History

Title: A Sea Story
Author: Joseph Pignataro
Genre: History
Reviewer: Jim Greenwald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B007W9F4A8

The U.S. Navy was among the first responders on 9/11. Entrusted with the
iconic Ground Zero flag, the Roosevelt battlegroup took to the seas searching
out those responsible, and to bring justice to a nation in mourning.

1145 September 2001, the U.S.S. Leyte Gulf deployed within hours of the
attack on the W.T.C. with orders to shoot down and destroy any "birds not
squawking" over New York City. We were entrusted with the Ground Zero flag
raised by the NYFD. We flew that flag with pride and determination from our
mast on our important mission. After two days we were then redirected to the
gulf and given orders to destroy the Taliban with the Tomahawk missiles
onboard. During transit, we were told by our Captain that the Taliban would
be waiting for us in the narrow Suez canal. So narrow in fact, only a single
ship can go through at any one time. If the first and last ship were to be
hit by surface to air missiles, there would be no way out. The aircraft
carrier U.S.S Roosevelt, would be trapped in the middle and defenseless.
There they were, waiting for us on horseback atop the sandy Suez
dunes...following us. Just a bunch of scared kids manning the ships 50 cal
guns, wondering what was to happen next.

One late night in the gulf, Bush declared war. It was our task to launch the
first Tomahawk missiles and kick off the war on terror. We were cut off from
the outside world. Email and any other means of communication had been banned
for security reasons. Television reports of Anthrax gripping the country with
fear and WW3 rumors scuttling through the ships decks. A six man boarding
party manned up to routinely search an unresponding suspect Iraqi
tanker...what was found would change our lives forever.

This is our sea story.

Title; Battle for Baqubah - Killing Our Way Out
Author: Robert Colella
Genre: History
Reviewer: Ron Camarda

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1469791080

The Battle for Baqubah: Killing Our Way Out is a firsthand account-and sometimes a minute-by-minute tale-of a raw, in-your-face street fight with Al Qaeda militants over a fifteen-month span in the volatile Diyala Province of Iraq. This story is presented through the eyes of a first sergeant serving with B Company 1-12 Cavalry (Bonecrushers), 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Hood, Texas.

The author takes the reader into the midst of the conflict in and around Baqubah-Iraq's "City of Death"-a campaign that lasted most of 2007. The author and his fellow Bonecrushers watched as the city went from sectarian fighting amongst the Shiite and Sunnis, to an all-out jihad against the undermanned and dangerously dispersed US forces within Baqubah and the outlying areas.

Title: Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr.: Vietnam War Hero
Author: Anne Chancey Dalton
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Jim Greenwald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1594210780

T-O-R-T-U-R-E. As the television camera focused on his face, Commander Jeremiah Denton, a Prisoner of War, blinked this word in Morse Code over and over. He sent a message to the world from North Vietnam, while answering a reporter's questions. After the war, Rear Admiral Denton received the Navy Cross-not for this message-but for his answer to the reporter's question: "What do you think about your government's actions?" Knowing he would be tortured more,Denton said, "...whatever the position of my government, I agree with it. I support it. I will support it as long as I live!" Years later, he continued this vow by becoming a congressman from Alabamain the United States Senate.

Title: Tainted Dawn: The Great War
Author: B.N. Peacock
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Edward Kelly

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1611792126

August 1789. The Rights of Man. Liberty. Equality. Idealism. Patriotism. A new age dawns. And yet, old hostilities persist: England and Spain are on the brink of war. France, allied by treaty with Spain, readies her warships.

Three youths - the son of an English carpenter, the son of a naval captain, and the son of a French court tailor - meet in London, a chance encounter that entwines their lives ever after. The English boys find themselves on the same frigate bound for the Caribbean.

The Frenchman sails to Trinidad, where he meets an even more zealous Spanish revolutionary. As diplomats in Europe race to avoid conflict, war threatens to explode in the Caribbean, with the three youths pitted against each other. Will the dawn of the boys' young manhood remain bright with hope? Or will it become tainted with their countrymen's spilled blood? "...compelling characters and an exciting plot... Much like the Hornblower series

Title: CORPS VET: A Memoir
Genre: Memoir
Author: Dick Hrebic
Reviewer: Hodge Wood

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0981950582

"LOYALTY TO GOD, COUNTRY, AND CORPS" More than just a Marine's motto, Dick Hrebik takes these words to heart and lives the life he espouses. From the streets of Chicago to the jungles of Vietnam to law offices in Washington, D.C., Hrebik's moral compass and values guide him through the highs and lows of his life. Dick's courageous voice from the "Silent Generation," offers a unique insight into a Marine's mind, and how the lessons he was taught in the military carried forward into his life after his distinguished career in the U.S. Marine Corps.