Military

Title: Charlie Battery: A Marine Artillery Unit in Iraq
Author: Andrew Lubin
Genre: Non-Fiction, History
Reveiwer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1555716423

"Charlie Battery" is the harrowing and personal account of a Marine Corps artillery battery fighting for survival in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom as they fight in the vicious battle at An-Nasiriyah. Written by the father of one of Charlie Battery's Marines, the story follows their sudden call to war, their deployment in the largest convoy since WW2, and their baptism-by-fire at An-Nas. Through extraordinary interviews with the Marines, their families, and their superior officers, we are given a rare glimpse of what they early days of the war in Iraq were like for the Marines and their families - not only for the Marines who foughyt, but for all those who watched it unfold live at 0330 one morning on MSNBC

Title: Street Fight in Iraq: What It's Really Like Over There (Valor in Combat Series)
Author: Patrick Tracey
Genre:
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0977143112

A day by day account of the battle for Ramadi, Iraq during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from August 2004 until March of 2005. The legendary Fox Company, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines battled insurgents on a daily basis and this book serves as a blow by blow account; told by Fox Company Gunnery Sergeant, Patrick M Tracy. The author brings you along for the ride through many battles and skirmishes and has an upfront, no-nonsense style of telling his story.

Title: Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq
Author: David Danelo
Genre: Non-Fiction, Military History
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0811733939

Told from the perspective of the grunts living and dying in the sand, Blood Stripes takes readers behind the headlines into the thick of the fight against the insurgency in the streets and back alleys of western Iraq. From February through September 2004, these Marine warriors deployed to Al Anbar province, a chaotic and confusing world of rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs, ambushes, and snipers. Foreword by Steven Pressfield, author of "Gates of Fire"

Title: Code of Conduct
Author: Karen Black
Genre: Fiction, Military
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0972444904

Matt Tillet, an F-8 Crusader pilot, is shot down over North Vietnam in 1966, just one week before his ship would be heading home after his second back-to-back six-month tour. Escaping from his spiraling out-of-control jet with only seconds to spare, and evading for all of three minutes, he becomes a Prisoner of War. Surviving torture, months of solitary confinement and the infamous Hanoi March, the dream of returning home to his wife and two children keeps him going. Repatriated in 1973, he returns to find his dream shattered.

Code of Conduct takes place in the middle of a war; however, it is not so much a blood and guts war novel as it is the emotional tale of a family torn apart by war, more than seven years of separation, and the long journey to reconstruct their lives.

While many POWs came home to broken marriages, the personal relationship portion of the book is purely fictional. The prison scenes are based on actual events that happened to the POWs in Vietnam. The story was inspired by many years of listening to the recollections of the author's husband and several of his Vietnam ex-POW buddies. Time does not seem to have faded their memories of what they went through (although they can now joke about it) and each reunion or get together provided a new tidbit.

The author's goal is to present the horrendous prisoner-of-war experience and the resulting shattered personal lives in the format of a novel.

Title: CID – Army Detectives in Peace and War
Author: Hubert "Herb" Marlow
Genre: Non-Fiction, Military
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0805995951

CID: Army Detectives in Peace and War focuses on criminal investigations, both funny and serious, conducted by the author and his fellow special agents. The cases range from thefts to murder, including the murders of two special agents in Vietnam, one of whom was a member of the author’s CID detachment. The book contains cases from WWII through Vietnam.