Army

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: Baptism of Fire
Author: Michael Winston
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Bob Doerr

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1475166249

This first volume in the Sgt. Smith World War II trilogy follows a squad of First Infantry Division soldiers to the rugged Tunisian desert of North Africa in their first experience of the war. As members of the “Big Red One,” the most famous Division in the American Army, they do battle with the most famous units in the German Army: Rommel’s Africa Corps, as well as the 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions. This is a vivid and unvarnished odyssey into the foxholes of World War II, a gritty look at a war we should never forget, and dedicated to all those brave men and women who through their courage and sacrifice fought to free the world from a cloud of evil.

Title: Changing the Rules of Engagement
Author: Martha LaGuardia-Kotite
Genre: Non-Fiction History
Reviewer: Betsy Beard

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 159797689X

Changing the Rules of Engagement documents the lives of American women who have shattered the glass ceiling and performed extraordinary feats while serving their country in the military. By telling their stories about their remarkable careers in traditionally male-dominated environments, Martha LaGuardia-Kotite demonstrates how tenacious and courageous women can achieve the unimaginable. Among the pioneering women profiled are Vivien Crea, who as vice commandant of the Coast Guard held the highest position of any woman in the history of the U.S. military; Tammy Duckworth, a Purple Heart recipient and triple amputee who was shot down in Iraq while piloting a helicopter; and Heather Wilson, an Air Force Academy graduate, Rhodes scholar, and the country’s only female veteran in Congress. Included are the inspirational stories of women Marines, one of the three female Space Shuttle commanders, and the first female members of the military service academies gender-integrated classes, who recall the highs and lows of their trailblazing experiences. These are only a few of the remarkable women who tell their own inspiring stories. Representative of a widely diverse group of enlisted women and officers from different races and cultures, they have succeeded since the mid-1970s at combating prejudices and aiding change in the military with intelligence, passion, and honor.

Title: Marcia Gates: Angel of Bataan
Author: Melissa Bowersock
Genre: Non-Fiction Bioigraphy
Reviewer: Edward Kelly

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1460973194

Marcia Gates was an Army nurse and prisoner of war during WWll. As an "Angel of Bataan," she spent three years in a Japanese internment camp in the Philippines. This is her story, told through her letters and the newspaper clippings, photos and letters collected by her mother. Melissa Bowersock is the niece of Marcia Gates.