War in the Pacific Skies by Charlie Cooper, Ann Cooper and Jack Fellows

“War in the Pacific Skies” is an excellent work on the war in the Pacific during World War II. The book is a wonderful intermingling of story, photography, and art.

The authors tell the story in words and pictures. The pictures and paintings take a part of the story bringing it to life. This is a well-written and beautifully illustrated book. It provides a matchless look into the Pacific Air War during World War II. You cover all the major battles/campaigns. The reader gets an excellent overview of the air war in World War II in the Pacific Theater.

Charlie Cooper (Author), Ann Cooper (Author), and Jack Fellows (Illustrator) have created a masterpiece. The book would make an excellent addition to any aviation buff or military historian’s library. It would make a wonderful addition to school or community libraries.

Road of 10,000 Pains: The Destruction of the 2nd NVA Division by the U.S. Marines, 1967 by Otto J. Lehrack

Have you wondered what it would be like to be a member of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) during the Vietnam War? Have you thought what it would like to get shot at, see the person blown away right next to you, and experience the fear and adrenaline rush of combat? Retired United States Marine Otto J. Lehrack paints a spellbinding, insightful and sobering picture that answers these questions in this spectacular, must read oral history of the bloodiest campaign in Vietnam.

The story involves the actions of the USMC in the Que Son Valley of Vietnam.  The action and I do mean action, takes place between April and November of 1967. You experience the frustration of the new M-16 jamming.  You are left wondering how many Marines and soldiers died from the jamming and poor performance of that rifle. You marvel at the heroic leadership from the battalion commander all the way down to the FNG who knew enough to get the forward air controller to take out the 82 mm mortar location he identified and sacrifices given by these heroes. Six Medals of Honor were awarded to participants in the campaign.  All but one of the citations had as its last sentence "He gallantly gave his life for his country."

This is a significant oral history of Vietnam's bloodiest campaign.  Over a period of seven months you will travel along Route 534 for a series of battles against the 2nd North Vietnamese Army Division.  The author's storytelling is so riveting you feel like you are there. This book is must reading for any academy cadet or persons in any pre-commissioning program.  I strongly recommend ever junior officer and noncommissioned officer read this book.  It shows how the NCOs assumed leadership as junior officers and senior NCOs became causalities.

The book is an excellent read and would be a valuable addition to any community library. It gives a realistic insight into combat and the USMC. You will be left spell bound by the descriptions of combat and with deep gratitude and admiration for the USMC.

Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler April 2010.

Sisters of Valor by Rosaline T. Turner

Have you ever wondered what it would be like having your husband deployed and in harm’s way?  Have you ever wondered what your wife is going through while you are doing your job as a member of the United States Armed Forces half a world away?  Have you ever thought of what your mother went through when you dad was deployed? 

Sisters of Valor answers these and more questions.  Rosaline T. Turner tells the the story of four women’s experience as their husbands are serving in Viet-Nam.   We meet Captain Paul Mitchell and his wife Susan, the story’s main character.  Paul is a United States Marine Corps company commander.  They are from Iowa.  We meet Gunnery Sergeant Louis Siconi and Rose.  We meet Texanne and her husband Robert the S-1 in Saigon.  We meet Magda Spencer from Pennsylvania and her husband Jerry the pilot.

The author has crafted wonderful characters.  It is through these characters she does a wonderful job of telling the story.  And she is a very good story teller.  We feel the pain of a country divided and the impact of antiwar protestors.  We see the value of building a support group.  We learn how to deal with visiting parents and pressures of parents to move back home.  We see some turn to drink to cope.   We experience the pressures from family from extended family for financial assistance.   We feel the bitterness of extended activity duty due to a person’s military occupational skill being deemed as critical.  We share the joy of the birth of a child while marine husband is deployed.  We experience the trials of traveling by ourselves with two small children to go home for Christmas and the holidays without our spouse.  We feel the terror of the Tet Offensive and the support of our friends during this trying time. We see how some of the women feel guilty that their husband is in a safer job.  We share the thrill of talking to a spouse half a world away via a HAM a radio link.  We learn of the good and bad of R & R.   We feel the loneliness: going out to bar without your spouse, loneliness and falling to temptation while on R & R in Australia.  We deal with a potential major illness of a child without our spouse.   We survive the craziness of the Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy assassinations.   We have the dreaded official car drive to our house with the notification of the death of our husband.  We experience a husband missing in action.  And we have reflection a quarter of a century later.

The book is excellent.  It is a very interesting story told by a master story teller.  I recommend it for persons’ whose spouse or parents were deployed during the Viet-Nam War.  The book’s message is timeless.  It would be a good read for a person whose spouse is in the Middle East today.

My father was career military.  He was in Viet-Nam in 1963-1964.  I was 10 and 11 years old when he was deployed.  Reading the book has given me a new appreciation of what my mother went through while he was gone.  I am a former US Army officer.  The book helped me have a better understanding of what my wife went through during my deployments as well.

To Rosaline T. Turner – thank you for a needed book.  I have several friends to whom I have already recommended the book.  It will help them as they deal with what their daughters or daughters-in-law are facing today with their husbands in harm’s way.

Embedded: A Marine Corps Adviser Inside the Iraqi Army

Have you wondered what it would be like to be in Iraq working with the Iraqi Army? Have you thought what it would like to get to know, work with the people in Iraq, and live with them? United States Marine Corps First Lieutenant Wesley Gray paints an insightful and sobering picture that answers these questions.

In 2006, 1st Lt. Wesley Gray was deployed as an U.S. Marine Corps military adviser to an Iraqi Army battalion in the Haditha Triad. For 210 days, he lived and fought beside Iraqi soldiers in the most dangerous and ruthless province of western Iraq. The province of Al-Anbar was filled with an insurgent population upset by a recent massacre of twenty-four men, women, and children shot at close range by U.S. Marines. They had been shot in retaliation for the death of one of their comrades in a roadside bombing.

In spite of the high tensions created by the shootings, Gray was able to form a bond with the Iraqis because he had an edge that very few U.S. service members possess - the ability to communicate in Iraqi Arabic. His language skills and his understanding of the culture led the Iraqi soldiers to call him a brother and fondly name him Jamal.

Gray draws on the brutally honest and detailed record he kept during his tour, including extensive interviews with Iraqi soldiers and citizens. He offers an all-inclusive portrait of the struggles of the Iraqi people to make their country a nation once again and includes a compelling report on the status and prospects of the U.S. government's strategy for success in Iraq.

1st Lt. Gray’s stories range from hilarious to tear inducing. I have two favorites. First, the story about getting information on who plants improvised explosive devices (IED) is chilling. Here the Iraqis tell Gray we are going about getting information in the wrong way. We should give them 24 hours to tell us who planted the IED. He is told we should demolish a house if we fail to get info. If that doesn’t work we should then demolish a block of houses. Then we will have the information. Second is the story of Major Gaines using the bathroom outdoors with a “toilet kit” at night and his getting upset as the spotlights are turned on him.

Gray also outlines Iraqi history, attitudes about leadership, and the outlook for the future of a unified State in the absence of American troops. Most of his forecast is grim.

The book is a good read and would be a valuable addition to all community libraries. It gives a realistic insight into what the USA is still confronting. The book gives answers about Iraqi culture, military culture, and is filled with a war stories and some exciting activity.