Publisher: Arcadia Press
This is a story of one man's effort for survival - an incredible, fascinating account. Such are the scenes which, when assembled, give a vivid picture of how an American civilian adjusts himself to a totally foreign way of living — that of war — meets almost insurmountable obstacles, hurdles them with determination, and keeps going forward.
This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with othersShow book
“A fabulous read, filled with heroism, history, and hi-jinks, as author William F. Sine recounts his life as an Air Force Pararescue Jumper” (Readers’ Favorite). US Air Force Pararescue is the most skillful and capable rescue force in the world, taking on some of the most dangerous rescue missions imaginable. PJs (short for para-jumpers), are members of an elite unit whose commando skills are so wide-reaching they often seem like something out of science fiction. They routinely tackle perilous operations that are beyond the capabilities of other rescue organizations, and sometimes dare the seemingly impossible. Since their inception in 1947, PJs have saved more than thirty thousand lives. They can pluck near-frozen climbers off jagged mountaintops and recover shot-down jet pilots stranded deep in hostile territory. In the dead of night, the PJs parachute into ominous, black, twenty-foot-tall waves to save distressed seamen, and they brave the cruelest and most desolate deserts to recover victims. US Air Force pararescuemen have played a prominent role in every armed conflict since the Korean War, rescuing thousands of soldiers from behind enemy lines. Guardian Angel provides a rare glimpse at a PJ’s mind-blowing adventures. You follow Sgt. Sine’s trek across exotic lands and share his encounters with mysterious cultures. Learn what it takes to lower from a helicopter onto the slippery decks of storm-tossed ships to rescue dying sailors. Feel what it’s like to be caught in the middle of a bomb blast so powerful that it tears high-rise buildings in half, and flattens armored vehicles hundreds of yards away. Soar high above towering jungle trees and experience the danger of swinging on a slim cable below a helicopter, while performing a mid-air rescue of a pilot, dangling from his chute a hundred feet above a mountain slope. Go to war in Afghanistan and parachute onto a nocturnal battlefield, surrounded by land mines, to help a mortally wounded soldier. This is a deadly serious business: When things go wrong, they can go terribly wrong. Aircraft crash into mountainsides, killing all onboard, while some PJs live through horrendous helicopter crashes only to struggle with freezing temperatures, snapped limbs and torn flesh in a desperate fight for survival. This book presents true stories of uncommon courage told from the perspective of the actual men in the arena. PJs belong to an exclusive brotherhood and forge unbreakable bonds of loyalty, commitment, and sacrifice. They do these things for their country, to protect their brothers in arms, and to honor their motto: “That Others May Live.”Show book
"In offering this book to the public, I have not undertaken to present a history of my life. I do not consider my life of enough importance to warrant making a book about it. What I have undertaken to do is to tell some of the exciting experiences that have fallen to the lot of that noble band, the Texas Ranger force, of which I had the honor to be a member for twelve years." Contents: A Runaway Better Days An Indian Raid A Thief Ben Hughes A Buffalo Hunt A Stolen Herd The Hanging of Bill Longly The Capture of Henry Carothers An Exciting Fisticuff Waterspout at Quanah Five People Beg for Food The Murder of Hartman The Chase After Del Dean, When I Break My Arm and Ankle The Capture and Escape of Morris, the Noted Murderer The Arrest of Hollingsworth The Capture of Mayes, The Noted Horse Thief Exciting Experiences While Pursuing Bill James Indians on The Warpath The Opening of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Strip A Cup and Saucer Event A Prisoner Escapes The Capture of Rip Pearce A Practical Joker Gets Into Trouble Race Thomas is Guarded A Sad Farewell A Clever Thief is Caught The Gordon Train Robbery The Surrender of Four Train Robbers The Pursuit of Bill Cook and Jim Turner A Miserable Night My Experiences With a Bearskin Overcoat A Lively Chase Battle in the Dugout An Exciting Experience With Indians The Arrest of Jerome Loftos The Capture and Trial of Swin The Capture of Ihart and Sprey A Prize Fight Prevented A Bank Robbery A Call to Hartley On the Trail of Train Robbers The San Saba Mob A Bad Dog A Good Time Lost Fording the River Girls Try to Kiss Neal The Capture of Wax Lee The Cowboys' Reunion Hidden Witnesses The Hanging of Morrison A Prayer I Shoot Myself A Call for Protection Unknown Victim Falls in a Gun Fight at DalhartShow book
For eighteen years, Nora Lakheal has been relentlessly tracking down Islamist terrorists. Originally a philosophy student, the boxer from Barbès joined the police force as one would join a religion, but with a taste for action and the unexpected. She soon became the first woman to join the Group for Radical Islamism of SORS, the elite Intelligence Service. Neither an exemplary life story, nor the umpteenth diary of a police officer, instead this book is the searing testimony of a woman who chose to risk her life – this is not said lightly - for her convictions and for France. In the image of this extraordinary personality, Elite Agent overturns all clichés and plunges us into the hectic career of an exceptional woman.Show book
Jack the Ripper and beyond—forty-one years in the investigative career of a man hailed by many as Scotland Yard’s greatest detective of all time. Fred Wensley was a Somerset gardener when he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1888. His first case was to unmask Jack the Ripper. At least it familiarized Wensley with Whitechapel, where he bided his time collaring less threatening ne’er-do-wells. After joining the CID, Wensley’s career was a succession of triumphs. He brought to book the Bessarabian, Odessa, and Vendetta crime syndicates of London’s East End; he played an instrumental role in smashing Latvian revolutionaries in the notorious Siege of Sidney Street; he formed the Flying Squad, a stealth surveillance team still operating to this day; and most infamous of all—his arrest in one of Great Britain’s most notorious crimes of passion, a controversial cause célèbre that would shadow Wensley for the rest of his life. Retired Flying Squad officer Dick Kirby has dug deep to paint a fascinating portrait of Fred Wensley, Chief Constable of the CID and the first recipient of the King’s Police Medal, in this “welcome biography of a distinguished detective” (History by the Yard).Show book
Finn spins a captivating memoir story about two college freshmen who have a hare-brained drug smuggling scheme. It's the spring of 1970 and hippy culture is in full bloom. After a road trip down Route 66 to Arizona in a '55 Chevy, their plan is to import at least fifty pounds of marijuana from Mexico to Massachusetts over spring break. If they make it, the pot-smoking hippies could each make a cool couple of grand. Plan B is prison. If Mark Twain were a baby boomer coming of age during the Vietnam War, maybe he'd have written about the adventures of Finn Briscoe. But since the great Missouri scribe is long gone, Finn himself is doing his best to carry on the literary tradition of his native state. Buckle up, you're in for a wild ride. With Nixon invading Cambodia and campuses all over the country going out on strike, two eighteen-year-olds and their sixteen-year-old sidekick are risking their freedom in Mexico and Arizona for fifty pounds of reefer madness.Show book
