Audrey Coltrane has come to Hawaii to instruct Army aviators. Ever since she was just a girl, she has been happiest in the cockpit. One day soon, she plans to buy an airfield near her home in Dallas. No man will distract her from her goals, she vows to the fellow fliers who have become cherished friends, not even the dashing Lieutenant James Hart. Still, their shared experience dodging Japanese gunfire above Pearl Harbor one momentous December morning only deepens their connection.
Sent into a tailspin of grief by all that has been lost in the attack, Audrey rallies to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots program. Alight with purpose once more, she draws strength from her relationships with the other recruits and the importance of their mission. But the horrors of war are never far away. And when James gets shot down over enemy territory, Audrey risks everything to fight for the future she now envisions, one filled with precious dreams old and new.
Extensively researched and vividly told, THE FLIGHT GIRLS provide a lens through which to view the WASP groundbreakers who volunteered to serve their country despite the danger and then vanished into obscurity.
Their courageous example is brought to unforgettable life in these stirring pages by a remarkable protagonist determined to make her mark in a changing world.
In the course of his research for the Gray Man and Jack Ryan novels, Greaney has traveled to more than fifteen countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. During one of those research trips in Washington, D.C., Mark met Rawlings who was giving Mark a tour of the Pentagon. Rawlings, an active duty Marine, had writing aspirations of his own. A shared interest in military fiction led to a friendship and over coffee, not long after, as Mark puts it: Rip and I both agreed that a modern conflict between two super powers in Europe would make a heck of a story, so we begin talking it over. Initially, it was going to be a book Rip wrote alone with the two of us just spit-balling ideas, but quickly I was so excited about the project that we wrote up a 91-chapter outline and sent it to my agent and my editor. That theoretical conversation and outline grew into RED METAL, an epic, World War III novel that pits the West against a desperate Russian force.
In it, a desperate Kremlin takes advantage of a military crisis in Asia to simultaneously strike Western Europe and invade East Africa in a bid to occupy a rare mineral mine that will give Russia unprecedented control over the world’s hi-tech sector. RED METAL features not only members of the U.S. and Russian military, but also an international cast of characters from all sides to fully examine the conflict.
What makes RED METAL stand apart from other World War III what-ifs is the collaboration. Mark has been called “one of the best in the business when it comes to writing stories of pure action and adventure” (Suspense Magazine). His gift for delving into the plausibility of the stories he tells is unparalleled and his work with Rawlings adds even more of that “boots on the ground” realism.
Breaking down the birth of any song is always a great journey to take with those that chose to bring it forward. Love songs carry with them a deeper more meaningful approach to exposing certain areas of the writers heart. For Stella Whittle her love song was inspired by her connection to the military. When family members are moved from civilian life to serving the nation. Stella's creative personality shot into action. From her moments of being alone comes one of the most heartfelt salutes to all military mothers and their families.
Marine Sgt. John Peck survived an IED during the War on Terror that left him with a traumatic brain injury, amnesia, and cost him his marriage. He survived another three years later that left him with three and a half limbs missing. He's one of only two living people to survive the flesh-eating fungus he contracted in recovery at Walter Reed, one that left him as a quadruple amputee. And that's only the beginning of his story.
What followed was a recovery nothing short of miraculous. With resilience and the help of advocates like actor and philanthropist Gary Sinise, FOX's Jennifer Griffin, and Bill O'Reilly, John would use a specialized "Action Trackchair" wheelchair and a newly-built SmartHome to get a third lease on life. In 2016, Peck underwent a groundbreaking bilateral arm transplant, receiving two new arms. To date, the surgery has been successful.
Today, Peck is a motivational speaker and a philanthropist for veteran and wounded warrior causes. From the lessons learned in a difficult childhood and as a homeless teenager, to dealing with depression and PTSD in recovery, to learning how to chop with another man's arms, Rebuilding Sergeant Peck is Peck's account of an honest, comedic, visceral, and inspirational story that is truly unique.
"Marine Sgt. Peck isn't just a survivor, he's a thriver. His story still makes me smile. I'm so grateful that he entered our lives." -Jennifer Griffin, Fox News
Born and raised in a little town referenced as ‘The Town with Love in the middle,’ Clover, SC. Stella began playing the piano and singing at the age of 6, and was the church pianist at the age of 9. As a child, Stella dreamed of having a band. She was patient while working hard to make this dream come true. “Music is my release to all that troubles me. I lose myself in music, it’s infinite. Stella’s soulful and sultry voice delivers a different musical interpretation to music. Stella and The Fella(s) perform public and private events, as well as International destinations. Stella has toured in Mexico every year since 2010 with members of Carlos Santana’s band.
Loretta Swit, a true champion of the animal kingdom, is an animal activist, artist, and award-winning actress, known for her iconic starring role on TV's most honored series, MASH, for which she won two EMMYs and worldwide acclaim.
Few actresses can capture the imagination of generations of television viewers with the certainty and charm of Loretta Swit. As quick-witted, impassioned Major Margaret Houlihan of MASH, Ms. Swit became an American icon. And with its popularity now in worldwide syndication, new fans continue to enjoy her lavish portrayal of the sensuous, sensitive, comedic Major Houlihan.
Ms. Swit has been honored with such recognition as two Emmy Awards, the People's Choice Award, The Genie Award, The Silver Satellite Award, The Jean Golden Halo Award, and the Pacific Broadcasters Award. With ten Emmy nominations and four nominations for the Golden Globe, she most recently has received her third Career Achievement Award. Loretta has a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame.
She has been teamed with some of the most memorable names in the world of television, film, and theater. Her television career boasts over 25 movies, including the original Cagney and Lacey, in which she created the role of Chris Cagney (obligations to MAS*H prevented her from shooting the series). Her films include Stand Up and Be Counted with Jacqueline Bisset, Freebie and the Bean with James Caan and Alan Arkin, Race With the Devil with Peter Fonda, Beer opposite Rip Torn, S.O.B. with Julie Andrews and William Holden, Whoops Apocalypse with Peter Cook and Herbert Lom, Forrest Warrior with Chuck Norris, and BoardHeads with Bronson Pinchot.
Ms. Swit's wildlife series, Those Incredible Animals, was shown twice weekly on the Discovery Channel for an amazing five-year run, as well as being aired in over 30 countries. Throughout her career, Ms. Swit has graced the stage in numerous plays including The Vagina Monologues in New York, Chicago, and the West End in London. She is currently performing in regional theaters or on tour in plays including 'Eleanor-Her Secret Journey', 'Me and Jezebel', and 'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks'.
She has devoted decades to animal-related causes and is a prominent advocate for animals and animal rights. What many fans may not know about the multi-talented thespian is that Ms. Swit has been an artist from age six. A new book by Mies Hora SwitHeart: The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit, documents Loretta's lifelong compassion through her soulful animal portraits as well as anecdotes about them and her extensive philanthropic work.
SwitHeart includes 65 full-color paintings and drawings, and 22 photographs. Proceeds from the book will be donated to charities and programs that are as dedicated, as Ms. Swit is, to ending animal suffering and cruelty.
"I'm thrilled to see my passion for animals and my passion for art merge in a book that will help benefit and protect the animals on our planet." - Loretta Swit
Loretta has worked relentlessly and tirelessly through donations, live appearances, endorsements, interviews, and documentary footage to support a wide variety of the best and most effective animal support groups and programs including The Humane Society, Bide-a-Wee, The Farm Sanctuary, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, among many others.
Iraq war veteran Peter Ash is restless in the home he shares with June Cassidy in Washington State. June knows Peter needs to be on the move, so she sends him to Memphis to help her friend Wanda Wyatt, a photographer and war correspondent who’s been receiving peculiar threats. When Peter arrives in Memphis, however, he finds the situation has gone downhill fast–someone has just driven a dump truck into Wanda’s living room. But neither Wanda nor Peter can figure out why.
At the same time, a young homeless street musician finds himself roped into a plan to rob a jewelry store. The heist doesn’t go as planned, and the young man finds himself holding a sack full of Rolexes and running for his life. When his getaway car breaks down, he steals a new one at gunpoint–Peter’s 1968 green Chevrolet pickup truck.
Peter likes the skinny kid’s smarts and attitude, but he soon discovers that the desperate musician is in far worse trouble than he knows. And Wanda’s troubles are only beginning. Peter finds himself stuck between Memphis gangsters–looking for Rolexes and revenge–and a Mississippi ex-con and his hog-butcher brother looking for a valuable piece of family history that goes all the way back to the Civil War.
Neal Bascomb is well recognized as a master or turning complicated history into page turning narrative nonfiction. A national award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, he loves writing inspiring stories of adventure or achievement. In THE GRAND ESCAPE, Bascomb turns his focus on a group of Allied POWs who staged an escape for the ages during World War I.
At the height of World War I, as battles raged in the trenches and in the air, another struggle for survival was being waged in the most notorious POW camp in all of Germany: Holzminden. A land-locked Alcatraz of sorts, it was home to the most troublesome Allied prisoners—and the most talented at escape. THE GRAND ESCAPE tells the remarkable tale of a band of pilots who pulled off an ingenious plan and made it out of enemy territory in the biggest breakout of WWI, inspiring their countrymen in the darkest hours of the war.
elebrate Eight Recipients of the Military’s Highest Award
for Valor in Netflix’s Original Docuseries…
Medal of Honor
Bestowed upon fewer than 3,600 Americans since
President Abraham Lincoln signed it into law in 1861,
Catch up with Ty Carter, Medal of Honor recipient.
With archival footage and commentary from historians and military leaders, the series highlights the lives and experiences of these courageous men who went above and beyond the call of duty. Their battlegrounds were Italy, Germany, and France during World War II; along the 38th parallel in the Korean War; in Laos during the deadliest year of the Vietnam War; and in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan. Family members and brothers-in-arms also recall the extraordinary odds faced by the servicemen, and through intense recreations, viewers get inside their minds to uncover how they handled what many have described as “the worst day of their lives.” The diverse group of featured recipients — including three living veterans — came from a Massachusetts farm, a New Mexico immigrant community, small towns and big cities all across the nation.
As he became the second Medal of Honor recipient from the Battle at COP Keating — the most decorated battle in the war in Afghanistan to date — Carter has become a vocal educator about Post-Traumatic Stress awareness, helping the world understand that it is not a disorder, but a part of the human condition. His courage in addressing life after the battlefield, like the actions of every Medal of Honor recipient, is an example of selflessness and bravery that raises us all up.
The prescription opioid epidemic continues to be a public health emergency in America. An estimated 11.4 million people have misused opioids and more than 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016 and 2017. Steven Porter, M.D. is an anesthesiologist and expert in pain management at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. He is chair of Mayo Clinic’s Opioid Stewardship Workgroup, which helps develop opioid prescribing guidelines and strategies with the goal of enhancing patient health and reducing the risk of opioid misuse.
Molly Monroe had her future planned out for her. When she makes an impulsive decision to join the Marine Corps, her boyfriend breaks up with her, her brother bears the burden of guilt, and her mother feels betrayed. The people in Molly's life have always tried to protect her, but she wants to protect herself.
As a Combat Camera Marine, Molly observes and records her environment from behind the lens, where image shapes day-to-day life. After she is wounded during a combat deployment, her dreams are frightening, and her memories are a kaleidoscope of scattered and chaotic scenes; a collision of past and present, real and unreal. Snapshots in time. Glimpses of war. Fragments of love: lost and found.
This story unfolds through multiple perspectives and as the negatives and positives develop, an image of the Model Marine is sharpened into focus.
THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win(published by St. Martin’s Press), Jocko and Leif dive even deeper into the difficult decisions faced by leaders at every level of every organization. Their new book explores the uncharted and complex waters of a concept first introduced in Extreme Ownership: finding balance between the opposing forces that pull every leader in different directions. Now, Willink and Babin get granular into the nuances that every successful leader must navigate. With examples from the authors’ combat and training experiences in the SEAL teams, and then a demonstration of how each lesson applies to the business world, Willink and Babin clearly explain THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP. These skills are mission-crucial for any leader and any team to achieve victory.
From Harold Cronk, the Director of the 2014 hit film God's Not Dead and Produced by Andy Fraser, GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD stars Lindsay Pulsipher (True Blood, The Hatfields & McCoys), Kim Delaney (Army Wives, NYPD Blue), Andrew W. Walker (Date with Love, Steel Toes), Robin Givens (Riverdale, God's Not Dead 2), Jordin Sparks (American Idol, Sparkle), Makenzie Moss (Do You Believe?), and Madeline Carroll (I Can Only Imagine). The film is rated PG (thematic elements and combat scenes)
GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD tells the uplifting story of a young mother's struggle with her faith after losing her husband in Afghanistan and learning to raise their young daughter in his absence. With the help of her friends, her pastor (LaDainian Tomlinson), and the innocent but wise perspective of her daughter, she learns to trust in God's plan for her life once again.
In his long and varied acting career, AJ Buckley has appeared in more than 30
feature films and numerous television series. A versatile and prolific actor, he is eq
ually
adept at both dramatic and comedy roles. He is perhaps best known to global television
audiences for his role as scientist Adam Ross on the long
-
running series “CSI: NY,” on
the Network,
in addition to recent roles as a hard
-
nosed tactical officer
in
“Murder in the
First” and romantic sociopath Danny Crowe in “Justified.”
Most recently, Buckley starred as a
misfit cop in the critically acclaimed CBC
drama series “
Pure,
” which was also acquired by the Hulu Network.
Other notable
television credits
include guest appearances on the Netflix original series “
Narcos”
and a
turn as Anna Faris’ jealous boyfriend on “Entourage.”
In one of his favorite comedic roles, Buckley portrayed Ed Zeddmore on The
CW’s “Supernatural
,
”
the leader of a group of wannabe
ghost hunters called The
GhostFacers
.
The character was a fan favorite and thus, Buckley wrote and directed
Warner’s Bros. first spin
-
off project.
Buckley’s recent films include Disney Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur
,
”
voicing T
-
Rex Nash, and “H
ome Sweet Hel
l”
from Sony Pictures, which he also helped write and
produce.
Born in Ireland, Buckley immigrated to Canada at the age of 6. He spent his
teenage years in British Columbia, where he began his acting career guest starring on
shows such as “The X
-
Files.”
It was after his breakout role in the film “Disturbing
Behavior”
that acclaimed director David Nutter suggested he move to Los Angeles.
Buckley is the co
-
founder of Paperclip, an innovative line of high
-
end diaper bags
designed for modern parenthood, and
is also a partner in The Pipeline Poké House in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
Currently, Buckley
resides in Los Angeles with his wife Abby, and daughter,
Willow Phoenix and two newborn twin boys Bodhi and Ranger. In his spare time, he
enjoys keeping fit, b
oxing, motorsports, watching UFC, healthy eating, and traveling the
globe in search of thrilling new experiences. Also, he supports men’s cancer charities and
child welfare projects. His birthday is Feb. 9. Follow him on Twitter @AjohnBuckley
and on Instag
ram @ajbuckley.
From the F-22 Raptor, the United States’ first nearly “invisible” plane, to the F6F Hellcat, the aircraft that was responsible for turning the tide of WWII in America's favor, Smithsonian Channel’s popular series Air Warriors looks at the most extraordinary aircrafts throughout our nation’s history. The series touches on everything from the technical challenges to the tragic failures to the remarkable triumphs against enemy forces.
Accompanied by dramatic combat footage -- author, former Director of Air Force History and Museums, and former F-15 and F-4 fighter pilot Dick Anderegg can introduce viewers to some of our nation’s most amazing accomplishments in aviation, share dramatic and heroic stories of our country’s most dedicated pilots, and discuss the amazing new technology now used in military aircrafts.
Dick Anderegg was an Air Force officer for 30 years, during which he commanded an F-15 squadron, was twice a fighter group commander and twice a fighter wing vice commander. He also flew more than 170 combat missions during the Vietnam War. Following his retirement, he wrote "The Ash Warriors," a history of the Mount Pinatubo eruptions and subsequent evacuation of Clark Air Base, and "Sierra Hotel," a history of the cultural changes that occurred in the U.S. Air Force fighter force during the decade after the Vietnam War.
After Hiroshima, the ability to deliver a nuclear device to target faster than one's enemy became the singular obsession of American war planners. Speed. In 1947, it represented the difference between victory and annihilation. And so, in the earliest days of the Cold War, a highly classified program was conducted on a desolate air base in California's Mojave Desert. Its aim: to push the envelope of flight to new frontiers. There gathered an extraordinary band of pilots-including Second World War aces Chuck Yeager and George Welch-who risked their lives flying experimental aircraft to reach Mach 1, the so-called sound barrier, which pilots nicknamed "the demon." Shrouding the program in secrecy, the US military only reluctantly revealed the "barrier" had been broken two months after the fact because the story was leaked to the press. To this day, the full truth has never been revealed-until now. CHASING THE DEMON: A Secret History of the Quest for the Sound Barrier, and the Band of American Aces Who Conquered It (on-sale July 24, 2018), from decorated fighter pilot and acclaimed aviation historian Dan Hampton, tells, for the first time, the extraordinary true story of the mankind's quest for Mach 1. Illuminating and insightful, key revelations and highlights from the book include:
- Was aviation legend Chuck Yeager REALLY the first man to break the sound barrier? Captain Chuck Yeager made history flying the futuristic Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound on October 14, 1947. But based on interviews with Yeager's former commander and a trove of declassified documents, Hampton presents new evidence that fellow American George Welch (like Yeager, a WWII ace) very possibly beat Yeager to Mach 1 by two weeks.
- The top-secret story of the Mach 1 program and nuclear war. In 1947, two years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima launched the nuclear age, the quest for speed was of paramount strategic importance to American war planners as they entered the earliest days of the Cold War-i.e. whoever could get over target first with "nukes" held the "high ground." The X-1 program was classified as top secret, and even today, little is known of it-until now.
- Meeting the band of extraordinary aces who pushed the limits over the skies of the Mojave. This was also a human story featuring an unforgettable, but-with the exception of Yeager-all but unknown cast of characters. The Air Force gathered their best of the best to Muroc Air Base in the Mojave Desert to push the limits of human achievement. Here was George Welch for example, one of two American pilots who got airborne at Pearl Harbor and who later shot down a total of 16 enemy aircraft during the Pacific War. Hampton brings these characters, along with the stories of several more legendary aces, to life.
- Revelations that draw on exclusive new eyewitness interviews and newly declassified files. Hampton has interviewed Ken Chilstrom, World War II combat fighter pilot and Yeager's superior officer, for the book. Chilstrom is 97 years old and has never publicly spoken in depth about the program until now. Hampton also obtained copies of all George Welch's original test reports, noting several unusual discrepancies.
Written by "one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history" (New York Post), and the New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot, Lords of the Sky, The Hunter Killers, and The Flight, Hampton brings unique personal experience to this narrative. Able to penetrate the secretive and reticent world of the fighter pilot, Hampton has uncovered a story never fully explained until now with CHASING THE DEMON.
"Chasing the Demon flows very smoothly and tells a great story about the pioneers of highspeed flight, primarily from the pilots' perspective. Whether you are a pilot, engineer, or an aviation-history enthusiast, reading Dan Hampton's book is time well spent."- JOHN D. ANDERSON JR., Curator of Aerodynamics at the National Air & Space Museum
Illustrated with thirty-five photographs, CHASING THE DEMON recalls this period of the emerging Cold War and the brave adventurers pursuing the final frontier in aviation. William Morrow is excited to publish this thrilling narrative this summer.
Smithsonian Channel’s Hell Below
Gives Viewers a Deep Dive into Submarine Warfare
Speak with Award-Winning Author and Military Journalist
James M. Scott about Our Nation’s Most Dramatic
Submarine Victories and Tragedies
Submarine attacks are among the most feared forms of maritime warfare. During World War II, the U.S. Navy and the other Allied powers faced off against German U-boats and Japanese forces set on unrestricted submarine warfare. Smithsonian Channel’s popular series Hell Below, which begins its second season on July 1, details both the successes and tragedies of these underwater conflicts in World War II and during the Cold War. The series also profiles the strategic and military masterminds behind these submarine campaigns and the rapidly evolving technology used in stalking and battle. Each hour-long episode features expert analysis and stock footage along with dramatic re-enactments filmed aboard authentic World War II era submarines, placing viewers in the heart of battle.
One of the experts featured in Hell Below is James M. Scott. An award-winning writer and former reporter and investigative journalist, James has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq and tsunami-devastated Indonesia. His acclaimed book The War Below – based on more than 100 interviews with submarine veterans – tells the story of the submarine force that helped win World War II by ravaging Japan’s merchant fleet and destroying the nation’s economy. His previous book The Attack on the Liberty won the prestigious Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morrison Award for Excellence in Naval Literature. His most recent release Target Tokyo was a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
James can share some of the exciting submarine warfare stories featured on Hell Below, discuss the role of submarine campaigns in military strategy, and the amazing advances in submarine technology since WWII,
Mile Marker, presented by Prism Pictures in association with Bidslate, follows Korey Rowe, a two-tour veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as he travels 7,000 miles across the US to interview veterans who are currently struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As Korey navigates along his journey spanning over five weeks on his own personal road to recovery, he tells the story from the first person perspective, while capturing the beauty and diversity of our nation.
In honor of the number 22 and its association with 22 veterans per day committing suicide, Mile Marker will be available on iTunes for presale on May 1st until May 22nd, when the movie will be released. 22% of all gross presale receipts will be donated to the organizations who have partnered with the film to help spread its message. Those organizations include: Hero Grown, MAPS, Weed for Warriors, Vet Cannabis Group, Heart Strings for Heros, Veteran Health Solutions and The Mission Continues.
The film investigates new and controversial techniques and methods for treating PTSD, such as marijuana, as well as looking into the lives of veterans in America today. Traveling 7,000 miles across the United States and back, Korey departs from his home in California to check in with his former battle buddies across America, who served with him 15 years ago. Along the way, he interviews psychologists and specialists from the National Center for PTSD in White River Junction, Vermont for a balanced understanding of the underlying symptoms and associated triggers for those with PTSD.
Inspired by Korey's former battle buddy Jesse Snider who lost his struggle to PTSD in 2014, Mile Marker demonstrates an authentic portrayal of veterans today in America - their bitter combat to overcome drug addiction, criminal issues, and their personal struggles with PTSD, disclosed by the vets who lived through and survived this growing epidemic.
With the goal of exploring the truth of the life of veterans and the ongoing struggle with PTSD, Korey lit every interview, monitored audio, pulled focus, interviewed the subject, edited the entire film and secured distribution on his own - turning down multiple companies offers - ran all equipment maintenance, and drove every mile of the trip without a support staff on a minimal budget and extending timeline.
The film has already been awarded Best Documentary and Best Cinematography at the Sunny Side Up Film Festival, Award of Excellence at the IndieFest and more. For more information about Mile Marker, visit milemarkerfilm.com.
Nicholas Irving, New York Times bestselling author of The Reaper and Way of the Reaper, has joined forces with Brigadier General (ret) Anthony Tata to bring an explosive new saga to the Reaper series: REAPER: Ghost Target - A Sniper Novel(St. Martin's Press, on sale date May 8, 2018, $26.99). As New York Times bestselling author Marc Cameron states, these are "two guys who have walked the walk and definitely know how to talk the talk."
Nicholas Irving was the first African American to deploy in the G.W.O.T. as a sniper in his battalion, and served in the Army's Special Operations 3rd Ranger Battalion 75th Regiment as Sniper Team Leader. Anthony (A.J.) Tata, retired Brigadier General, commanded combat units in the 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions and the 10th Mountain Division, earned a Bronze Star Medal in Afghanistan, and is the author of seven national bestselling novels (including the Captain Jake Mahegan and Threat series).
In REAPER: Ghost Target, Vick Harwood (aka Reaper) is on a strategic mission in Kandahar to take down the number one threat to U.S. soldiers - a mercenary named Khasan Basayev. When the mission ends in a surprise attack on his position, it falls to a rescue team to take out Harwood's comatose body, leaving behind the young "spotter," Sammie Samuelson, who had disappeared.
Three months later, the Reaper is on the mend. His spotter is considered DUSTWUN - "duty status - whereabouts unknown," and he's beginning to fall in love with Jackie Colt, an Olympic-winning rifle specialist who he befriended in Kandahar and who rallied to his side while he was recuperating. His memory, however, is faulty and he suffers from blackouts. The first two occur while he is out on fitness runs, placing him at the right time and place to have perpetrated two assassinations of Army generals. And with that, a complex and multi-layered game of intrigue begins.
As the evidence - and murders - build against him, Harwood finds himself on the run from the FBI, the Army, MLQM - a multinational corporation, and Basayev. Amping up the tension is the discovery of a young teenager he rescues from sex slavery, the re-emergence of his young spotter, Samuelson, the absence of his new girlfriend, Jackie Colt, and his inability to know who can be trusted.
Created from the #1 business podcast on iTunes, JOCKO PODCAST, former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink brings to the reader his methods for success first honed in battle in Iraq as leader of SEAL Team Three. For most of his adult life Willink served with the SEALs, rising through the ranks to become the commander of the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit in Iraq. In his new book, DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM - FIELD MANUAL (St. Martin's Press, on sale October 17, 2017, $24.99), Willink describes how he lives the mantra that the mental and physical disciplines he imposes on himself allow him to achieve freedom in all aspects of life.
The marketplace is littered with scores of books that offer advice on how to overcome obstacles and reach your goals, but every one of them fails to touch on the most important aspect of making this a reality - DISCIPLINE. Without it, there is no real progress. Without it, there is always a chance of slipping up. Without it, there's a stronger desire to take the easy way out.
In DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM, Jocko begins with how to mentally prepare yourself to succeed. He follows with the actions necessary to implement your game plan. Jocko discusses how fuel and proper nutrition are vital to keeping your mind and body in peak form. He also discusses injury prevention and recovery when engaging in physical activity, and then concludes with workouts you need to make your personal machine - your body - the peak operating "vehicle" it needs and deserves to be.
Jason Delgado knows the mean streets. He survived them as a kid during the height of the crack epidemic that ravaged the South Bronx, while friends and family fell into the violence wrought by the drug plague. As a young man he survived them again - a different type of "mean streets" -- this time as a lead sniper during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In his powerful memoir, BOUNTY HUNTER 4/3: My Life in Combat from Marine Scout Sniper to MARSOC (St. Martin's Press, on sale October 3, 2017, $27.99), co-authored with Chris Martin, Delgado recounts how surviving the Bronx was crucial for lessons needed for surviving Iraq, and just as important to him, discovering who he was as shaped by his lifelong battles here and abroad.
With drugs and gangs all around him in the Bronx of the 1980s-1990s, Delgado knew his survival depended on getting out. The United States Marine Corps beckoned. Initially Delgado struggled to get up to speed, and his street tough mentality wasn't always the best trait to exhibit. Delgado, though, has always been a survivor and that suited him well. His well-honed instincts helped him rise through the ranks until he found himself one of the service's esteemed Scout Snipers.
His reward? Being thrown into the hellfire that was, and still is, the war in Iraq. In that arena of battle, Delgado proved himself time and again to be one the most fearless Marines on the ground. And as a sniper, his performances were taking on legendary and cult-like status. His efforts on the field of battle turned numerous skirmishes in favor of the U.S. forces, in particular the nightmare that was becoming the Battle for Husaybah.
Upon returning home, Delgado was given an extraordinary opportunity to become MARSOC's first ever lead sniper instructor. In accepting this position, he made himself a pivotal figure in revolutionizing the way special operations snipers trained and operated. But even as he accomplished so much on the field of battle and then in training future warriors - not to mention his successful business venture stateside - he continued to struggle with understanding how these experiences transformed him into the man he is today.
Jason Delgado is a true American military hero, and an original who fought his battles on his terms, even when it ruffled feathers. That harsh upbringing, and battle-tested character, molded him into a loving father and successful entrepreneur, and a dedicated fighter against radical Islamic terrorism.
In 1916, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the U.S. government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code-breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman. Though she and Friedman are in many ways the “Adam and Eve” of the NSA, Elizebeth’s story, incredibly, has never been told.
In The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman, who played an integral role in our nation’s history for forty years. After World War I, Smith used her talents to catch gangsters and smugglers during Prohibition, then accepted a covert mission to discover and expose Nazi spy rings that were spreading like wildfire across South America, advancing ever closer to the United States. As World War II raged, Elizabeth fought a highly classified battle of wits against Hitler’s Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German spies. Meanwhile, inside an Army vault in Washington, William worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma—and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life.
Fagone unveils America’s code-breaking history through the prism of Smith’s life, bringing into focus the unforgettable events and colorful personalities that would help shape modern intelligence. Blending the lively pace and compelling detail that are the hallmarks of Erik Larson’s bestsellers with the atmosphere and intensity of The Imitation Game, The Woman Who Smashed Codes is page-turning popular history at its finest.
JASON FAGONE is a journalist who covers science, sports, and culture. Named one of the “Ten young Writers on the Rise” by the Columbia Journalism Review, he is a contributing writer to the Huffington Post Highline, and writes for a number of outlets, including GQ, Esquire, The Atlantic, the New York Times, Mother Jones, and Philadelphia magazine. He is the author of Ingenious and Horsemen of the Esophagus, and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jackyl is celebrating their 25th year of Classic Rock and Metal. There's no better place to do it then being up close with the fans. From the rBeatz Radio Studio at rBeatz.com we are Unplugged and Totally Uncut with Jesse James Dupree!!!!!
http://www.rbeatz.com/podcasts/jackyl-hits-25-years/
Legendary GRAMMY-winning ‘Soul Man’ Sam Moore is preparing to release a new album titled An American Patriot in September, which features inspiring renditions of iconic American classics including “God Bless America,” “God Bless the U.S.A.,” and “Show For You,” the 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games anthem. This patriotic album was inspired by Moore’s own performance of “America the Beautiful” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where his dear friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood 53 years before him.
Most recently, Moore performed during the “‘Make America Great Again!’ Welcome Celebration” on January 19th to celebrate the newly elected President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump and sang a duet at A Capitol Fourth with The Blues Brothers.
ABOUT SAM MOORE
Sam Moore found musical fame as lead vocalist of the ’60s powerhouse duo Sam & Dave. With 1967’s hit “Soul Man,” the duo found lasting fame, defined a genre, and altered the course of music history. Their signature sound influenced a diverse array of musical talents, including Al Green, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Tom Petty, Phil Collins, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel and so many others. Sam & Dave’s music and personas inspired the film The Blues Brothers, and other hits like “Hold On I’m Coming” have appeared on the soundtracks of more than a dozen films. Moore, 81, continues to record and perform to critical acclaim as a solo artist and as a guest performer for dozens of his musical friends.
To learn more about Sam Moore, visit www.sammoore.net or follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Welles Crowther is a 9/11 hero who "went up so others could come down". His story became known 8 months following the tragedy due to an ordinary object ...a red bandana.
This is a story of sacrifice, selflessness and how the actions of one man have touched and inspired others. Our film is about Welles Crowther, a 9/11 hero. Welles was tragically killed in the lobby of the South Tower when it collapsed. He stayed to help others and his heroics only became known 8 months after the tragedy due to an ordinary object ... a red bandana. The film re-traces the unique manner in which his heroics became known, as well as his last inspirational hour (his finest hour) saving others from the upper reaches of the South Tower. The film, then, depicts Welles' folklore stature throughout the United States including songs, artwork and babies that have been named in his honor. This legacy section leads up to the revelation of a remarkable secret about Welles that provides the perfect, inspirational ending.
A former Marine, Roland Ford has devoted his life to fighting the good fight—to doing what is right and just, for himself, his country, and the people he loves. But now, some 15 years later, after leaving the Corps and subsequently losing his beloved young wife in a plane crash, Ford is a broken man. To make ends meet, Ford has become a private detective near San Diego. He’s good at his job, and it’s earned him a reputation as one of the best trackers on the West Coast.
On the outside, the mental-health facility known as Arcadia looks extraordinary, but looks can be deceiving. At its heart, Arcadia is essentially a prison—and now, one of its most enigmatic residents has managed to escape. Clay Hickman came to Arcadia three years ago. An Air Force vet, he served in the second Iraq war and was deemed a danger to himself and others, suffering from schizoaffective disorder and bipolar syndrome. He was violent and depressed. Or at least that’s what Ford learns when he is hired to find Hickman.
What’s immediately intriguing to Ford is the cast of people surrounding Hickman, both before and after his escape. The mystery will truly unravel when Ford begins to suspect the truth: Clay Hickman’s military record is not what it is purported to be. Someone has fudged the truth, and whatever really happened—both to him and because of him—is perhaps the reason that Clay has gone into hiding and so many people are eager to find him… and why some will kill to get to him.
Joining the ranks of Unbroken, Band of Brothers, and Boys in the Boat, Sons and Soldiers tells the little-known saga of young German Jews who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, came of age in America, and returned to Europe at enormous personal risk as members of the U.S. Army to play a key role in the Allied victory.
In 1942, the U.S. Army unleashed one of its greatest secret weapons in the battle to defeat Adolf Hitler: training nearly 2,000 German-born Jews in special interrogation techniques and making use of their mastery of the German language, history, and customs.
Known as the Ritchie Boys, they were sent in small, elite teams to join every major combat unit in Europe, where they interrogated German POWs and gathered crucial intelligence that saved American lives and helped win the war.
Though they knew what the Nazis would do to them if they were captured, they eagerly joined the fight to defeat Hitler. As they did, many of them did not know the fates of their own families left behind in occupied Europe.
Taking part in every major campaign in Europe, they collected key tactical intelligence on enemy strength, troop and armored movements, and defensive positions. A postwar Army report found that more than sixty percent of the credible intelligence gathered in Europe came from the Ritchie Boys.
Bruce Henderson draws on personal interviews with many surviving veterans and extensive archival research to bring this never-before-told chapter of the Second World War to light. Sons and Soldiers traces their stories from childhood and their escapes from Nazi Germany, through their feats and sacrifices during the war, to their desperate attempts to find their missing loved ones in war-torn Europe. Sons and Soldiers is an epic story of heroism, courage, and patriotism that will not soon be forgotten.
Writing withNew York Timesbestselling author Bret Witter, SEAN MCFATE burst into the military action thriller genre with his highly-praised debut "Shadow War" which theProvidence Journalcalled “A tour de force.”
Leaning on his experiences working in the private military industry, the U.S. Army and Amnesty International, McFate returns to the world of military contractor Tom Locke in DEEP BACK (Morrow, on sale 8/8/2017)).
After a mission goes horribly wrong in the Ukraine, Locke is on the run from his former employer Apollo Outcomes, a private military corporation led by the treacherous Brad Winters. Locke and his team travel to Iraq, where they find work rescuing refugees trapped behind ISIS lines, often paid next to nothing.
Meanwhile, in Paris a motorcade is ambushed by masked men, who corner a Saudi prince and steal a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. A thousand miles away in Istanbul, the prince's brother receives a mysterious phone call, and moments later, he narrowly escapes a black ops ambush after a dash through the grand bazaar.
In Iraq, a stranger approaches Locke and offers him good money to track down the young prince, whom they fear has joined ISIS. What Locke doesn't know is that multiple sides of a clandestine war are scrambling to find the prince; that he may be holding the key to a new world order; and that his father may or may not be using him to topple the Saudi government. As Locke pushes deeper into ISIS territory, he must navigate both the on-the-ground battle lines and the larger Deep State war he has stumbled into yet again.
September 20th at Eaglebank Arena in Fairfax, VA Rock n Roll Hall of Famer Joe Walsh brings to our U.S. forces a new age of energy, fun and enlightenment. Vet Aids 2017. This is more than a concert. It's a connection. Also on stage Zac Brown, Gary Clark Jr, Keith Urban and more. Visit joewalsh.com
What really happened that fateful day in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, and how can we restore the vital trust between police and communities across America? Few people are better positioned to tell this story than former Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, who watched it all unfold, firsthand.
Following the fatal shooting in August 2014 by a white police officer of an African American man, eighteen-year-old Michael Brown, in broad daylight, Ferguson became the scene of protests that pitted law enforcement against locals and Black Lives Matter activists.
The media firestorm has not waned and, in fact, has grown stronger in light of recent violence by and against police officers nationwide. But according to Chief Jackson, the uninformed media actually fans the flames of unrest and exploits the situation: infotainment optics have become more important than truth, while social media spreads the news without providing context.
Policing Ferguson, Policing America is the book that finally tells the inside story of what happened in Ferguson, and how good guys became the bad guys through media and political distortion.
Citizens and law enforcement professionals alike feel the urgent need for our systems and procedures to change for the better. Few people are in a better position to explore the issues than Chief Jackson.
In Policing Ferguson, Policing America, Jackson tells for the first time the real Ferguson story while sharing his thoughts about the steps we can take together to improve all Americans' lives and restore trust between the police and the communities they serve. His practical, well-informed recommendations offer a vision of hope to the country's dire, ongoing racial tensions.
ABOUT THOMAS JACKSON
Thomas Jackson is the former police chief of Ferguson, Missouri, who oversaw many years of progress in his community until Michael Brown's tragic shooting death. He stepped down in March 2015 but continues to be sought by the media to discuss not only Ferguson but also officers' and victims' rights, police procedures, and the rash of violence by and against police. Jackson lives in Ferguson, Missouri.
"Reading Ray's account brought back a lot of memories about the difficult challenges he faced. The book is a tribute to those public servants like Ray who quietly do their job, put their lives on the line, and will do whatever is necessary to protect and defend their country. He is a silent patriot." -Leon E. Panetta, Chairman of The Panetta Institute for Public Policy
On January 27, 2011, on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, US Government Security contractor Raymond Davis found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Defending himself, he shot and killed two men who were-depending upon who you ask-illiterate robbers or Pakistani intelligence agents.
The violent confrontation quickly escalated into a diplomatic crisis, making front-page headlines all over the world and threatening to destroy American relationships with one of the world's most volatile nations. For 49 days, Davis was in Pakistani custody-interrogated, threatened, fearing for his future-as rumors flew and the State Department worked tirelessly to get him back.
In this page-turning thriller, Davis reveals for the very first time what happened behind the scenes during his time in the Pakistani legal system. Davis's riveting first-person narrative is interspersed with never-before-revealed details of the secret political maneuvering and unlikely chain of events that led to his release. Davis and his former wife Rebecca also share their very personal story of the complications of marriage with a US Contractor.
ABOUT RAYMOND DAVIS
Raymond Davis is a former United States Army soldier and military contractor who became the center of an international maelstrom after his involvement in a shooting in Lahore, Pakistan on January 27, 2011. Born and raised in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Davis spent 10 years in the army, the last six of which he spent as a member of the Special Forces. After being discharged from the army in 2003 because of an injury, Davis worked as a private contractor providing operational security in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Robotics and A.I. have become a normal part of our lives. From the cars we drive to the food we eat, the advances in the field of Robotics have made a discernable, measurable improvement on our lives. And now this technology is being tested to help people with limited mobility do more!
Toyota has created the Human Support Robot (HSR), which is designed to assist individuals with everyday activities. With the help of Former Special Forces Chief Warrant Officer Romero (Romy) Camargo, who was paralyzed from the neck down during his service in Afghanistan in 2008, the company is researching how this technology could improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
Romy Camargo and Doug Moore, Toyota Robotics Teams, are available LIVE from Daytona via satellite to discuss:
How the technology was researched and created
How Romy helped Toyota test the HSR technology
Why robotics will become even more integrated into our lives in the future
As a SEAL sniper and combat veteran, Brandon Webb was tapped to revamp the U.S. Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) Scout/Sniper School, incorporating the latest advances in technology and ballistics software to create an entirely new course that continues to test the skills and even the best warriors. In this revealing new book, Webb takes readers through every aspect of this training, describing how Spec Ops snipers are taught each dimension of their art. Trainees learn to utilize every edge possible to make their shot--from studying crosswinds, barometric pressure, latitude, and even the rotation of the Earth to becoming ballistic experts. But marksmanship is only one aspect of the training. Each SEAL's endurance, stealth and mental and physical stamina are tested and pushed to the breaking point.
Webb also shows how this training plays out in combat, using real-life exploits of the world's top snipers, including Jason Delgado, who led a Marine platoon in the Battle of Husaybah and made some of the most remarkable kill shots in the Iraq War; Nicholas Irving, the U.S. Army Ranger credited with thirty-three kills in a single three-month tour in Afghanistan; and Rob Furlong, who during Operation Anaconda delivered the then-longest kill shot in history.
During Webb's sniper school tenure, the course graduated some of the deadliest and most skilled snipers of this generation, including Marcus Luttrell (Lone Survivor), Adam Brown (Fearless), and Chris Kyle (American Sniper). From recon and stalk, to complex last minute adjustments, and finally the moment of taking the shot, The Killing School demonstrates how today's sniper is trained to function as an entire military operation rolled into a single individual--an army of one.
“The Killing School reads like a screenplay for the most cinematic military adventure flick you’ve ever seen―except that every word of it is true. Brandon Webb is the real deal, and so are the four Spec Ops snipers whose exploits he traces with pulse-pounding detail.” ― Kris “Tanto” Paronto, former Army Ranger, GRS operator, and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller 13 Hours
“An important piece of Naval Special Warfare history―and one hell of a gripping read!” ― Dakota Meyer, former USMC scout sniper, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, New York Times bestselling author of Into the Fire
“There were many reasons Chris Kyle (American Sniper) became the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history. Brandon Webb’s contribution to the SEAL sniper course―their killing school―was a key factor in Chris’s journey.” ― Scott McEwen, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of American Sniper and American Commander
“Sure to scare the hell out of any terrorist in line for a well-placed sniper shot. The Killing School is a gritty behind-the-scenes look at what makes the modern sniper so lethally effective in combat.” ― Dick Marcinko, founder and first commanding officer of SEAL Team 6, author of the bestselling Rogue Warrior series
Brad is a Petty Officer 2nd Class serving our nation from 2000 to 2006. In part one Brad talks about his basic training and schooling as well as his home port of Pearl Harbor.
Unpaved Highway’s “Rock ‘n’ Road” music crafts a musical landscape where an acoustic sound is
entwined with deeply emotional, poetic rock music. Their music draws on artists stretching from John
Mellencamp to Nirvana, and modern bands from Cage the Elephant to Mumford and Sons. Unpaved
Highway writes songs that are inspired by their connections with fans and infused with their own
personal experience. Fans are encouraged to share their experiences, achievements and hardships, and
have songs written for them that move the listeners and remind them of how they have felt in those
moments. Reactions at live performances show that fans connect best with songs that are written for
specific people because they know the music comes from a genuine human experience and interaction.
Founded in late 2012 by Eric Nedelman, after earning his Ph.D. in music theory, Unpaved Highway began
as a series of solo acoustic shows with special guest appearances. Fan interest cemented as more new
songs were written and performed at each show. By October 2014 a three-piece band was formed with
Brent Livingston on bass and Joe Bradetich on drums. By performing the songs live Unpaved Highway
have refined the best of the older and new songs with a common road-worn theme to record in a full-
length album.
In May 2015, they released their first single, Hung in Custody, a fan favorite at shows for its high energy
story from the unpaved highway about being loved for who you are and staying true to yourself.
Unpaved Highway is planning the release of an EP in 2017 and a tour in support of the release. Music
and video releases, the Unpaved Highway Journal and connections to social media can be found at
http://unpavedhighway.com. Wherever your unpaved highway takes you, we play music that takes you
there. Want to ride shotgun?
One of the Country's Most Successful Homicide Detectives Reflects on His Most Notorious Cases in Investigation Discovery's Murder Chose Me
Rod Demery's Mother was Murdered When he was Three Years Old; The Case Went Unsolved -- Until He Solved it 35 Years Later
Murder has been a part of Rod Demery’s life for as long as he can remember. When he was just 3 years old, his mother was murdered. Then, when Demery was in his twenties, his brother was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Instead of succumbing to the cycle, he resolved to do everything in his power not to repeat the mistakes of the past, and pursued a career in criminal justice. In his 14 years with the violent crimes unit in Shreveport, LA, Demery had a stellar 100% rate in solving the dozens of cases in which he was the lead detective (including the murder of his own mother).
Demery’s impressive clearance rate, coupled with his fierce determination and no-holds-barred approach to get a confession, made him a legend in the department – but also an outsider. Friends, family, and love interests all found themselves playing second fiddle to his detective work. But Demery continues to be driven by his one mission in life: to find justice and resolution for the families of murder victims, just like his own.
In Investigation Discovery's new series, Murder Chose Me, Rod Demery reflects on his years as a homicide detective and some of the most notorious cases of his career. On Feb. 15, Rod can discuss how murder chose him for the job, his thoughts on race relations, and the interrogation tactics which led him to have a 100% solve rate by way of confession.
Smithsonian Channel's Popular Series Spotlights the Most Iconic Weapons from America's Wars and the Veterans that Used Them
Speak with Host & Military History Buff Paul Shull as he Tracks Down Some of the Greatest Pieces of Weaponry on the Planet
Download Press Release
In season two of Smithsonian Channel's original series The Weapon Hunter, American heroes take center stage as host Paul Shull showcases some of the most remarkable weapons ever developed, and the military veterans who used them to defend our country. Continuing his quest to touch, hold and fire some of the most instrumental weapons in military history, Paul meets with the weapon experts and combat veterans who share the stories behind them -- such as the 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon, credited with turning the tide in America's favor in WWII following the carnage of Pearl Harbor.
His miraculous, untold story of survival on December 7, 1941
Burned over 2/3rds of his body, Don spent a year recovering in a military hospital
Inspiringly, Don reenlisted in 1944 and would join the invasion of Okinawa, earning the rare distinction of having served at both the first and last battles of WWII
Don Stratton is 1 of only 5 survivors of the USS Arizona still alive today
Now 94, Don has been married to his wife Velma (90 years old) for 66 years
All the Gallant Men argues the lessons of Dec 7th still resonate seventy-five years later
William Morrow is proud to announce the publication of ALL THE GALLANT MEN: An American Sailor’s Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor (William Morrow Hardcover; November 22, 2016; $27.99; ISBN: 9780062645357), the extraordinary first and only memoir by a survivor of the USS Arizona has already been lauded as “intimate and powerful” (Library Journal). Out of a crew of 1,511 men on the Arizona, only 334 survived and 94-year-old Donald Stratton is 1 of only 5 survivors alive today.
On December 7, 1941, the Arizona was moored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, alongside seven other American battleships. At 7:55 a.m., the leisurely Sunday morning’s serenity was broken by the drone of bomb-laden Japanese Zeros swooping from the sky. The Arizona was the first battleship targeted in a massive attack by Japan; 353 imperial war planes swarmed Battleship Row and neighboring Hickam Airfield in a meticulously planned surprise assault launched to cripple America’s Pacific Fleet.
Amid the terrifying chaos of explosions and incessant machine gun fire, 19-year-old Seaman First Class Donald Stratton raced to his battle station on the Arizona. Barely fifteen minutes into the attack, a 1,760-pound armor-piercing bomb hit the ship, setting off a million pounds of munitions and 180,000 gallons of aviation fuel aboard. The explosion lifted the battleship out of the water causing the forward deck to buckle, and engulfed it in an enormous fifty-foot fireball that tore through the anti-aircraft platform where Don and his team were stationed.
Burned over more than sixty-five percent of his body, Don and his gunnery team miraculously escaped the inferno; using their charred hands, they climbed across a seventy-foot-long rope stretched forty-five feet above flaming, oil-slicked water to reach the Vestal moored nearby. While Don made it out alive, 1,177 of his crewmates perished—more than half the Americans killed in the attacks that drew America into the largest armed conflict in history.
Recent years show a sea change in Hollywood- the biggest movies come from the pages of comic books. These box office successes are driven by fans who love seeing their favorite heroes and villains from comics brought to life on the big screen, from Thor to Superman to Batman and Captain America, Wonder Woman and more. Baddies like Loki, The Joker and Lex Luthor only add to the fun. Welcome to the Golden Age of comic book movies and Comicstorians Benny Potter, Dan Rumbles and Jason Keen are here to help you understand why we these larger-than-life characters have captured the imagination of the world.
When it comes to superheroes of the Silver Screen, nobody knows more than the masterminds behind the wildly popular Comicstorian YouTube channel. This definitive guide to comic book films divulges behind-the-scenes secrets and the hidden history behind these must-see movies including how, after very rocky beginnings, they shot to the top with DC and Marvel as two of the most important franchises in the industry. If you love The Hulk, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man and are still laughing about Deadpool, look no further. With The Rise of Comic Book Movies, you’ll feel like you are on the film set, walking the halls of Valhalla and in your very own Fortress of Solitude with your favorite reads.
Aspen Dental Management, Inc. (ADMI) is giving our nation’s veterans a reason to smile – the opportunity to be its special guest for a one-of-a-kind experience at the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 8. Beginning Saturday, August 29, veterans can visit www.Smile4YourService.com sign up to attend the race where ADMI will honor their selfless service and bring attention to the fact that many do not receive the dental care they desperately need and deserve.
Veterans will receive premium grandstand tickets to race, plus pit passes and access to the exclusive Aspen Dental 3 Doors Down Pre-Race Concert VIP Area completely free of charge for themselves and a guest. A few lucky attendees will also get the chance to meet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Danica Patrick.
The program is a limited-time offer and there is a limited quantity of tickets available.
For many veterans, maintaining their oral health is unfortunately out of reach due to barriers like cost, access, time or even fear. Of the more than 21 million veterans across the U.S. today, fewer than 10 million are enrolled for VA health benefits, and more than 1.2 million lack health insurance altogether.
The “Smile 4 Your Service” recognition program is a continuation of ADMI’s support of veterans. It is also part of its quest to help improve and raise awareness about veterans’ oral health needs. Aspen Dental practices have already provided more than $6.2 million in free dental care through the Healthy Mouth Movement, a community-giving initiative which provides dental care for veterans through:
The MouthMobile, a mobile dental office on wheels, which has traveled to over 60 communities over the past two years to provide free care, and
Annual Day of Service events where hundreds of Aspen Dental practices across the country open their doors to vets, completely free of charge
Gene Simmons and KISS have endlessly and confidently been connected to the men and women that serve our nation in the military. The current tour Freedom To Rock physical hires and pays vets to work at their shows. Gene is passionate about making sure those that protect our nation locate work. Look for my full conversation with Gene Simmons on rBeatz.com
ew National Geographic Channel Series Facing
Delves Into the Real Stories Behind Some of Today’s
Most Prominent Headline-Makers, Including Pablo Escobar,
Saddam Hussein, Suge Knight, Vladimir Putin and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Facing is a National Geographic Channel docu-series that takes an immersive look at the real stories behind some of modern history’s most larger-than-life characters.
Through first-person interviews with those who “faced” them — their adversaries, allies, peers and those in their inner circle — along with select journalists and those affected by their actions, good and bad, Facing offers a sometimes startling perspective on these modern icons. Get to know the real stories behind the headlines with an intimate look at their early life, rise to notoriety and existence in the public eye.
Facing is a National Geographic Channel docu-series that takes an immersive look at the real stories behind some of modern history’s most larger-than-life characters.
Through first-person interviews with those who “faced” them — their adversaries, allies, peers and those in their inner circle — along with select journalists and those affected by their actions, good and bad, Facing offers a sometimes startling perspective on these modern icons. Get to know the real stories behind the headlines with an intimate look at their early life, rise to notoriety and existence in the public eye.
FACING ESCOBAR
Premieres Tuesday, Aug. 30, at 9/8c
At the helm of his cocaine empire, Pablo Escobar ignited the international bloodbath that spurred the war on drugs. This is the story of the man behind the Glock, told by those in front of it. Interviewees include Steve Murphy, Javier Peña and Joe Toft, lead DEA special agents on Pablo Escobar’s investigation; George Jung, the mastermind behind Escobar’s early smuggling operations; John Jairo “Popeye” Velásquez, Escobar’s friend, commander of his terror squad and convicted murderer; and Gen. Miguel Alfredo “Maza” Márquez, who survived seven assassination attempts as the head of secret police in Colombia.
Joseph (Joe) Toft is the former chief of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) who ran the DEA operation in Bogota, Colombia throughout the bloody years of battling the Medellin Cartel. Joe Toft is available for phone interviews Mon, Aug 29 and Tues, Aug 30 from 3 to 7 pm ET.
As a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Stephen Murphy and his partner, Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena, targeted the world’s first narco-terrorist, Pablo Escobar, and the Medellin Cartel. Living and working alongside their Colombian National Police counterparts in Medellin, Colombia, as well as with elite U.S. military units, their efforts resulted in the dismantlement of the largest and most violent international drug trafficking organization of its time.
This Labor Day, American Heroes Channel (AHC) will run a day-long marathon of its popular series America: Facts vs. Fiction starring former naval officer turned comedy actor Jamie Kaler. The show aims to shed light on some surprising little known facts about our country and its history, while also setting the record straight on many commonly held misperceptions.
As listeners start to put away their suntan lotion and gear up for Back to School season — Jamie Kaler (My Boys, Parenthood) can discuss the show, how he went from naval officer to TV comedy star, dispel some common U.S. history myths, and if you’re game, even give you a quick America: Facts vs. Fiction pop quiz.
A brief highlight reel about Jamie is available here: https://vimeo.com/120088743. Would you let me know if this may be of interest for Thu, 9/1?
On August 21, 2015, Ayoub El-Khazzani boarded train #9364 in Brussels, bound for Paris. There could be no doubt about his mission: he had an AK-47, a pistol, a box cutter, and enough ammunition to obliterate every passenger on board. But when he emerged, he encountered something he hadn't anticipated: three Americans who refused to give in to fear.
Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone were childhood friends, taking a vacation together. They had some relevant training: Stone was a martial arts enthusiast and Airman First Class in the US Air Force; Skarlatos was an active duty member of the Oregon National Guard; and all three were fearless. But their decision—to charge the gunman, then overpower him even as he turned first his gun, then his knife, on Stone—depended on a lifetime of loyalty, support, and faith. THE 15:17 TO PARIS is the gripping, true story of a terrorist attack that would have killed more than 500 people if not for their actions, but it is also the story of three American boys and their friendship. Using each hero's point of view in sequence, this book skillfully reconstructs the drama of the attack, while weaving in the stories of the protagonists' lives and the friendship and loyalty shared between them. Among the things they can talk about:
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The day their lives changed forever: The moment the gunman entered the train, what went through each of their minds and how they collectively decided to act
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A reconstruction of the fight: How Alek Skarlatos, in defending himself and everyone else on the train, was fully prepared to shoot and kill the terrorist El-Khazzani, knowing full well that it might also kill his best friend Spencer Stone. (And how Stone had given him permission to do so, knowing that his life hung in the balance). Had the gun not jammed, twice, it would have meant certain death.
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How their lives changed since the attack: from the glamorous (appearances on Dancing with the Stars and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to meeting President Obama), to the personal (how the experience shaped each man's commitment to friendship, family, faith, and country).
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The role of faith in each man's life and how the incident deepened and changed their connection to their personal faiths
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How the experience renewed each of their sense of patriotism and commitment to serving their country (two of the three are currently serving in the military—one is in sniper training and the other in the National Guard.)
The Army veteran is best known from ABC’s hit series Dancing With The Stars where he took third place in Season 20 of the popular dance competition. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Sergeant Noah Galloway, a Purple Heart Recipient, served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Noah experienced a life changing injury and lost his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee in an improvised explosive device attack.
Noah overcame his disability and dedicated his life to empowering fellow veterans through fitness and motivational speaking. Galloway started the No Excuses Charitable Fund, which raises money and awareness for wounded veterans, and works with charities like Operation Enduring Warrior and Homes for Our Troops, a group that builds handicap accessible “smart homes” for wounded. Noah continues to compete, participating in adventure races around the country, such as ToughMudder, Spartan events, Crossfit competitions plus numerous 5K and 10K races. Noah is a sought after public speaker traveling across the country sharing his story, encouraging and motivating others.
Noah starred as one of the mentors on FOX’s new hit reality show, American Grit which is a military-inspired TV competition series that feature’s sixteen of the country’s toughest men and women as they participate in variety of military-grade andsurvival-themed challenges. The show is hosted by WWE start John Cena. Noah’s next project is his upcoming memoir Living with No Excuses which sheds light into his personal life and how he overcame his injury during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The book will be released by Hachette book Group on August 23rd, 2016.
ohn Smith has a unique skill, one that sometimes feels more like a curse: he can read the thoughts of others. He hears the songs stuck in their heads, their most private reflections and fears, and the memories they’ve tried to bury. Trained as a secret weapon by the CIA, he learned the power of his skills in a past life, but now works in the private sector as a consultant for private and corporate clients in need of an extra edge. John now tries to keep the dark potentials of his gift in check — and himself out of trouble.
Sought out by Everett Sloan, a software genius and billionaire, John is asked to investigate one of his former employees: young tech whiz kid Eli Preston, and search his thoughts for some very valuable intellectual property Sloan is convinced has been stolen. Will John succeed at retrieving this property directly from Preston’s mind?
When things start to go awry and John’s identity is compromised, he’s forced to make a run for his life along with Sloan’s associate, Kelsey Foster. Now it’s up to John to use his powers to their fullest potential — no matter what the cost.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christopher Farnsworth is a screenwriter, former journalist, and the author of the President’s Vampire trilogy. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughters.
At the onset of his military career, Nicholas Irving went from an unlikely candidate with the Army Rangers, to become one of the greatest snipers in Ranger history. The first African American to serve as a sniper in his battalion, Irving famously became known as “The Reaper,” and his astounding 33 kills over one four-month period in mid-2009, and his record for enemy kills on a single mission, cemented his reputation as one of the great warriors in modern US military history. His reputation as one of the all-time great snipers is such that he has an AR-15 rifle named after him. When his powerful memoir, The Reaper, was published in early 2015 it became a runaway New York Times bestseller. A five-part TV movie based on his life has been optioned by the Weinstein Group with NBC tabbed at a future date to air, and his one of the team leaders in the Fox TV spring hit series, American Grit. And there’s more to come. With the publication of his new book, WAY OF THE REAPER: My Greatest Untold Missions and the Art of Being a Sniper (St. Martin’s Press, on sale August 9, 2016, $27.99), with Gary Brozek, Irving takes the reader further in to his world as a Ranger sniper, recounting his 10 greatest sniper kill missions and providing insight into the art of being a sniper.
Through the lens and backdrop of Irving’s ten most significant sniper kills, he takes the reader through the steps of becoming the best in the business. Each of these kills has never before been told and each provides an in-depth look at a new element of achieving success and taking out the enemy. From reconnaissance to intel reports, to weaponry and skill to downright luck, Irving provides a heart-racing narrative of the true stories of “The Reaper’s” most incredible missions. Perhaps the most incredible of all is the amazing kill shot of a human target from over half a mile away, his longest ever.
Throughout his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Nick Irving earned every bit of his reputation and nickname. He took down scores of enemy combatants with his sniper rifle and waged deadly firefights with a .50 caliber machine gun. From his use of silent sub-sonic ammunition to mano-a-mano battles with suicide bombers, to being the target of snipers himself, Irving has crafted an amazing career as a warrior. With WAY OF THE REAPER he will place the reader right in the heart of the battles he endured in reality, experiencing the same dangers, horrors and acts of courage that he, as an elite member of the Army 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, went through. Readers will experience the rush of the hunt and the danger that all snipers must face, while learning what it takes to become an elite member of a very special and select community.
From national bestselling author and retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson comes the essential guide for surviving today’s emergencies—from navigating in the wild to staying alive in any disaster. That includes what kinds of terrible things that may happen in large gatherings – from the political conventions to the tragedy in Nice to the Summer Olympics in Rio
These 100 skills, adapted for civilians from actual field experiences of special forces operations, offer a complete hands-on and practical guide to help you survive in the wild no matter the climate or terrain; be prepared for any crisis; and have the critical life-saving knowledge for staying safe in any hostile environment or disaster.
Yesterday’s survival guide is no longer relevant. 100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition is what you need for today’s world, combining survival hacks developed on the battlefield with the low-tech tools you have on hand. This book is your essential prep manual, from securing shelter, building fire, finding food, and navigating back to civilization no matter the environment to thinking like a special forces solider so that you can survive a hostage situation, an active shooter, a suicide bomber, or a terrorist threat on the subway, and even apply trauma medicine as a first responder.
Full of specific scenarios to help you get in the mindset of survival, 100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition is better than a Swiss Army knife whether you’re lost at sea, forced to land a plane, fighting off a bear, or deciding whether to run, hide, or fight. Next to each skill are easy-to-grasp detailed illustrations, because when you need to survive the apocalypse, you don’t have time for complicated instructions.
THE LAST PUNISHER: A SEAL Team THREE Sniper’s True Account of the Battle of Ramadi by Kevin Lacz (Threshold Editions; on sale July 12th; Hardcover $28.00) is a gripping and intimate on-the-ground memoir from a Navy SEAL who was part of SEAL Team THREE with American Sniper Chris Kyle.
A bold, no-holds-barred first-person account of the Iraq War, with wry humor and moving testimony, Kevin Lacz tells the story of his tour in Iraq with SEAL Team THREE, the warrior elite of the Navy. This legendary unit, known as “The Punishers,” included Chris Kyle (American Sniper), Mike Monsoor, Ryan Job, and Marc Lee. These brave men were instrumental in securing the key locations in the pivotal 2006 Battle of Ramadi, told with stunning detail in these pages.
Minute by minute, Lacz relays the edge-of-your-seat details of his team’s missions in Ramadi, offering a firsthand glimpse into the heated combat, extreme conditions, and harrowing experiences they faced every day with anecdotes including:
•The story of The Battle of Ramadi, which took place during the summer of 2006, was the most dangerous time in the Iraq War and was the time of Kevin’s first deployment.
•Chris Kyle giving Kevin his nickname, “Dauber,” early on in his SEAL career.
•Kevin’s first task in Iraq was to drive in a massive convoy for several hours along a road littered with hundreds of IED craters. His driver was Michael Monsoor, who was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
•Kevin was the medic to care for Marc Lee when he was shot on a house clearing operation on August 2nd, 2006. Marc’s wounds are fatal, and he becomes the first Navy SEAL to be killed in Iraq. Kevin is later awarded a Bronze Star with a combat ‘V’ for carrying Marc’s body through enemy gunfire to safety.
•Working as the SEAL technical advisor to Bradley Cooper on the set of American Sniper, where he later joins the cast, playing himself in the film.
Experience his deployment, from his first mission to his first kill to his eventual successful return to the United States. THE LAST PUNISHER brings the reader into the life and mind of a SEAL, demonstrating the tough realities of war. At the same time, Lacz shares how these experiences made him a better man and how proud he is of his contributions to one of this country’s most difficult military campaigns.
Following the July 4th holiday weekend, the American Red Cross is expected to experience a significant blood shortage and will issue an emergency request for eligible blood and platelet donors of all blood types to roll up a sleeve and help save lives.
Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion. As the nation’s largest provider of blood products, the Red Cross is dedicated to the safety and availability of the blood supply for patients in need.
In the wake of the massive Paris bombing, the horrific airport bombing in Brussels, the attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali, the deadly attack in San Bernardino, California, the devastating bombings in Baghdad, the massive international refugee crisis and the worsening situations in Israel, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, comes a new book on how to win the global war against radical Islamism. The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies (St. Martin’s Press, On Sale Date July 12, 2016, $26.99), written by retired Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. General Michael T. Flynn and historian Michael Ledeen.
Flynn’s purpose in this book is twofold: one, to show the type of war that is being waged against us (it is a World War); and, two, formulating a truly winning strategy. How can we win? Flynn believes we must organize all our national power from military to economic to intelligence gathering to tough-diplomacy. In the book he describes how we must deny all terrorists safe houses, as well as tackling countries that shelter them, and how those countries must be presented with a brutal choice – either eliminate radical Islamists or risk being attacked themselves. We also must go hard after radical Islamists everywhere and in every way.
Flynn acknowledges that just going after the bad guys is not enough. An over-riding theme in the book is that US forces need to listen to the civilians in countries dominated by Islamists and show these people respect. Flynn knows from experience what happens when you don’t work to win the trust of the people in these distressed nations. Could a regime change in Tehran be the best answer? Flynn feels there is no way to make any type of meaningful deals with the current Iranian leadership and its hard line Ayatollah’s. He points to one of the great missed opportunities in recent times for the US: the 2009 uprising in Iran where the people protesting in the streets seemingly were waiting for the United States to back them in any way possible to shift the tide. Alas, to no avail, for those opposing their autocratic leaders.
Flynn commented, “We’re in a world war, but very few Americans recognize it, and fewer still have any idea how to win. I am writing this book for two reasons: first, to show that the war is being waged against us by enemies this administration has forbidden us to describe: radical Islamists. Second, to lay out a winning strategy that is not passively relying on technology and drone attacks to do the job. We could lose this war; in fact, right now we are losing. THE FIELD OF FIGHT will give a view on how to win.”
FROM THE PRODUCERS OF CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SERIES
LOCKED UP ABROAD, NEW SERIES NO MAN LEFT BEHIND
SHEDS LIGHT ON THE MODERN WAR HEROES AND SPECIAL AGENTS,
STRANDED IN ENEMY TERRITORY,
WHO TOOK SURVIVAL INTO THEIR OWN HANDS
In Premiere Episode, The Real Black Hawk Down, Soldiers Are Reunited for the First Time on Camera as They Recount the Extraordinary Story Behind the Devastating Battle That Sparked a Best-Selling Book and Feature Film
New Series No Man Left Behind Premieres Tuesday, June 28, at 9/8c
on National Geographic Channel
(Washington, D.C. – May 25, 2016) To be trapped behind enemy lines is every soldier’s worst nightmare: a situation all fighters train for, few experience and even fewer survive. From the producers of National Geographic Channel’s critically acclaimed Locked Up Abroad and Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers, new series No Man Left Behind combines gripping personal testimony with vivid reenactments and archival footage to shed light on the stories of modern war heroes and special agents who overcame incredible odds in some of the most hostile environments on earth. Premiering in the U.S. on Tuesday, June 28, at 9/8c, No Man Left Behind is produced by Raw TV and will premiere globally on National Geographic Channel in 171 countries in 45 languages. For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com or our press site www.foxflash.com, or follow us on Twitter using @NGC_PR.
Twenty years after the Srebrenica massacre that claimed the life of his friend and colleague, Eric Petrosian is back in Sarajevo at the American embassy, and the specter of war once again hangs over the Balkans. The Bosnian Serb leader, who had for a time been seeking a stable peace, has turned back to his nationalist roots and is threatening to pull Bosnia apart in a bloody struggle for control . . . and behind him is a shadowy mafia figure pulling the strings. As Eric is dragged deeper into the political maelstrom and uncovers a plot of blackmail and ruthless ambitions, Eric is faced with an impossible choice: use the information he’s uncovered to achieve atonement for the past or use it to shape the future.
In an interview, Matthew Palmer can discuss topics including:
• The very realistic threat of new armed conflict in Bosnia amidst decades of simmering tensions and complex politics
• What still needs to be done on the road to reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo – the April 19 Agreement (which Palmer helped to broker in his diplomatic career) is just one piece
• Refugee pressure on the Balkans: How conflict could be renewed in the region if the E.U. moves forward with its idea to close the Macedonian-Greek border
• Radovan Karadzic: The former leader of the Serb Republic in Bosnia was recently sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and other crimes against humanity during the Bosnian War. These crimes including the Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces (and the opening scene of THE WOLF OF SARAJEVO)
• Matthew’s career as a diplomat – elaborating on the TIME.com article he wrote on the realities of diplomacy
• His excellent writing pedigree coming from a renowned writing family, including father Michael Palmer (touches upon in Q&A with Publishers Weekly)
Follow Matthew on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/MatthewPalmerAuthor
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Palmer is a twenty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is currently serving as the Director for Multilateral Affairs in the State Department's Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs. Palmer has worked as a diplomat all over the world. While on the secretary of state's Policy Planning staff, he helped design and implement the Kimberley Process for certifying African diamonds as "conflict free."
Praise for Matthew Palmer
“Foreign Service officers often are heroes in real life. Matt Palmer has given us all the fictional hero worthy of the people with whom I worked. If I had known Matt Palmer could write like this I’d have asked him to do even more than he did.”— Madeline Albright
The Healthy Mouth Movement to Provide
FREE DENTAL CARE for Veterans in 30+ States Across the Country
Air Force Veteran Dr. Jere Gillan Available to Announce
a Free Day of Dental Services for Veterans Coming Up This Summer
WHEN:
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016
10:00AM TO 12:00 PM EASTERN
Dr. Jere Gillan is one of hundreds of Aspen Dental dentists who are out to make a difference in the lives of some very deserving people – our nation’s veterans. It’s all part of the Healthy Mouth Movement, a community giving initiative which provides much needed dental care and oral health education to our nation’s veterans, free of charge, now in its third year.
On Saturday, June 25, veterans can receive free dental care at participating Aspen Dental offices across the nation. Aspen estimates that nearly 400 offices in more than 30 states will participate in this year’s Day of Service.
Dental care remains a significant unmet health need in this country, especially for our veterans:
• In order for veterans to qualify for full VA dental benefits, they have to be 100 percent disabled, have been a prisoner of war, or have developed a dental condition during their service
• Barriers like a lack of access to dentists nearby, availability and time, or insurance kept more than 155 million American adults from visiting a dentist last year.
• Poor oral health can have a negative impact on overall health, increasing the risk for other serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and even Alzheimer's.
Since 2014, more than 7,200 patients have received free dental care through the Healthy Mouth Movement, resulting in over $4 million dollars in donated dental care.
At the age of 9, SEAN MCFATE thought he was destined to be a concert violinist, but through a series of career changes and the desire to serve his country, McFate found himself raising an army in Liberia and preventing a genocidal threat in Burundi. These and numerous other experiences that McFate has had through his work with DynCorp International, the elite 82nd Airborne division of the U.S. Army and Amnesty International.
Now Sean uses his experience and knowledge to discuss all things military including:
• Future of War
• US Foreign Policy and National Security Strategy
• Terrorism and Conflict
• Mercenaries and Private Military Companies
• African Politics and Security
Sean is also an author. With the release of "Shadow War" - Sean offers up an and unparalleled authentic and electrifying book - the first volume in a new blistering hot series!! Writing with NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author BRET WITTER, Sean has created a new series featuring Tom Locke, a conflicted American mercenary on a rescue mission in war-torn Eastern Europe that taps into McFate’s unique associations and wealth of intelligence. He explains, “Modern warfare is stranger than fiction. It’s my true life experiences that have helped me create Tom Locke. Through his story, not only do I hope to take readers on a fast-paced thrill ride but also share some of the backstory of war today.” The book honors the tradition set forth by the likes of Tom Clancy, Brad Thor, and Daniel Silva.
About the author: Dr. Sean McFate is an expert in international relations and war, and writes action thrillers based on his own experiences. McFate is currently a professor of grand strategy and warfare at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the National Defense University, the Pentagon’s top war college in Washington, DC. McFate has published widely on international relations issues, and is a frequent commentator for news media. He is the author of The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order (Oxford University Press), which the Economist called a “fascinating and disturbing book.” He has spoken at the British House of Commons, and has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, BBC, The Economist, Fox News and other media outlets. He has written articles for Foreign Policy, The New Republic, African Affairs, Military Review, Royal United Services Institute Journal, Review of African Political Economy, Salon.com, War on the Rocks and Vice magazine. McFate is a self-described “opera zealot,” and life-long lover of classical music. McFate holds a BA from Brown University, a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
CLINT HILL AND FIVE PRESIDENTS: MY EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY WITH EISENHOWER, KENNEDY, JOHNSON, NIXON AND FORD
A rare and fascinating portrait of the American presidency from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November.
Secret Service agent Clint Hill brings history intimately and vividly to life as he reflects on his seventeen years protecting the most powerful office in the nation. Hill walked alongside Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford, seeing them through a long, tumultuous era—the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Spiro Agnew and Richard M. Nixon.
Some of his stunning, never-before-revealed anecdotes include:
-Eisenhower’s reaction at Russian Prime Minister Khrushchev’s refusal to talk following the U-2 incident
-The torture of watching himself in the Zapruder film in a Secret Service training
-Johnson’s virtual imprisonment in the White House during violent anti-Vietnam protests
-His decision to place White House files under protection after a midnight phone call about Watergate
-The challenges of protecting Ford after he pardoned Nixon
With a unique insider’s perspective, Hill sheds new light on the character and personality of these five presidents, revealing their humanity in the face of grave decisions.
ABOUT CLINT HILL
Clint Hill is the New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November. A former Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade during the John F. Kennedy assassination, Hill remained assigned to Mrs. Kennedy until after the 1964 election. He then was assigned to President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House and later to Richard Nixon, eventually becoming the Assistant Director of the Secret Service for all protection. He retired in 1975.
Brigadier General Troy D. Kok assumed duties as the Deputy Commanding General for Support on May 18, 2015. Prior to this assignment, BG Kok commanded the 11th Aviation Command from November 2012 through May 17, 2015. BG Troy D. Kok began his military career when he enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1982. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at Central Missouri State University as a Quartermaster officer in 1984. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Maintenance Technology and received his Masters of Science in Aviation Safety.
In THE MATHEWS MEN, Geroux tells the story of the extraordinary Hodges family (which sent seven sons to the Merchant Marines) and their neighbors and friends in Mathews. When America entered the war, hundreds of Mathews men were walking the decks of cargo ships, where they were prey for U-boats in the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean and the frigid Barents Sea. From disastrous run-ins with U-Boat “wolf packs” in American waters, to the D-Day invasion, to the delivery of the Enola Gay crew to Tinian, Mathews men were at the heart of the action.
U.S. Merchant Mariners, caricatured unfairly as drunks and draft dodgers during the war, waded through dangerous conditions to fuel the great Allied amphibious invasions that liberated Europe from the Nazis, only to be forgotten afterward by their nation. THE MATHEWS MEN is a rich, fascinating account of their behind-the-scenes sea battles that in many ways determined the outcome of the war. It chronicles the still-unrecognized sacrifices made by thousands of men and women at sea and on the home front.
While covering a town forum in 1991, reporter William Geroux was astonished to hear people’s memories of merchant boats being torpedoed right off shore in Virginia during World War II, when German U-Boats would lie in wait just off the U.S. coast for these unarmed ships that were responsible for the transport of virtually all the fuel, food and munitions that sustained the Allies in Europe. Nearly a decade later, Geroux came across the story of Mathews County, Virginia, a rural strip of land along the Chesapeake that sent one of the largest concentrations of sea captains and merchant mariners of any community in America to fight in World War II, and he knew he had a story. Inspired and informed by interviews conducted with many Mathews County WWII merchant mariners and their relatives, THE MATHEWS MEN: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler’s U-boats finally brings to light the heroic but unacknowledged role of the mariners from Mathews, VA, and of the U.S. Merchant Marine.
A&E Network has granted a second season to “60 Days In,” the unprecedented original docu-series following innocent participants who enter the dangerous world of incarceration at the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The announcement was made by Elaine Frontain Bryant, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for A&E, days before the first season premiere. It will air Thursdays at 10PM/PT starting March 17th after its March 10th premiere. Season two of “60 Days In” will follow eight new participants and premiere later this year on A&E.
“‘60 Days In’ is the perfect example of A&E’s unique brand of disruptive non-fiction storytelling that takes viewers outside of their comfort zone,” said Frontain Bryant. “As soon as footage from season one began to come in, we knew we had something special and we immediately ordered a second season. We hope viewers will share our passion for this groundbreaking series.”
In order for Sheriff Jamey Noel and the Clark County Jail to re-implement the program, the second set of participants completed their time in the facility before any prison staff or officers were aware of the program ensuring secrecy and their safety. This strategic approach made their time in jail equally authentic and even more shocking for the facility’s officers and staff.
Clark County Correctional Jailhouses approximately 500 prisoners, from inmates charged with drug dealing to first time offenders to capital murder. Due to the facility’s recent corrupt history, Sheriff Jamey Noel initially devised this program to have participants live among the facility’s general population for 60 days without officers, fellow inmates, or staff knowing their secret. Season two participants were followed by hundreds of cameras planted throughout the jail exposing their journey. Each participant’s reason for volunteering for the program varies, but they share the ultimate goal of leaving with a better understanding of the system –how it operates,its psychological effects, and wanting a part in exposing its larger impact on society.
Season one of “60 Days In” will air in over 100 territories worldwide on A&E and Crime & Investigation Network™.
ABOUT SHERIFF JAMEY NOEL
Jamey Noel is the Sheriff of Clark Co since January 2015. Jamey retired as a 22 year member of the Indiana State Police, as Asst. District Commander for the Sellersburg State Police Post. In his 22 year tenure with the State Police Jamey has held the position of Trooper, Under Cover Detective, Detective, Corporal, Sergeant, and retired serving as First Sergeant and Assist. Commander of the Sellersburg Post.
Jamey also volunteers as the Chief of the Utica Twp. Fire Department. Jamey started his career with the Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter in 1987. He was promoted to Asst. Chief in 1991, and then Chief in 1993. Since taking the top spot as Chief in '93, the department has gone from "about to close the doors" to becoming one of the best equipped departments in the region. -All while maintaining the second lowest tax fire budget in Clark County!
Jamey was appointed in 2013 by Governor Mike Pence as a Trustee to the Indiana Homeland Security Board.
The widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle shares their private story: an unforgettable testament to the power of love and faith in the face of war and unimaginable loss--and a moving tribute to a man whose true heroism ran even deeper than the legend
In early 2013, Taya Kyle and her husband Chris were the happiest they ever had been. Their decade-long marriage had survived years of war that took Chris, a U.S. Navy SEAL, away from Taya and their two children for agonizingly long stretches while he put his life on the line in many major battles of the Iraq War. After struggling to readjust to life out of the military, Chris had found new purpose in redirecting his lifelong dedication to service to supporting veterans and their families. Their love had deepened, and, most special of all, their family was whole, finally.
Then, the unthinkable. On February 2, 2013, Chris and his friend Chad Littlefield were killed while attempting to help a troubled vet. The life Chris and Taya fought so hard to build together was shattered. In an instant, Taya became a single parent of two. A widow. A young woman facing the rest of her life without the man she loved.
Chris and Taya’s remarkable story has captivated millions through Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster, Academy Award-winning film American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as Chris and Sienna Miller as Taya, and because of Chris’s bestselling memoir, in which Taya contributed passages that formed the book’s emotional core. Now, with trusted collaborator Jim DeFelice, Taya writes in never-before-told detail about the hours, days, and months after his shocking death when grief threatened to overwhelm her. Then there were wearying battles to protect her husband’s legacy and reputation.
And yet throughout, friendship, family, and a deepening faith were lifelines that sustained her and the kids when the sorrow became too much. Two years after her husband’s tragic death, Taya has found renewed meaning and connection to Chris by advancing their shared mission of “serving those who serve others,” particularly military and first-responder families. She and the children now are embracing a new future, one that honors the past but also looks forward with hope, gratitude, and joy.
American Wife is one of the most remarkable memoirs of the year -- a universal chronicle of love and heartbreak, service and sacrifice, faith and purpose that will inspire every reader.
Taya Kyle is the wife of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, Navy SEAL, New York Times bestselling author, subject of the 2014 film American Sniper, and perhaps the deadliest man to ever peer through the scope of a military rifle. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of AMERICAN WIFE: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith & Renewal. Taya serves as a strong voice within the military community and regularly speaks to audiences across the country about the challenges facing veterans, first responders and their families. She also delivers inspiring messages about the value of knowing who you are, what you believe in and standing strong for it. She has appeared extensively on television, radio & in print, including: ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News Channel, NBC, NPR, MSNBC, People Magazine. Taya serves as Executive Director of the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, which aims to build a highly connected network of military families and first responders through meaningful interactive experiences. She lives in Texas where she raises her two children.
Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, what you don’t know about “running for president 101” might shock you. Nationally-syndicated columnist, Washington insider, West Point graduate, US Army Captain (ret.), recipient of two Silver Stars and the Purple Heart, Douglas Cohn doesn’t fool around (like the candidates!) when it comes to mixing up political facts with fiction. In his new book, The President’s First Year: None Were Prepared, Some Never Learned—Why the Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency (Lyons Press; 2015; $26.95 Hardcover; ISBN: 971493011926), Cohn dissects every past presidential action since Washington, describing how various commander-in-chiefs over the centuries learned (or not) from the mistakes they made during their first year in office; and from that discovery, clearly makes the case for what Trump needs to do and what Hillary desperately must avoid in order to win the White House.
Cohn’s non-partisan tome will change the way we view the candidates, and frankly, how sacred we should all hold the office of the president. For those on the campaign trail hoping to win a large, permanent place in American history, one fatal error or slip-up could shut the gates to the White House and end a career. Or, especially in today’s wildly unpredictable political climate, maybe not…
As a political talking head, commenting on anything—from the debates to the campaign trail, and referencing The President’s First Year as pure fact—Cohn can discuss:
• What caused this political race to morph into a popularity contest and a reality TV show?
• Are the voters absorbing these changes as a modern form of revolution?
• What five things should Donald Trump avoid or change?
• What five things should Hillary Clinton avoid or change?
• What must Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz immediately embrace to take their party’s lead?
Douglas Cohn is the writer/owner of America’s longest running syndicated column, Washington Merry Go Round along with Eleanor Clift. A member of Critical Issues Roundtable, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank of retired generals, he is a graduate of West Point and the recipient of two Silver Stars and the Purple Heart. His previous TV appearances include A&E’s Biography Channel, the Military Channel, and CNBC. For more information, please go to http://www.douglascohn.com.
This book introduces the American reader to the soldiers that defend our nation. Jimmy Blackmon found that the average American citizen knows little about just what today’s soldiers go through in combat. In his new book, PALE HORSE: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division (St. Martin’s Press, on sale March 8, 2016, $27.99) he takes readers inside the heads and hearts of these servicemen and women. In examining this perspective of the combat soldier the reader sees how they feel, think, and act. Through countless hours of interviews Blackmon did with his soldiers he had them search deep inside themselves. Their powerful narrative discussing their fears, doubts, anxieties and focusing techniques in the face of battle will leave the reader feeling as if they too had been in combat.
The stories told in PALE HORSE show that these soldiers are in so many ways literally the kid next door. Half a million strong, they are the sons and daughters of our nation. Most of those who served under Blackmon voluntarily joined after the terrible attacks of 9/11. As Blackmon says, “They knew they were going to combat, and that they might die. America deserves to know them. America’s longest war will not soon be forgotten, but the men and women who fought it will fade with time to nothing more than a serial number on a roster pressed between pages, if we allow it.”
To a combat veteran like Blackmon, the draw down in Afghanistan is a time of mixed feelings. He and his soldiers gave (and lost) so much there. He certainly doesn’t want to see it become another Iraq. He understands the nefarious intents of not only the Taliban but of al Qaeda, ISIS, and other organizations bent on terror. Can Afghanistan stand on its own as a nation? The battles he discusses here have produced over the years 10 Medal of Honor winners. What was fought for and what is being left behind are current and relevant. PALE HORSE presents this dilemma and examines other issues such as:
• This is the first combat action book written from a helicopter pilot’s perspective since Vietnam
• The gripping narrative will enable readers to feel the emotion of combat up close
• Coming to know exactly what our soldiers experienced in Afghanistan • First-hand experience of the action in battles that produced so many Medal of Honor winners
• In-depth understanding of what it’s like to fly and fight in a helicopter with the famed 101st Airborne Division
• Life and death decisions that are made in the heat of combat
• Experiencing combat with the 101st in the valleys where the attacks on 9/11 were planned and rehearsed
• An account of a year in eastern Afghanistan fighting a seasoned and hardened enemy from the perspective of an aviation task force
• A heroic story of a young boy from humble roots in northern Georgia who went on to command a task force in the storied 101st Airborne Division
• The reader will feel their heart race as if they were strapped themselves into an Apache gunship and experience combat from the cockpit
PALE HORSE demonstrates that this war was fought by everyday Americans, men and women from Anytown, USA. They came from wealthy and poor families alike. Their mothers and fathers were doctors, lawyers, shrimp boat captains and mill workers. They were white, African-American, Latino, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic, Samoan, and many other diverse heritages and backgrounds, and they were all extraordinary.
ABOUT JIMMY BLACKMON
Jimmy Blackmon has served in various command and staff positions throughout the army in the two plus decades since he started out as a second lieutenant in army aviation. He has commanded soldiers at every level from platoon through brigade, including commanding soldiers in combat at the squadron and brigade level in the famed 101st Airborne Division. He has served two tours in the Balkans, two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan. He is married with four children and lives in Virginia.
Like nearly one in five people, novelist Matt Haig suffers from depression. After contemplating suicide and very nearly killing himself, Matt Haig spent much of his twenties trying to return to normalcy. REASONS TO STAY ALIVE is Matt’s life-saving and inspirational memoir of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend (and now-wife), Andrea. And eventually, he learned to appreciate life all the more for it.
Everyone’s lives are touched by mental illness: if we do not suffer from it ourselves, then we have a friend or loved one who does. Matt’s frankness about his experiences is both inspiring to those who feel daunted by depression and illuminating to those who are mystified by it. Above all, his humor and encouragement never let us lose sight of hope. Speaking as his present self to his former self in the depths of depression, Matt is adamant that the oldest cliché is the truest—there is light at the end of the tunnel. He teaches us to celebrate the small joys and moments of peace that life brings, and reminds us that there are always reasons to stay alive.
During an interview, Matt can discuss:
•The most challenging part of writing REASONS TO STAY ALIVE
•The differences between writing a novel and a memoir/self-help book
•What influenced him to write REASONS TO STAY ALIVE
•What he wants people to take away from reading his book
•How REASONS TO STAY ALIVE is different from other books about depression
•What the feedback has been like since the book came out in the UK
As a novelist, Matt Haig is able to give voice to those who aren’t able to articulate what they’re experiencing. His frankness about his past is inspiring for anyone who feels daunted by depression and illuminating for those who feel confused by its effects. Above all, his humor and encouragement come from having lived through depression, so he never lets the reader lose sight of hope.
About the Author:
MATT HAIG is the internationally bestselling writer of five novels, including The Dead Father’s Club, The Humans and The Radleys. He has also written award-winning children’s books. His work has been translated into thirty languages. REASONS TO STAY ALIVE, a runaway bestseller in the UK, is his first work of nonfiction. He lives in England.
Lt. Col. Hudson began his Army Career in 1989 at the age of 17. After graduation, he went to his local recruiting station and asked to be enlisted in the United States Army. After his initial enlistment, he went on to become a member of the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division and the equally notable 101st Airborne Division.
Lt. Col. Hudson’s initial enlistment was as a Private First Class, but in 1996 he attended the U.S. Officer Candidate School where he was chosen to be an Army Officer in the Infantry. As a result of that selection, he also attended the Infantry Course designed for newly commissioned Officers which led to a duty assignment at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky as an Infantry Platoon Leader.
While there he fulfilled several leadership roles that allowed him to foster an attitude of precision and accuracy. One of his most notable positions during this time was with the 1-187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, also known for their execution of Air Assault (AASLT) techniques.
Lt. Col. Hudson has attended several military schools and trainings. He has cultivated a reputable career while serving in Special Forces Units and attending the corresponding military schools to include: the Special Forces Qualification course, the Basic Infantry Officer’s Course, the advanced Armor Officer’s Course, and the Command and General Staff College. Hudson is also a graduate of Airborne School, Air Assault School, Pathfinder School, and Ranger School.
He then served as detachment commander of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) from 2003-2007 and 2008-2011. He has also held several significant positions as Battalion Assistant Operations Officer, Battalion Executive Officer, Special Forces Company Commander, and as a Deputy Chief (J3) at Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force.
He has performed several tours with the 3rd Special Forces Group in support of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Prior to becoming the Raleigh Recruiting Battalion Commander, he spent the past two years with the Exercise Division Chief for the Joint Special Operations Command. He has 26 years of faithful Army service.
Nicholas Petrie’s, THE DRIFTER (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; Publication), offers a trenchant exploration of the shattered lives of returning veterans, wrapped in the cloak of a riveting thriller. This literary page-turner pits Peter Ash, a damaged veteran of the wars Afghanistan and Iraq, against a criminal web in contemporary Milwaukee. Waging a different kind of battle within, Peter tries to put his own tenuous life together. In an attempt to tune out the noise in his own head, he offers help to the widow of his best friend from the battlefield—an act of expiation that turns deadly.
“With THE DRIFTER, Nicholas Petrie has written just about the perfect thriller,” says New York Times bestselling author JOHN LESCROART. “I haven’t read such a well-crafted and gripping story in a month of Sundays.”
“A timely, intelligent thriller, as much an indictment as a gripping page-turner." OWEN LAUKKANEN, author of The Stolen Ones
“The Drifter is a stunning debut. Peter Ash is one of the most complex characters I've come across in a long time. The pace is like a sniper round, extraordinarily fast and precisely calibrated. The prose is fluid, original and frequently brilliant, the story heart-wrenching and uplifting at the same time."—DAVID BALDACCI, New York Times-bestselling author of Memory Man
More on the book: Peter is living in self-imposed isolation in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest when he gets the news that his comrade-in-arm, Jimmy Johnson, has committed suicide. Heading to Jimmy’s hometown of Milwaukee, Peter invents a story for Jimmy’s widow, Dinah, telling her he has been sent by the Marines as part of a veteran’s benefit program to offer survivors help with home repairs. Under the watchful eye of Jimmy’s young son, Peter sets to work replacing the crumbling porch of Dinah’s house—and capturing and taming the junkyard dog that has taken up residence beneath it. The rotting structure harbors all manner of detritus, including an old suitcase. Peter is shocked to discover the valise is filled with $400,000 is freshly stacked bills and some plastic explosives. Dinah has one hunch about the origins of the money, but when she and Peter head to a dangerous neighborhood to try to return it, her theory proves wrong. Their attempt to track down whomever is behind this clearly illegal cache grows more and more complicated—and perilous—at each unexpected turn. Peter uncovers a complex web of criminal activity. And, always battling the white static in his head, he is thrust back into memories and situations that he had hoped he had left behind in war zones halfway around the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nicholas Petrie received his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington. He won a Hopwood Award for short fiction while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and his story “At the Laundromat” won the 2006 Short Story Contest in the Seattle Review. A husband and father, he runs a home appraisal business in Milwaukee.
The Former Security Guard for Jerry Springer Takes on All-New Hot Topics with his Unique Style of Tough Talk
It was more than 20 years ago when Steve Wilkos -- a former U.S. Marine and Chicago police officer -- began moonlighting as a security guard on The Jerry Springer Show. Viewers began to identify with his tough guy demeanor and no-nonsense approach, and Steve began hosting his own daytime talk show in 2007.
Now in its 9th season, The Steve Wilkos Show is hotter than ever. The show has experienced larger year-after-year growth than any other syndicated talk show and has been renewed through 2018. Considered a man of the people, Steve's sincerity and straight-talking style continue to attract new fans, both men and women alike. The show has earned three Prism Award nominations for raising awareness about social issues such as substance abuse and domestic violence.
Steve is a huge sports fan (his hometown Chicago teams) and avid golfer and can often be found riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle in Connecticut, where he lives with wife Rachelle (executive producer of The Steve Wilkos Show) and two kids. Talk to Steve about his unique progression from military man and police officer to talk show host, and the hot topics his show will tackle in its ninth season.
Yoda and Backpack interview Michael T. Flynn a retired United States Army Lieutenant General who served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and chair of the Military Intelligence Board. He has a new book which is titled 'The Field of Fight:
How We Can Win The Global War Against Radical Islam And Its Allies'.
Don't miss this high energy, entertaining, informative show covering current threats to our liberty and how to survive and thrive in these dangerous troubled times.
Check out our Voices of Global Freedom Archives.
http://www.magnifiedview.com
Voices of Global Freedom archives on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/globalfreedomnetwork
Backpack's new book 'Looking Glass Shattered: Cubicle Commando to Constitutional Conservative Leader' is now available on Amazon Kindle. Learn more about it at this link.
http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Glass-Shattered-Constitutional-Conservative-ebook/dp/B00BIAICBK
How tenuous is the Clinton email scandal? Is there fear that, besides the fact of classified State Department documents on a private email account, maybe they could have been hacked? Maybe the U.S. got lucky and that didn’t happen to those unsecured thousands of sensitive emails…maybe they could have. New York Times bestselling author Dan Bongino served in the Secret Service under three Presidential administrations. When he left, prior to the infamous 2014 White House fence jumper incident, he was already convinced security failings were coming to an organization he served so proudly for so many years.
What led him to leave the Secret Service, while at the top of his profession, and with no political experience, to run for office? Not only run for office, both for the Senate and the Congress, but against enormous odds nearly pulling off stunning upsets the type of which would have both unsettled the balance of party power in either hall of Congress as well as stamped him as a rising star in the DC Beltway. His new book, THE FIGHT: A Secret Service Agent’s Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine (St. Martin’s Press, on sale January 12, 2016, $26.99), is a powerful and disturbing insider account of the failings of presidential security and our political system, as well as a handbook on how citizens can fight back against inept leadership.
Bongino provides the reader with his personal insights on issues from national and personal security to big politics, including key topics and events such as:
• Sounding the alarm about the Hillary Clinton email scandal and her flagrant violation of email protocol which may be the least of the country’s problems if she’s elected President
• The White House fence jumper who may have done the country a favor by exposing the “crisis driven” federal bureaucracy noting the author’s behind the scenes account exposing the reasons behind our collapsing security infrastructure
• The drone crash at the White House seen as a harbinger of a dystopian security future where privacy will have to be bought, and your darkest secrets will be available to the highest bidder
• President Obama’s insulated ideological life which has forged him into a grossly inadequate Commander-in-Chief, Bongino addressed the President’s failure to understand what “the team” means to patriotic Americans
• Bongino was in front of the largest podium in the world while securing the President of the United States, and behind it himself as a candidate for office, where his behind the scenes experiences provide a must have handbook for anyone looking for reasons why our government is failing, and how to fight back
He has been at the top of one profession (security), and struggled mightily upstream in another (politics). It was those struggles in the latter that helped shape this book. As Bongino says, “I lost a congressional election as a complete outsider to the political process running against the political establishment and their limited interests. I had a number of opportunities to drink the ”Kool-Aid” and get their support, but I refused. My refusal to sell out on principle likely cost me an upset victory against the richest member of Congress as I fell one point short of winning in an overwhelmingly Democratic district. The book is a cautionary tale for both the politically involved and the casual observer, describing the forces working against us to corrupt the process.”
The vast majority of Americans experience only intermittent contact with the security apparatus of our nation and only come in to any type of contact with the world of politics when our evening dinner is interrupted by robo-calls looking for donations to a candidate or party. Dan Bongino has experienced the inner-workings of our national security at the highest level imaginable: the elite Presidential Protection Division. He also knows from his own blood, sweat and tears what going it alone as a major political underdog is like when your own party practically abandons you because the advance polls say you have no choice…even before anyone has gone to ballot box. Using a mix of current events, an insider’s analysis, and tales from his time protecting presidents and other world dignitaries, he shows where clear and foreseeable leadership failures from our current administration led to grave consequences in a broken political process that threatens our nation’s future.
Dan Bongino is uniquely qualified to provide views from behind the curtain to warn reader’s about the political system that is failing us and the security future that won’t protect us.
ABOUT DAN BONGINO
Dan Bongino served in the Secret Service during the administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. In 2011, he ran for the Senate, against great odds of winning, and finished a close second. In 2014, he ran for the U.S Congress in Maryland as a Republican in a district that was predominantly Democratic and while being badly underfunded and outspent by his rival, he fell short by just one point. He hosts a radio show on WMAL radio, and guest hosts on the Sean Hannity and Mark Levin national radio shows. He also provides commentary for CNN, FOX, MSNBC, NBC, and others. His first book, Life Inside the Bubble, was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Florida.
The movie is available January 12, 2016...
Emilie de Ravin just wrapped production on the independent feature film The Submarine Kid, directed by Eric Bilitch. She last starred opposite Robert Pattinson, Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan in the film Remember Me. Previously, she starred in the critically acclaimed series LOST as Claire Littleton, the reluctant single mother who was traveling to give her baby up for adoption when Oceanic Flight 815 crashed onto the Island. She also plays Belle on ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME.
Her other past film projects include Brick, a Sundance favorite starring opposite Joseph Gordon Levitt, The Chameleon, with Ellen Barkin, The Perfect Game, opposite Clifton Collins, and The Hills Have Eyes. She also starred as Tess Harding on the CW Series Roswell.
De Ravin currently resides in Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE MOVIE THE SUBMARINE KID, AVAILABLE ON DEMAND JANUARY 12th
Finn Wittrock (Unbroken, “American Horror Story”) and Emilie de Ravin (“Lost,” “Once Upon a Time’) star in the captivating drama, The Submarine Kid, available on Digital HD and On Demand January 12th from MarVista Digital Entertainment. Co-written by Wittrock, marking his writing debut, alongside Director Eric Bilitch (“Professional Friend”), the feature also stars Nancy Travis (“Last Man Standing”), Jessy Schram (“Once Upon a Time,” “Falling Skies”), Jack Coleman (“Castle,” “Heroes: Reborn”) and Matt O’Leary (Brick, Frailty).
The Submarine Kid follows Spencer King (Wittrock), a U.S. Marine, who has just returned home from a horrific wartime experience. He struggles to acclimate himself back into his day-to-day life with his family, friends and girlfriend, as he feels his life away from the battlefield is too mundane and ordinary. His feelings drastically change when he meets a new mysterious woman (de Ravin) on her own journey of discovery, and they enter into a magically entrancing, but destructive, relationship.
The Navy SEALs are known as “the teams” for good reason. Every member of the unit understands the role he has to play, spends hours of working together to build trust, and forges an unbreakable bond through repetition and commitment. As a Navy SEAL and a trainer of military working dogs, Mike Ritland has spent nearly his entire adult life fostering the best of human and canine attributes—a respect for authority, care for other’s well-being, and a commitment to getting things done right. He has created one of the most successful canine training programs in the country, providing dogs and training for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs, TSA, and the Department of Defense, as well as elite Special Forces units within the US Military. Ritland also established the Warrior Dog Foundation, which helps to transition dogs from an operational environment into a state-of-the-art kennel facility.
Now, in his New York Times bestselling book Team Dog, just out in paperback, Ritland uses his experience to show how the same principles used to train combat dogs for the battlefield can be applied to your dog at home. Join Mike Ritland on Wednesday, January 6th as he discusses:
• How to choose the perfect dog for your household
• How to apply the key components of “command and control,” establish yourself as the “Team Leader,” and master non-verbal communication with your dog
• The important things to know about how a dog “thinks,” and the science behind gaining a dog’s trust – a key element of the human-canine relationship
• The best ways to appropriately punish or reward your dog’s behavior
• The Warrior Dog Foundation, and its efforts to educate the public on the importance of K-9s in the combat environment, and showcase the level of sacrifice these dogs give in support of our troops.
Ritland offers a unique perspective to dog training that has proven as effective in the living room or backyard as it did on the battlefield. His easy-to-follow instructions will teach you how to transform your dog into the ultimate companion.
About the Author: Mike Ritland joined the navy in 1996, and after twelve years started his own company to train dogs for the SEAL teams. His clients include the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs, TSA, and the Department of Defense. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Trident K9 Warriors, which is being adapted for film.
Brad Taylor has had eight bestselling hardcover books in four years. Taylor is not just another thriller author and here are some of the reasons Taylor stands out:
•Taylor spent over twenty-one years in the Army Infantry and Special Forces including eight in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other classified locations.
As if that’s not enough, he also holds a Master’s of Science in Defense Analysis.
Oh, and he also serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats in his spare time (between writing two books and an especial every year).
•Taylor pays close attention to obscure international news stories before mainstream media picks them up, so his books can read like prophecies. His forecasts include:
In The Insider Threat, ISIS exploits a group of radicalized Americans to conduct a devastating attack on the European continent, unfortunately something now playing out on the world stage; Taylor even used the very name “The Lost Boys” before FOX News used the same moniker to describe a group of Western jihadists who joined the terrorist group…
Before the Boston Marathon bombing, The Widow’s Strike featured Chechen terrorists…
Before anyone knew the name Edward Snowden, Taylor wrote about a massive US intelligence leak in The Polaris Protocol…
And Days of Rage featured Boko Haram before they kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls.
•He is a trusted and mediagenic expert who has been called to comment on breaking news for FOX, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera America, and Newsmax on stories as diverse as the Charlie Hebdo attack, ISIS, the Sony hack, the death of Osama Bin Laden, and Tom Clancy.
I hope you will consider dipping into THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER, whether or not you’ve read Taylor’s previous novels. Longtime fans will find this particular story to be a fascinating departure from the series, while newcomers will be thrilled by a relentlessly engaging narrative as the team faces their most emotional challenge yet—hunting one of their own.
About the Author:
Brad Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of eight previous Pike Logan novels. He served for more than twenty years in the US Army, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. He retired as a Special Forces lieutenant colonel and now lives in Charleston, SC.
www.bradtaylorbooks.com
www.twitter.com/bradtaylorbooks
www.facebook.com/bradtaylorbooks
New York Times bestselling author Brad Taylor served for more than twenty years in the US Army, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. Taylor has written nine novels in the Pike Logan series, and it has always been clear that Pike, Jennifer, and all the members of the extralegal counterterrorist unit known as the Taskforce are staunchly in the right—until now. In his newest heart-stopping thriller THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER, Taylor explores the darker consequences of an ungoverned Taskforce when one operator ignores orders and takes matters into his own hands for what he believes is right—even though protocol tells him he’s wrong. Please let me know if you would like an interview with Brad Taylor.
Witty. Clever. Likable. Hilarious.
These have all been used to describe comedian Keith Alberstadt.
For over a decade, Keith has been entertaining comedy fans all over the world -- club audiences in the U.S., expats in Asia, as well as U.S. troops throughout the Middle East. Simply put, his style of comedy is one that pulls everyone in. Whether it’s his sarcastic approach, his playful attitude, or his good old-fashioned southern charm, Keith makes his comedy relatable and approachable.
Growing up the youngest of four in a close-knit Catholic family in Nashville, Keith quickly developed a sense of humor and a love for making others laugh. When he co-hosted the high school talent show at the age of 18, he found his calling. But first there was college, then a job at Vanderbilt as the sideline reporter for the football team’s radio broadcasts. As a die-hard Vandy fan, it was a dream gig! While it was difficult to bite his tongue on the air and avoid FCC fines, it was even more difficult to break away and do his own thing. But eventually he did.
Since leaving the office world behind, it’s been non-stop for Keith. Starting at his home club Zanies, he’s worked all over the country and now calls New York City home. Along the way, he built a solid career that includes such credits as ...
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Last Comic Standing
Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update (contributing writer)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (contributing writer)
Comics Unleashed
Eight comedy tours for the troops -- Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and throughout the Middle East
Fox News Red Eye
It continues to be non-stop, with much much more to come on the horizon. Go see Keith when he comes to your city, and see for yourself!!
- See more at: http://keithcomedy.com/bio/#sthash.mwavJpZc.dpuf
By the age of six, George Wallace knew he wanted to be a comedian. He always enjoyed making people laugh, but he also knew the importance of an education. He attended the University of Akron, Ohio and upon graduating with degrees in Transportation, Marketing/Advertising, plus advance studies in Radio and Television from Columbia School of Broadcasting. Literally, a rags-to-riches story, Wallace went from selling rags to VP of Advertising. Still, his dream of being a comedian had a strong hold on him. Within a week of leaving the advertising field, he began to perform stand-up comedy and was offered a job writing for “The Red Foxx Show.”
Wallace is currently pursuing dual coursework at University of Phoenix and DeVry.
With his writing and stand-up experience, Wallace began landing television appearances.
Wallace was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Soul Train/Centric Comedy All-Star Awards; and won Best Stand Up Comedian at the prestigious American Comedy Awards after four consecutive nominations. As a veteran radio personality, he has also made appearances on “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” and is a charter member of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.”
In 2004 Wallace appeared as the headlining star of his own show at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas for a 30 day run. Sin City showed its admiration by extending Wallace’s contract indefinitely and nicknaming him “The New Mr. Vegas.” Unlike any other comedy show in Las Vegas, Wallace gave away a number of prizes every night including CDs, DVDs, diamond necklaces, dinner at prestigious restaurants, gourmet chocolates, tropical cruises and even a new car. He celebrated his 10th Anniversary headlining at the Flamingo in March 2014, announced he was closing the show to head back out on the road.
Wallace regularly performs in comedy clubs across the country and is an ambassador for the United States government, performing at military bases all over the world.
His first book, LAFF IT OFF (Chaite Press) was published in 2014. A tome of life wisdom, humor and insight from a lifetime of observation, the book is in its third printing.
Wallace’s most recognized material is his “I Be Thinkin’” lines and jokes about everything from conversational thoughts to political aspirations. Each show he engages members of the audience in comical banter. If provoked, he might even throw out a few of his signature “Yo Mama” jokes. He shows his gratitude to the audience by signing autographs and taking photos after every show.
Audience members never know what will happen at the George Wallace show. Wallace is an evolving comedian, which is why his show is different every night. He’s always thinkin’. Fans can now get a taste of what Wallace be thinkin’ on Twitter @MrGeorgeWallace.
His new album, Large & In Charge, is available via Amazon and ITunes now.
LINKS TO WATCH:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hz4ajUkFpo - George Wallace’s Epic Road Trip with Jerry Seinfeld (Late Night with Seth Meyers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVDMi-QY8c - George Wallace guests on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
http://www.bseenmedia.com/george/
I am a _____ to a Veteran. Be a hero to a hero.
John Gallina and Dale Beatty joined the North Carolina National Guard in 1996. During their service to our nation both Gallina and Beatty had the opportunity to respond to calls from the Governor of North Carolina to help victims of Hurricane Fran and Hurricane Floyd. It was through those experiences that they gained their humanitarian passion and spirit.
They also responded to the call of duty from the President of the United States to defend our country against terrorism serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were both 25 years old at the time.
The War in Iraq Defined Both Gallina and Beatty
Their unit was attached to the 1st infantry Division near Bayji, Iraq. On November 15, 2004, they were on a dangerous mission to provide security for an engineer unit that was sweeping the area for mines…a route that had numerous land mine and IED explosions over the previous weeks.
SPC Gallina was driving with SGT Beatty and two other members of the unit. The vehicle struck two anti-tank mines that detonated ripping through the weaker armor in the floor leaving Beatty a double amputee below the knees and Gallina with severe back injuries, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
Their journey together is one of friendship, service, courage and leadership. Their shared experiences in the National Guard created a strong sense of community and a deep passion to give back and make a difference in the lives of Service Connected Disabled Veterans.
Gallina and Beaty Co-Founders of Purple Heart Homes
As both men reintegrated into their communities, they were humbled by the number of people who would come up to them to thank them for their service and sacrifice. They were trained to never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield and as two combat wounded Iraq Veterans they became committed to not leaving them behind at home.
Recognizing an unmet need, they decided to reach across the generational divide to provide housing solutions for qualified Service Connected Disabled Veterans and together they Co-founded Purple Heart Homes in 2008.
Purple Heart Homes is honored to have an experienced seasoned staff and a number of volunteers that share a common belief and a common desire to give back to those who have given so much for their country.
A volunteer Board of Directors is maintained for fiscal responsibility, approval and prioritization of projects and fundraising assistance.
Purple Heart Homes Differentiates Itself From Other Veteran Service Organizations in a Number of Ways:
Co-founded by two combat wounded Iraq Veterans
Provides housing solutions to all generations of qualified Service Connected Disabled Veterans
Enables and encourages communities to form Chapters to support their local Veterans
Purple Heart Homes is a Veteran Service Organization that provides Service Connected Disabled Veterans with the dream of home ownership – a hand up – not a hand out
Purple Heart Homes is a Veteran Service Organization that renovates homes for veterans that own their own homes
Offers a comprehensive Mentor Program that serves the Veteran, the Caregiver and Family members
Provides the Community a way to show their appreciation
John Gallina and Dale Beatty joined the North Carolina National Guard in 1996. During their service to our nation both Gallina and Beatty had the opportunity to respond to calls from the Governor of North Carolina to help victims of Hurricane Fran and Hurricane Floyd. It was through those experiences that they gained their humanitarian passion and spirit.
They also responded to the call of duty from the President of the United States to defend our country against terrorism serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were both 25 years old at the time.
The War in Iraq Defined Both Gallina and Beatty
Their unit was attached to the 1st infantry Division near Bayji, Iraq. On November 15, 2004, they were on a dangerous mission to provide security for an engineer unit that was sweeping the area for mines…a route that had numerous land mine and IED explosions over the previous weeks.
SPC Gallina was driving with SGT Beatty and two other members of the unit. The vehicle struck two anti-tank mines that detonated ripping through the weaker armor in the floor leaving Beatty a double amputee below the knees and Gallina with severe back injuries, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
Their journey together is one of friendship, service, courage and leadership. Their shared experiences in the National Guard created a strong sense of community and a deep passion to give back and make a difference in the lives of Service Connected Disabled Veterans.
Gallina and Beaty Co-Founders of Purple Heart Homes
As both men reintegrated into their communities, they were humbled by the number of people who would come up to them to thank them for their service and sacrifice. They were trained to never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield and as two combat wounded Iraq Veterans they became committed to not leaving them behind at home.
Recognizing an unmet need, they decided to reach across the generational divide to provide housing solutions for qualified Service Connected Disabled Veterans and together they Co-founded Purple Heart Homes in 2008.
Purple Heart Homes is honored to have an experienced seasoned staff and a number of volunteers that share a common belief and a common desire to give back to those who have given so much for their country.
A volunteer Board of Directors is maintained for fiscal responsibility, approval and prioritization of projects and fundraising assistance.
Purple Heart Homes Differentiates Itself From Other Veteran Service Organizations in a Number of Ways:
Co-founded by two combat wounded Iraq Veterans
Provides housing solutions to all generations of qualified Service Connected Disabled Veterans
Enables and encourages communities to form Chapters to support their local Veterans
Purple Heart Homes is a Veteran Service Organization that provides Service Connected Disabled Veterans with the dream of home ownership – a hand up – not a hand out
Purple Heart Homes is a Veteran Service Organization that renovates homes for veterans that own their own homes
Offers a comprehensive Mentor Program that serves the Veteran, the Caregiver and Family members
Provides the Community a way to show their appreciation
In theaters January 15, 2016...
13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI is based on the book 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi, written by New York Times bestselling author Mitchell Zuckoff.
13 HOURS tells the true account of the events of September 11, 2012 when Islamic militants attacked the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound (or simply – the American diplomatic compound, not the U.S. Embassy) and a CIA station called The Annex in Benghazi, Libya from the personal stories of five of the surviving American private security operators that were on the ground that day.
The book and film details what happened to these men, how they handled the circumstances they were presented with and what they accomplished during the thirteen hours of the attack.
The Annex Security Team consisted of 6 men: “Jack Silva” (played by John Krasinski), Tyrone “Rone” Woods (played by James Badge Dale), Mark “Oz” Geist (played by Max Martini), John “Tig” Tiegen (played by Dominic Fumusa), Kris “Tanto” Paronto (played by Pablo Schreiber), and “Dave ‘D.B.’ Benton (played by David Denman).
The 4 Americans that lost their lives in Benghazi were:
oAmbassador Christopher Stevens (U.S. Ambassador to Libya)
oSean Smith (Information Management Officer, U.S. Foreign Service)
oTyrone “Rone” Woods (GRS Operator for Annex Security Team in Benghazi)
oGlen “Bub” Doherty (GRS Operator in Tripoli, Libya – part of the Quick Reaction Force sent from Tripoli to Benghazi after the compound was under attack)
Five members of the Annex Security Team survived the attacks in Benghazi and co-authored the book, 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.
While all of the men are former military (veterans), including Navy SEALS, Marines, and Army Rangers, these men were not active duty military at the time of the attack yet were faced with making similar sacrifices, including laying their lives on the line for their countrymen and their country.
The CIA uses private security operators called Global Response Staff (GRS) throughout the world in high-risk regions where CIA officers are stationed. These GRS operators are elite former military personnel who have decided to continue their commitment to serve the United States even after their military career has ended. In this role, their job is to provide security for the CIA officers. The state department has their own diplomatic security agents assigned to protect American diplomats, such as the Ambassador.
While it was not their job to protect the state department, when the Annex Security Team found out that the U.S. diplomatic compound was under attack, they knew they had to help the fellow Americans (including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens) that were in jeopardy.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Amazon has picked up Paramount TV’s series based on Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan character after a competitive bidding war
With TOM CLANCY COMMANDER IN CHIEF: A Jack Ryan Novel (G. P. Putnam’s Sons; December 1, 2015), Mark Greaney, co-author of three of Tom Clancy’s #1 New York Times bestsellers, once again displays his ability to hit the trifecta of what makes a great Clancy book: Tom's terrific characters combined with edge-of-your-seat action scenes and the over-the-horizon prescience about world events that characterizes Tom's books. The newest electrifying thriller in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series has President Jack Ryan and his allies facing a treacherous foe threatening to unleash chaos around the globe.
In COMMANDER IN CHIEF, Russian President Valeri Volodin’s ambitions are foiled in Dagestan and he faces a difficult choice. The oligarchs who support him expect a constant flow of graft, but with energy prices cratering, the Russian economy sputters to a virtual halt. Unable to grow the Russian market at home, his hold on power relies on expansion abroad—a plan that has been thwarted by the United States in the past.
But this time Volodin has determined that an indirect approach is the best. A floating natural gas facility in Lithuania is blown up. A Venezuelan prosecutor is assassinated. A devastating attack on a Russian troop train kills dozens. A chaotic world is the best camouflage for a series of seemingly unrelated attacks. Only one man recognizes an ominous pattern in the reports of terror from around the globe. U.S. President Jack Ryan sees a guiding hand in the worldwide chaos, but before he can act he needs proof. While his intelligence agencies race to uncover the truth behind the attacks, the President struggles to unite a fractious and distrustful coalition of Western nations against the schemes of the Russian dictator. With fifty thousand Russian troops poised to invade a NATO nation, can Jack Ryan move swiftly enough to stop Volodin’s grand plan of global conflict and conquest? Or will he succeed in changing the balance of world power forever?
About the Authors: Thirty years ago Tom Clancy was a Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had been an English major at Baltimore’s Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October, sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Times bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it “the perfect yarn.” From that day forward, Clancy established himself as an undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity, intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense. He passed away in October 2013.
Mark Greaney is the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Command Authority, Threat Vector, and Locked On, by Tom Clancy with Mark Greaney and the author of Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect: A Jack Ryan Novel and Tom Clancy Support and Defend: A Campus Novel. He is also the bestselling author of the Gray Man series, including Dead Eye, The Gray Man, On Target, and Ballistic. Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for these novels, he traveled to fifteen countries, and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combat tactics.
Purple Heart Homes. Providing housing and quality of life solutions for disabled Veterans.
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Joe Walsh talking about an upcoming documentary he's creating lyrics and riffs for. Joe says, “There’s this documentary, it’s called Citizen Soldier and it’s about a National Guard unit in Oklahoma that out of nowhere got called to Afghanistan.”
Walsh says the unit shot the film themselves using Go Pro cameras and that "they ended up deep in enemy territory and all hell broke loose and not all of them got back."
Mariah Gray bet her father Doug, lead singer of the Marshall Tucker Band, that he couldn’t fit into his Army uniform from 40 years ago for this Veterans Day. Turns out, he could. So, Mariah had to pay up with a vegetable soup lunch.
Gray, who co-founded the Marshall Tucker Band in 1972, served from July 1968 through February of 1970, earning the rank of Sergeant E-5 during a stint that included time in Vietnam. Gray, a native of Spartanburg, S.C., trained at Fort Ord in California and entering the Army at South Carolina’s Fort Jackson.
Gray’s message for all of those who followed him into the service: “We stand behind them, because others stood for us.”
Meanwhile, the Marshall Tucker Band, whose ‘Can’t You See’ was named the greatest Southern rock song ever, are preparing a new release for 2014 — one that Gray says will be “a vintage MTB record for the fans.” The group issued a holiday-themed album in 2011. Gray and Co. also plan to appear on a forthcoming Rock Legends Cruise, he says
Read More: Marshall Tucker Band’s Doug Gray Wins Veterans Day Bet – Pic of the Week | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/doug-gray-army-uniform/?trackback=tsmclip
Kyra Phillips is an award-winning correspondent for the CNN investigative and documentary units, based at the network's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Phillips joined CNN in 1999 and moved to HLN in 2012 to anchor Raising America with Kyra Phillips, a daily interactive, investigative program that focused on news impacting the modern American family.
Phillips has traveled the world to cover and investigate a wide range of breaking news, including four tours reporting in Iraq, first as an embedded journalist aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, then covering the war, and its affect the Iraqi people. Her stories included the Baghdad School for the Blind, substance abuse within the Iraqi military, and an exclusive look inside Saddam Hussein's cell and his personal diary. Phillips' war coverage secured her the Atlanta Press Club's National Reporter of the Year for 2007.
Her documentary about race relations and tensions in Jena, Louisiana, following the appearance of nooses at the town's high school, earned her the top documentary award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Throughout her career, Phillips has garnered exclusive interviews with some of the world's most public figures. Her most recent in-depth interview was with Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey about the rise of ISIS and Admiral Thad Allen, National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, gaining unprecedented access to the disaster site. She secured Rev. Billy Graham's last television interview while producing a documentary on his last revival in New York. Phillips also produced special coverage and documentaries on the announcement of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in Alaska, Hurricane Katrina, and sexual assault in prestigious U.S. military academies. She covered the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and CNN's 2012 Election coverage. One of Phillips' most recent CNN Investigations focused on sexual predators working in some of our most famous theme parks who were arrested in sex stings for crimes against children. She has extensive police S.W.A.T. training and has participated in specialized aviation training with the Navy's elite TOPGUN School.
Just prior to the war in Iraq, Phillips became the first female journalist to fly in an F-14 air-to-air combat training mission over the Persian Gulf. She produced exclusive reports on the U.S. Navy's reconnaissance missions from the P-3 aircraft as well as the maritime interdiction operations from USS Paul Hamilton. For the first time ever, television audiences got a look inside the training of Naval Special Warfare, the Navy's Special Operations Command, the Navy SEALS and Special Warfare Combatant Crewman's training.
In January 2002, Phillips spent a month in Antarctica, working on a documentary on the Earth's most frigid continent. Phillips traced the steps of famous explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. Building and sleeping in an igloo, rappelling down glaciers, and introducing viewers to rare penguin colonies and revealing some of the continent's most fascinating scientific discoveries.
In 2001, Phillips was the first network correspondent to gain exclusive access to CAG 9, the elite Navy air wing, in preparation for the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Her reports took viewers inside the cockpits of the world's most advanced strike fighter jets, and into training, as sailors and officers prepared to fight the war on terror overseas.
Prior to that, Phillips served as an investigative reporter and anchor for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. She was a weekend anchor and reporter for WDSU-TV in New Orleans and prior to that, anchored and reported for WLUK-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Phillips has also served as morning anchor and reporter for KAMC-TV in Lubbock, Texas, and as a field producer for CNN-Telemundo in Washington, D.C.
Phillips has won two Peabody awards, six Emmy awards, two Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting. Additionally, she has won numerous Golden Microphones and other honors. Phillips' investigation into how a convicted murderer could purchase personal information about children, triggered national legislation and earned her the Bill Stout Memorial Award for enterprise reporting.
Since 1992, Phillips has been a Big Sister with national Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America mentoring program. She participates on the board of The Brain Tumor Foundation for Children, The Fisher House Foundation, and serves on the Honorary Board for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. She received the National Global Down Syndrome Foundation's Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award in 2013 and is now a Global Ambassador. Phillips is also the co-author of "The Whole Life Fertility Plan" published in 2015.
Phillips earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California. She is married to fellow journalist John Roberts and are proud parents of twins.
Featuring the U.S. Naval Academy Men's Glee Club
Albert-George Schram, conductor
Tickets: $25.50-$84.50
Buy Tickets
The Symphony salutes America's Heroes with its special guest, the U.S. Naval Academy Men's Glee Club. The group has achieved international prominence as one of America's premier men's choral ensembles and has made recent television appearances on The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS), The Today Show (NBC), and Good Morning, America (ABC). This spectacular group of midshipmen perform a wide range of sacred music and American spirituals plus the famous "Naval Hymn," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Ave Maria," and more!
Each race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It's a guarantee that you will see The Patriotic Bus on the infield. Thousands of U.S. troops have stopped by and signed the inside walls, windows, floorboards and more. There's a story behind the story. A journey that reaches back three generations. And will continue reaching forward well beyond our present chapters.
In ARDENNES 1944, the award-winning writer and pre-eminent historian of World War II, Antony Beevor, tells as no one else can the story behind the final, decisive battle of the European war. The Ardennes offensive, which began on December 16th 1944, and involved more than a million men, became the greatest battle of the war in Western Europe. Although Hitler’s final push to defeat the Allies has been written about before, ARDENNES 1944 tells the full and complete story as it has never been told—the emotions, and the egos, the epic failures, and the spectacular successes—all leading up to the monumental six-week battle that resulted in nearly 200,000 casualties—and finally brought the war on the Western Front to its end.
Already serving our nation when 9-11 became our new reality. John found himself in a state of, "This is real." So real he became part of the brotherhood sent to Iraq where he learned the importance of true team work and faithful togetherness. Being there wasn't his only battle. Returning to a civilian's life and style proved to be the very struggle that millions of men and women go through daily. He credits his wife for being his solid rock.
He grew up wanting to serve his nation. Once there he quickly understood the several different levels of where team work and brotherhood command the success of each mission. Even when something totally unexpected happened. Did he turn away from his nation? Not Sgt Corey Collins. He dug in and began a journey to help heal a nation of deeply dedicated and loyal men and women.
HUNTER KILLER is the first-ever inside look at the U.S. military's secretive Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) program. Commonly referred to by the media as drones, RPAs are a mysterious and headline-making tool in the military's counter-terrorism arsenal. Their story has been pieced together by technology reporters, major newspapers, and on-the-ground accounts from the Middle East, but it has never been fully told by an insider. Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley spent a decade flying Predators and Reapers, during which he developed some of the tactics used by the program, wrote the first tactical manual used to fly the Predator, and witnessed the RPA’s evolution into the most sought-after aircraft in the war
ABOUT SEAN NAYLOR, AUTHOR OF RELENTLESS STRIKE
In the wake of September 11, 2001, the way the United States’ military fights wars changed forever. There will never be another storming of Normandy; traditional warfare is a thing of the past. Instead, we now enact war through clandestine battles—or special ops missions—on almost a daily basis. These secret missions are carried out by special ops teams under the umbrella of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in some of the most remote corners of the world. And though we’ve all heard of their successes—they captured Saddam Hussein, rescued Captain Phillips, and killed bin Laden and al-Awlaki—the general public doesn’t even know most of these missions are happening, or even that JSOC exists.
In RELENTLESS STRIKE: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (St. Martin’s Press; September 1, 2015; $29.99), award-winning defense journalist, and presently intelligence and counterterrorism correspondent for Foreign Policy, Sean Naylor reveals the full inside story of JSOC—including Delta Force, SEAL Team 6 and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Based on exclusive interviews at the highest command levels, Naylor details how an organization originally designed in the 1980s for a limited mission set transformed itself post-9/11 to become the U.S.’s premiere weapon in the war on terror, and how it continues to evolve today. Riveting and informative, among the exclusive revelations are:
• Delta Force knew the identities of and was tracking the ringleaders of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi within a week of the attack
• The allegation that the SEAL Team 6 commander nearly resigned in over then-JSOC command Bill McRaven’s micromanagement of the mission that killed bin Laden
• The first revelation of undercover Syrian missions by U.S. special operations to conduct close-target reconnaissance of foreign fighter networks that were funneling jihadists through Syria into Iraq
An insider’s account of the most powerful—and secretive—military organization in US history, RELENTLESS STRIKE provides crucial insights into US foreign policy and defense.
ABOUT SEAN NAYLOR
Award-winning defense journalist SEAN NAYLOR is the intelligence and counterterrorism correspondent for Foreign Policy and contributes to the New York Times. He previously focused on special operations as an exclusive beat for Army Times. He has consistently broken news on JSOC operations since 9/11. He has also earned the White House Correspondents' Association's prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award for his coverage of Operation Anaconda, which led to his New York Times bestselling book about the operation, Not a Good Day to Die
According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll , nearly half of the American population feels less safe now than they did before 9/11. Every day we’re exposed to news of violent crime, kidnappings, carjackings, acts of terrorism, and natural disasters that fuel our sense of insecurity. So what can we do to prepare ourselves?
In SPY SECRETS THAT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE: A Former CIA Officer Reveals Safety and Survival Techniques to Keep You and Your Family Protected (Perigee Hardcover, on sale September 22, 2015, ISBN-13: 978-0-399-17514-5), Jason Hanson shows that you don’t have to be an intelligence officer to remain safe in an uncertain world. A security specialist and former CIA officer with a booming Spy Escape and Evasion business (thanks in part to a successful Shark Tank appearance), Hanson helps everyday citizens attain “survival intelligence” – having the confidence to know that you can respond quickly and wisely in an emergency situation using the tools you have on hand.
Readers will feel empowered to act appropriately in any dangerous situation that comes their way, including how to thwart kidnappings, prevent home invasions, defend against would-be attackers, avoid carjackings, and pack a perfect emergency kit. Some of the techniques included in Spy Secrets that Can Save Your Life include how to determine if you’re being followed; escape handcuffs, duct tape, rope, and zip ties; pick a lock; escape from car trunks; and improvise a weapon if necessary. Other topics that Hanson can speak to include:
• Tips on how to survive and save lives during a natural disaster, a plane or car crash, a terrorist attack, a robbery, or a school shooting
“Born to Country….raised on Rock”
Friends know him as a real straight shooter and a man never afraid to speak the truth. This honesty is reflected in the music he makes and in the songs he writes.
Early Life
Seratte was born and raised in California’s San Joaquin Valley on the family ranch where he learned hands-on working skills of ridin’ and ropin’,along with the value of hard work and what true grit determination was all about. His natural musical talents in piano and singing had surfaced at a young age and, by the time Seratte was a young teen, music was his main focus. Prior to his teen years, he was influenced by his parents’ record collection listening to everything from Nat King Cole to Sons of the Pioneers. The now legendary Bakersfield Sound was evolving at the time and was the prevalent music throughout the Valley, including Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys headquartered in Fresno. Seratte fondly remembers sitting with his family every night to watch the now legendary “Cousin Herb’s Tradin’ Post”, a Bakersfield regional tv show. The show featured a young Buck and Bonnie Owens, Merle Haggard, local and regional acts like Roy Buchanan as well as newcomers Willie Nelson, Marty Robbins, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Cash, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams along with Gene Autry, Ernest Tubb, Texas Ritter and many more. Family member “Uncle Jelly ” Sanders was a regular member playing fiddle and guitar on the show, and also doing live shows with cousin Bob Wills quite often. Jelly is on many of Buck’s early recordings. When Jelly decided to stay in town, Buck had to find someone to replace him, so they found a young handsome champion fiddle player and handed him a Telecaster guitar. His name was Don Rich. ( A tribute to Jelly Sanders is included in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Bakersfield Sound Exhibit as a founding member, having performed, toured and recorded with many of these pioneers of The Bakersfield Sound.) Seratte is Blessed by exposure to his heritage and bloodline, as a part of musical history.
Influences
Good music was ingrained in Seratte. Growing up he was fully exposed to everything from “The Bakersfield Sound”, Rock, R&B, Blues, Motown and Jazz. Seratte absorbed the musical influences of legendary artists such as; Nat “King” Cole, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Byrds, The Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gay, Bad Company, Oscar Peterson, Poco, Faces, The Allman Bros., The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Ray Charles, Brian Auger, Modern Jazz Quartet, Bill Evans, The Sons of Champlin and so many more. In high school, he sang and played in bands throughout the San Joaquin Valley and all along the west coast. Seratte already knew he wanted a career in music and performing. After graduation and a brief college stint in pre-med and music, he headed to L.A. to make his dream of music a reality.
Professional Timeline
In L.A., Seratte worked hard at his craft, and it paid off. Asylum Records took notice and Seratte was offered a deal. As with so many in Hollywood, people changed chairs, left the company, and the deal fizzled after a year, but his talent was recognized. Seratte’s keyboard and vocal skills also earned a solid spot on the “A” list of musicians in town and he was cutting tracks with the best players in town. He was in-demand in the studio and for live performances, as well as keys and vocals on film work, T.V., and commercials. After taking an audition , Seratte was asked to join Poco. Seratte’s keyboards and vocal blend were a perfect fit for the band and their signature harmonies. As a member of several multi-platinum and Grammy winning acts, Seratte has performed from Budokan to The Meadowlands, for audiences in stadiums, arenas, studios and television all over the planet, including ; Whitesnake, Foreigner, Three Dog Night, Spencer Davis Group, Stan Bush, Rick Springfield, Lion/Bad Moon Rising, ShadowKing, Masters of Reality, Debbie Gibson. Seratte joined as a member of the Baxter-Entwistle Band (Skunk Baxter, John Entwistle, Mickey Thomas, Zack Starkey, and Seratte), a project he wrote for and co-produced. Recording sessions, producing, writing songs , singing jingles, music for television and film and more was packaged between the touring. Seratte lended his keyboard/vocal talents on many projects and recordings, most are listed at allmusic.com or a general discography search.
Intermission
Life happens. Seratte suddenly found himself a single dad with two young children to raise alone. He moved the family from L.A. to establish a new life in Nashville. With calls and offers coming in, the children were his number one priority and leaving town was out of the question. During this time period, this single dad was busy at work caring for his family and working in town to stay home. Never an easy task for any single parent. Seratte’s spare time was spent writing songs, producing and performing only when the schedule allowed. Fast forward several years, the kids are now grown and off on their own. With a new found perspective called “Life Happens”, and an everlasting passion for music, Seratte’s main focus is again back on the music.
New CD
“Rock Country” is a project Seratte has wanted to record for a long time. Seratte gives the listener a unique glimpse into a side of the man that’s never been heard or talked about and says, “It’s so easy to lose yourself in all the high profile tours, sessions, and wide varieties of music and personalities. I needed to find myself again. There’s more to me than one kind of music. Like Ray said “There’s only two kinds of music, good and bad.” I decided to take all my experiences and influences, go back to the beginning, and start there.” Giving credit to his friends and big-gun players themselves making it a special recording, Seratte produced and engineered on the cd, sang vocals, played keyboards and wrote/co-wrote all of the songs. “Rock Country” is a music lover’s album for all.
www.rickseratte.com
COL Patrick Michaelis - 2BDE US Army recruiting commander -- responsible for
Army recruiting for the entire southeastern region of the US
LTC Ed Hudson - Raleigh Recruiting BN commander - responsible for Army
recruiting for NC (Charlotte to the Outer Banks)
Major Gen. Chuck Swannack has been named executive director of Speedway Children's Charities. After serving in the same position for nearly 25 years, Major Gen. Tom Sadler has been named executive director emeritus.
"Gen. Sadler set a high bar with his years of service and dedication to children," said Marcus Smith, president and chief operating officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and president of Speedway Children's Charities. "Now with his outstanding leadership credentials, Gen. Swannack will continue to move Speedway Children's Charities."
As Executive Director Emeritus, Sadler will serve as an advisor to Swannack and the Speedway Children's Charities Board of Directors and will continue to participate in speedway activities and charitable events.
"Simply put, there is no replacing Gen. Sadler," Swannack said. "Under his leadership, Speedway Children's Charities has grown from a fledgling organization into one of NASCAR's most respected charities, contributing more than $45 million to hundreds of deserving charities and helping over 13 million children in need across the country. I look forward to working alongside Tom as I learn the ropes and continue to work to serve children facing educational, medical, financial and social needs."
Swannack was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant from the United States Military Academy in 1971. Over the next three decades, he served in command and staff positions at every level from platoon to Department of the Army.
Prior to his retirement, Swannack commanded the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg from October 2002 until May 2004. During this time, he provided forces to Combined Joint Task Force-180 for combat operations in Afghanistan, and he personally led the Division during combat operations from Kuwait to Baghdad and later civil-military operations in western Iraq.
Prior general officer assignments include: Commanding General of Multinational Division (North) and Task Force Eagle during Operation JOINT FORGE (SFOR 11) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he oversaw implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords; Commanding General of the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, where he was the senior trainer for all Light, Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger and Special Forces units in the Army; and Deputy Director for Strategy, Plans and Policy within the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Headquarters, Department of the Army. His initial assignment as a general officer was with the 82nd Airborne Division as the Assistant Division Commander (Operations).
As a Brigade Commander, Swannack deployed to Haiti for peacekeeping operations during Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. He served in the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, J5, the Joint Staff, where he was instrumental in developing and executing U.S. strategy and policy for Central America and the Caribbean Basin. As a Battalion Commander, he deployed to Panama during Operation NIMROD DANCER and participated in combat operations during Operation JUST CAUSE.
Swannack is a graduate of Capstone and the National War College. He holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Virginia.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit (6OLC) and Bronze Star (1OLC). He proudly wears the Combat Infantryman badge, Master Parachutist badge and the Ranger Tab.
Initially in retirement, Swannack provided consultation services to multiple defense corporations and primarily served in the capacity of a trainer, coach and mentor to Brigade Combat Teams preparing to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. He served as CEO and President of the Logistics Services Division, Louis Berger Services (formerly US Logistics, Inc.).
Swannack resumed consultation services under Alpha Management Group, while also serving as a director for Recon Robotics in Edina, Minnesota, president of the Military Family Lifestyle Charitable Foundation in Huntersville, North Carolina, and as an active supporter on multiple other military charities as a means of giving back to those who served him so well during his military career.
Swannack is married, has twin children and six grandchildren.
"After nearly 25 years, it's time to pass the torch, and I can't think of anyone more qualified and more dedicated than Chuck Swannack to lead Speedway Children's Charities," Sadler said. "I look forward to working with him during this time of transition and seeing the energy and enthusiasm he will bring to serving children in need."
About Speedway Children's Charities
The mission of Speedway Children's Charities remains true to the ideals it was founded upon in 1982: To care for children in educational, financial, social and medical need in order to help them lead productive lives. Over the years, SCC has provided more than $45 million for hundreds of nonprofit organizations throughout the nation that meet the direct needs of more than 13 million children.
- See more at: http://charlotte.speedwaycharities.org/news/major-general-chuck-swannack-named-executive-director-speedway-childrens-charities.html#sthash.qn4opaJs.dpuf
Through frustration. Does your true calling rise? Setting one foot on a path then moving forward is freedom. But what happens when the visual of where you walk is in Kuwait and without knowledge of there being trouble life suddenly changes? How do you prepare for what life is about to deliver?
In IRON WOLF, it’s the spring of 2017, the U.S. economy is finally starting to show signs of life under President Stacy Anne Barbeau, the country’s first female president. But in Eastern Europe, all hell is breaking loose. Russian president Gennadiy Gryzlov has sent Special Troops forces, disguised as pro-Russian activists, into Ukraine and Moldova under the pretext of protecting Russian-speaking citizens. NATO is outraged, but does little in response, leading former U.S. president Kevin Martindale to take matters into his own hands. Martindale approaches Polish president Peter Wilk with a radical solution: strike back at Russia not with the Polish army, but with a covert force of Cybernetic Infantry Device (CID) manned robots. Eventually, Martindale argues, the series of hit-and-run raids will force the Russian troops to withdraw. Wilk signs on, financing the operation with his own personal fortune.
Operation Iron Wolf is underway. The initial strikes are successful, destroying a Russian base in Western Ukraine, and drawing the furor of Gryzlov. Barbeau, still completely in the dark as to Martindale’s scheme, pledges to aid the Russians in an investigation, and an epic standoff between Russia, NATO, and the Martindale-Wilk coalition ensues.
Will Martindale’s secret alliance, supported by the best military technology, win the day? Or will the Russian forces emerge victorious in the end? In this newest high-powered installment from New York Times bestselling author Dale Brown, tensions in Eastern Europe inform a political thriller of the highest order.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the author of numerous consecutive New York Times best-selling military-action-aviation adventure novels. Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 10 million copies. Dale was born in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course. Dale is a director and volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading. Dale Brown is a member of The Writers Guild and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his own plane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and hockey. Dale and his family live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Purple Heart Homes visits the John Boy and Billy Show. Five projects in four states have been completed. It sounds incredible but the journey isn't over. Its through communication that bridges are being crossed. Its a journey that requires people and you are always part of this team.
Nothing gets me deeper into a great conversation then someone talking about how they're tapping into an endless supply of creative energy. John Heffron has always been an inspiration. His thinker is always testing the waters. He doesn't fear the stage nor the other places people play. He's written a new song and had it produced. Wait until you hear about the adult camp he's going to!
An elite British S.A.S. operative on an assassination mission gone wrong. A Jewish New Yorker injured in a Nazi ambush. An eighteen-year-old Gary Cooper lookalike from Mobile, Alabama. In 1944, hundreds of Allied soldiers were trapped in prisoner-of-war camps in occupied France, fighting brutal conditions and unsympathetic captors. The odds of their survival were long. The odds of escaping, even longer. But one man had the courage to fight the odds. In BEHIND NAZI LINES: My Father’s Heroic Quest to Save 149 World War II POW’s, Andrew Hodges tells the true story of his father’s brave mission behind enemy lines to negotiate the safety of prisoners.
Join Andrew Hodges on Thursday, August 6th as he shares this remarkable true story of one man’s selflessness, ingenuity, and victory in the face of impossible adversity.
Andy Hodges had been excluded from military service due to a lingering shoulder injury from his college-football days. Devastated but determined, he refused to sit at home while his fellow Americans risked their lives, so he joined the Red Cross, volunteering for the toughest assignments on the most dangerous battlefields. In the fall of 1944, Andy was tapped for what sounded like a suicide mission: a desperate attempt to aid the Allied POWs in occupied France—alone and unarmed, matching his wits against the Nazi war machine. Despite the likelihood of failure, Andy did far more than deliver much-needed supplies. Miraculously, local villagers were able to smuggle out a message from the camp, one that reached the Allies and sparked a remarkable quest by an unlikely—and truly inspiring—hero. By the end of the year, he had negotiated the release of an unprecedented 149 prisoners—leaving no one behind. This is his amazing story.
About the Author:
Andrew G. Hodges Jr., M.D., is the firstborn son of World War II hero Andrew Gerow Hodges. He is a psychiatrist in private practice and has served as assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. Dr. Hodges has helped pioneer a breakthrough to the brilliant unconscious mind, which he explained in his groundbreaking book, The Deeper Intelligence. Criminal investigators and journalists have sought Hodges’ expertise as a forensic profiler in cases ranging from the murder of JonBenet Ramsey to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. He is also the author of Jesus: An Interview Across Time (A Psychiatrist Looks at His Humanity)—a fascinating portrait of Jesus as man and God. Dr. Hodges lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his family.
Considered the Special Operations units of the firefighting world, smokejumpers are on the front lines of “the worst drought on record”*. This perfectly timed first‐hand account offers a dramatic lens through which to cover the crisis facing the American West.
Forest and wildland fires are growing larger, more numerous, and deadlier every year — as record drought conditions, decades of misguided forestry science, and the increasing encroachment of development into the wilderness have combined to create a powder keg that threatens millions of acres and thousands of lives annually. Yet little is known about the select group of men and women who serve as the nation’s front‐line defense against fire, perhaps the most vivid and dangerous consequence of our changing climate: smokejumpers. Considered the nation’s tier‐one wildland firefighting resource, smokejumpers are highly skilled and rigorously trained airborne firefighters who parachute into the most remote wild areas of the United States, serving an essential role in the fight against the growing threat of nature’s blazes.
In SMOKEJUMPER: A Memoir By One Of America’s Most Select Airborne Firefighters (William Morrow Hardcover; On Sale 7/17/2015), Jason A. Ramos, a United States Smokejumper who has devoted 26 years of his life to the fire service and fought some of the biggest fires in modern memory (including 2014’s 250,000‐acre Carlton Complex fire, “the largest fire in [Washington] state’s history”), gives a rare inside look at the extraordinary world of these men and women who put their bodies on the line to protect their country. An extremely select group, only 450 to 475 jumpers are on duty in the U.S. every year on average, and fewer than 6,000 people have ever earned their smokejumper wings in the 75 years that the program has existed.
In this gripping and elegant memoir, Ramos gives readers an under‐the‐parachute look at the life of a jumper, and the impressive though little‐known legacy of the smokejumper program, whose early members served as World War II paratroopers. Ramos tells stories of his humble beginnings as a 17 year‐old volunteer in Southern California, his years as part of a Forest Service helitack crew, and, ultimately, achieving his dream of becoming a smokejumper. He shares stories of comradery from the base, thrilling missions from the field, as well as the tragic turns their jobs can take, reflecting on the 1994 South Canyon Fire, 2001 Thirtymile Fire, and 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, among others.
In SMOKEJUMPER, Ramos observes, “Wildland firefighting as changed dramatically in the past decade. As fires have grown, the mind‐set of fighting them has shifted, too” (pg. 209). He makes a compelling case that jumpers are the ideal tool for these extraordinary times—a fact that he argues in book’s final chapter has unfortunately not yet been fully grasped by decision makers.
ABOUT JASON RAMOS
JASON A. RAMOS has devoted 26 years of his life to the fire service. His career began at the age of 17 as a volunteer with the Riverside County Fire Department, then progressed to wildland firefighting in Southern California. Now a smokejumper in his sixteenth season, he is based in Winthrop, WA, at the North Cascades Smokejumper Base, the “birthplace of smokejumping.”
Purple Heart Homes Chapters
WHAT IS A PURPLE HEART HOMES CHAPTER:
A Purple Heart Homes Chapter is a collection of community leaders, organized as a volunteer organization, operating within the culture and guidelines of Purple Heart Homes to provide assistance to eligible Disabled Veterans. The primary purpose of a chapter is to execute Aging in Place projects, although a mature chapter may participate in a Home Ownership project. A Chapter will propose its area of operation.
A chapter will be established as a legal entity governed by its elected officers subordinate to the articles of incorporation, bylaws and administrative procedures of Purple Heart Homes, but may include additional bylaws and administrative procedures that are not in conflict with those of Purple Heart Homes. Each chapter will obtain and maintain its own Employer Identification Number (EIN) under Purple Heart Homes group exemption number.
Matt Graham, star of the Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival and Dude, You’re Screwed, details the physical, mental, and emotional joys and harrowing struggles of his life as a modern-day hunter-gatherer in EPIC SURVIVAL (Gallery Books; on-sale: July 14th, 2015; Hardcover $24.99).
For the past twenty years, Matt has lived entirely off the land as man did thousands of years ago. In this riveting narrative, Matt takes us along into the wilderness to live alone for half a year, “wearing only a loincloth and a pair of handmade sandals and carrying a blanket, a stone knife, and a bag of chia seeds.”
Matt relays captivating stories from his life to show just how terrifying—and gratifying—living off the grid can be. He shows us what extraordinary things the human body is capable of when pushed to its limits. Matt details:
• Running 1,700 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail− Not knowing what was over the next hill or around the next curve was exciting. With each amazing vista I took in, I was compelled to push forward to see if there was an even more amazing one over the next hill. Being constantly surprised by the beauty of the terrain was the greatest joy of the journey.
• Racing against Arabian Horses− The race was a three-day, fifty-five-mile event, with the middle day of twenty-five miles being the toughest…I put on a pair of thin sandals with rubber soles made from old VW bus tires and lined up with thirty-seven horses and riders…I ended up finishing third with a cumulative time of six hours, fifty-seven minutes.
• Near death experiences− I was certain I was going to die; yet I was okay with it. It was time to go do something else. I closed my eyes. Then I heard a voice. “Your mom’s gonna be pissed if you die in the snow,” it said. “She’ll be forever cursing your primitive skills and earth-living life if you die here.”
• Matt’s Epic Survival Rules−Set Your Own Path; Be Physically in Control; Know Yourself; Deal With Danger; Learn from Others
EPIC SURVIVAL is part memoir of Matt’s extreme adventures and incredible spiritual quests and part guide to renewing your own relationship with nature. With the help of five-time New York Times bestselling author Josh Young, Matt shares his inspiring and invigorating story, teaching even the most urbane among us breathtaking lessons about answering the call of the wild.
ABOUT MATT GRAHAM
Matt Graham is one of the world’s premier survival adventurers and primitive living skills teachers. He lives in a remote area of southern Utah where he primarily sleeps in primitive structures. Matt has been teaching primitive skills for the past twenty years, including at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, while continuing to compete as an endurance athlete. His passion for revealing the challenges of living in the wild has been featured in documentaries and on TV, including the Discovery Channel series Dual Survival and Dude, You’re Screwed. He has been both a Stone Age living consultant for “Survivorman” Les Stroud and The Amazing Race.
“Gary Hart’s THE REPUBLIC OF CONSCIENCE is a thought-provoking analysis of modern American democracy and how powerful special interests have impacted our national security and civil society. It’s a must-read from one of the brightest minds of his generation.” —Senator John McCain
“Gary Hart may be out of office but he’ s not out of ideas. This provocative analysis is a welcome addition to the national dialogue that should take place in both parties, the news media and the electorate as we head into another presidential election with a political system so broken it is shameful.”—Tom Brokaw
“This is a passionate and powerful plea for us Americans to recover the democratic-republican principles of the founders, a plea that is made all the more effective by the book’s clear and forceful prose. The idealism that runs through the book is not utopian; it is firmly grounded in the extensive civic experience of the author and in his clear-eyed appreciation of the realities of our twenty-first century world. It’s a very persuasive book.”—Gordon S. Wood, Alva O. Way Professor of History Emeritus, Brown University
“Hart’s impassioned plea for reform seeks to empower political compatriots to rethink the direction of U.S. governance, thus closing ‘the gap between promise and performance.’ A proactive appeal to restore confidence in the American republic.” —Kirkus Reviews
Why do Americans feel so bad about their country right now? Gary Hart—the former Colorado senator and presidential contender—argues that the answer has to do with the gap between who we believe ourselves to be and who we have become, in THE REPUBLIC OF CONSCIENCE (Blue Rider Press; Publication Date: June 30, 2015; ISBN: 978-0-399-17523-7; Price: $27.00/$32.00). America’s founders, he tells us, created a republic knowing that it—like all republics from ancient Athens and Rome onward—would be vulnerable to corruption. By corruption, they meant something very specific: when narrow individual and special interests take precedence over the national interest and the common good.
“By these classic standards,” Hart writes, “the American Republic in the twenty-first century is massively corrupt. A vast and cancerous network of lobbying, campaign fund-raising, and access to policy makers in administrations and lawmakers in Congress is based purely and simply on special and narrow interests.” He notes that more than four hundred former members of Congress, not to mention their spouses and family members, along with myriad former administration officials from both parties, have joined the lobbying ranks, becoming fabulously rich in the process.
This permanent political class is very effective at serving the needs of the political and economic elite, but it does so at the expense of the middle class and the poor. It is a major factor in the stunning rise in income inequality and the persistence of shocking levels of poverty. From one end of the political spectrum to the other, from the Tea Party to the Occupy movement, many people have come to feel that politics is rigged, and consequently have lost faith in the very idea of government. Hart writes, “Much of our current unease in the land involves citizen alienation from ‘Washington,’ but it is also a latent but powerful sense that we are adrift, adrift not simply on a sea of globalization and international competition nor lost in a jungle of primitive terrorism, but adrift from our founding principles.”
Moreover, Hart contends, a massive national surveillance operation that collects vast quantities of data about ordinary Americans—far more than is needed to fight terrorism effectively, he says—has sacrificed principle for expediency, endangered our constitutional liberties, and provoked outrage among liberals and conservatives alike. In the realm of foreign policy, he charges, we have relied too heavily on military force and far too frequently ignored John Quincy Adams’s famed advice not to “go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” Lacking understanding of the history and culture of the nations in which we have intervened, we have too often produced disastrous unintended consequences, from Vietnam to Kuwait, Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq.