Navy

Title: Sundown Town Duty Station
Author: John Zerr
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Dick Geschke

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1475969287

In March 1968, Navy Lieutenant Jon Zachery has just received orders to report to his new duty station in Meridian, Mississippi, for basic jet pilot training. But after he and his wife, Teresa, arrive in what they are initially told is a friendly little town, they soon learn what it means to live in a sundown town.

When Jon and Teresa attend Mass on their first Sunday in Meridian and enter a pew occupied by a young colored woman “sitting-in” the all-white church, the Zacherys unwittingly step into the middle of a KKK campaign created to discourage civil rights sympathizers. As Jon works his way through six months of flight training with an antagonistic flight instructor, the Klansmen escalate their focus on the Zacherys, soon transforming their threats into violent acts. Near the end of Jon’s tour of duty, tensions escalate further, culminating in a confrontation with deadly consequences.

In this compelling story, a young lieutenant’s faith, patriotism, morality, and love for his family is tested as he bravely battles the evil that lurks within the shadows of Meridian, Mississippi.

Title: Love at First Flight
Author: Captain W. Stewart (Bud) Orr USN (Ret.) and Fran E. Orr
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Hodge Wood
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1938231538

Love at First Flight is the memoir of by two outstanding Americans: a courageous naval pilot, Bud Orr, whose career spanned twenty-seven years, and his loving wife, Fran. This volume is an honest, beautifully crafted story of Bud and Fran's inspiring relationship, a testament to their deep love and service to their country. It is a page-turning account of a sterling military career, complete with adrenaline-filled descriptions of a daring pilot flying many dangerous missions in advanced warplanes. Love at First Flight is a powerful reminder about the real sacrifices that men and women in the Armed Services must make to preserve a relationship, and the incredible rewards that come with that sacrifice. Like a catapult launch off an aircraft carrier, Bud and Fran's story will propel readers through recent history—from the Vietnam War to current day America. A tender, moving, and inspiring volume, Love at First Flight is the perfect gift for any military member, military family, or military historian.

Title: Sword of Shiva
Author: Jeff Edwards
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Reviewer: Sandra Linhart

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0985044381

A SINGLE SPARK CAN IGNITE A WAR THAT CONSUMES THE WORLD.

Three Tibetan rebels attack a train carrying Chinese soldiers into the Tibet Autonomous Region. The rebels escape across the Himalayas into India, unaware that the son of China’s First Vice-Premier lays maimed and dying among the burning wreckage of the train.

As an escalating series of retaliations drive China and India toward outright war, hostilities spill over into the sea, and the Bay of Bengal becomes a crucible of naval warfare.

The president of the United States orders a U.S. Navy strike group into the area as a stabilizing force, but the situation between the two nations has already deteriorated beyond any hope of peaceful resolution.

With Asia hovering on the brink of annihilation, a small force of U.S. warships must defeat the Chinese Navy to preempt the coming firestorm.

The fuse has already been lit…

Title: The Recipient's Son: A Novel of Honor
Author: Stephen Phillips
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewer: Betsy Beard

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1612511163

Set at the U.S. Naval Academy in the 1990s, this novel tells the story of a young man's struggle to come to terms with his legacy as the son of a war hero and with doubts about his own courage. Donald Durago's father was killed in the Vietnam War where his actions as a POW earned him the Medal of Honor. That honor provided Durago with an appointment to the Naval Academy, a benefit offered to all children of Medal of Honor recipients. But in his plebe year, Durago struggles under the burden of being worthy of his father s memory. With the help of Master Chief Strong, he begins to identify with his father s sacrifice, his own naval heritage, and Academy life. An incident in his senior year brings on terrifying nightmares that make Durago realize he has not completely dealt with his father s death. However, with the support of his roommate and a pretty JAG officer he finds the confidence to pursue a military career. The Recipient's Son is a stirring tale of a young man coming to grips with the heroism of his father and overcoming his self-doubts to accept the challenge of serving his country on his own terms.

An Academy graduate himself, author Stephen Phillips draws an intimate picture of life in the Yard as he examines the concepts of leadership, honor, service and personal sacrifice in the Navy. Readers of Phillips' award-winning first novel, Proximity, will find his new novel an equally authentic read.