Spearhead

Spearhead PDF Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804176736
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Book Description
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER “A band of brothers in an American tank . . . Makos drops the reader back into the Pershing’s turret and dials up a battle scene to rival the peak moments of Fury.” —The Wall Street Journal From the author of the international bestseller A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner’s journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel—and forge an enduring bond with his enemy. When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to the gunner’s seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: He’s a natural-born shooter. At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Division—“Spearhead”—thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: The lead tank always gets hit. After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art “super tank,” one of twenty in the European theater. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: Now they will spearhead every attack. That’s how Clarence, the corporal from coal country, finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the “Fortress City” of Germany. Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans. As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are taken by surprise by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time. Praise for Spearhead “A detailed, gripping account . . . the remarkable story of two tank crewmen, from opposite sides of the conflict, who endure the grisly nature of tank warfare.” —USA Today (four out of four stars) “Strong and dramatic . . . Makos established himself as a meticulous researcher who’s equally adept at spinning a good old-fashioned yarn. . . . For a World War II aficionado, it will read like a dream.” —Associated Press

Devotion

Devotion PDF Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804176590
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • From America’s “forgotten war” in Korea comes an unforgettable tale of courage by the author of A Higher Call. “In the spirit of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat comes Devotion.”—Associated Press • “Aerial drama at its best—fast, powerful, and moving.”—Erik Larson Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy’s most famous aviation duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper’s son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy’s first Black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn’t even serve him in a bar. While much of America remained divided by segregation, Jesse and Tom joined forces as wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32. Adam Makos takes us into the cockpit as these bold young aviators cut their teeth at the world’s most dangerous job—landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier—a line of work that Jesse’s young wife, Daisy, struggles to accept. Deployed to the Mediterranean, Tom and Jesse meet the Fleet Marines, boys like PFC “Red” Parkinson, a farm kid from the Catskills. In between war games in the sun, the young men revel on the Riviera, partying with millionaires and even befriending the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor. Then comes the conflict that no one expected: the Korean War. Devotion takes us soaring overhead with Tom and Jesse, and into the foxholes with Red and the Marines as they battle a North Korean invasion. As the fury of the fighting escalates and the Marines are cornered at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse fly, guns blazing, to try and save them. When one of the duo is shot down behind enemy lines and pinned in his burning plane, the other faces an unthinkable choice: watch his friend die or attempt history’s most audacious one-man rescue mission. A tug-at-the-heartstrings tale of bravery and selflessness, Devotion asks: How far would you go to save a friend?

The Spearhead

The Spearhead PDF Author: Howard M. Conner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781258521141
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description

Spearhead

Spearhead PDF Author: James E. T. Hopkins
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 860

Book Description
Walawbum, Shaduzup, Inkangahtawng, Nhpum Ga, Ritpong, Myitkyina. Although the names of these battles are not as familiar to the public as Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, the name of the legendary American volunteer regiment that fought in them echoes throughout modern military history. Thrown into combat in the Burmese jungle in February 1944 at the request of the British government, Merrill's Marauders was the first American infantry regiment to fight on the Asian continent since the Boxer Rebellion. Assembled in 1943 as the 5037th Composite Unit (Provisional), the three thousand infantryman who answered FDR's call for volunteers for a secret, "dangerous and hazardous mission" found themselves in India training for jungle combat. Created to spearhead undertrained (and American-led) Chinese troops in Burma and reopen the land route to China, the 5037th was expected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to take 85 percent casualties and be disbanded within three months. As it turned out, the Marauders existed for eleven months, operating successfully in hostile territory, pioneering long-range military activities in jungle and mountainous regions, and completing one of the most productive -- and perilous -- military campaigns in American history. Despite its considerable achievements under the most difficult conditions, there has never been a complete history of the regiment until now. In Spearhead, James E. T. Hopkins -- a field surgeon with the Marauders' Third Battalion -- in collaboration with John M. Jones, provides a detailed history of the highly decorated unit, from the circumstances under which the 5037th was formed and its arduous training to the many battles in which the Maraudersdistinguished themselves to the unit's deactivation in July 1945. Drawing on unpublished logs, personal diaries, and histories kept by members of the regiment, Hopkins provides a personal story of combat in an environment that was nearly as deadly as the enemy. As a medical officer, he witnessed the horrors of jungle combat, the resolute heroism of the volunteers who fought, and the genuine respect that men and officers in the regiment had for one another. He also chronicles the remarkable efforts of the unit's rear echelon to keep the combatants supplied. With Spearhead, Hopkins reveals the real story behind a chapter in the history of the Second World War too often officially forgotten or clouded by myth. Spearhead offers a heartfelt tribute to the men who served as Merrill's Marauders -- and a comprehensive account of their deeds in the treacherous jungles of Burma fifty years ago.

Spearhead of the Fifth Army

Spearhead of the Fifth Army PDF Author: Frank van Lunteren
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612004288
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Book Description
“An excellent read for anyone interested in men at war, as well as for students of the airborne operations, the Italian Campaign, and the war in Europe” (The NYMAS Review). Upon the completion of the Sicily and Salerno Campaigns in 1943, the paratroopers of Col. Reuben Tucker’s 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment were among the first Allied troops to enter Naples—a ghost town at first sight. The residents soon expressed their joy at being liberated. Four weeks later, the 504th—upon the special request of Gen. Mark Clark—spearheaded Fifth Army’s drive through the notorious Volturno Valley—the Germans’ next stand. January 1944 seemed to promise a period of rest, but the landing at Anzio meant deployment for the paratroopers again, this time by ship. A bombing raid during their beach landing was a forecast of eight weeks of bitter fighting. Holding the right flank of the beachhead along the Mussolini Canal, the paratroopers earned their nickname “Devils in Baggy Pants” for their frontline incursions into enemy lines, as well as their stubborn defense of the Allied salient. In this work, H Company’s attachment to the British 5th Grenadier Guards—and the Victoria Cross action of Maj. William Sidney—are painted in comprehensive light for the first time. The story of honorary member of the 504th PIR, Italian veteran Antonio Taurelli, is also included. Using war diaries, personal journals, letters, and interviews with nearly eighty veterans, an up-close view of the 504th PIR in the Fifth Army’s Italy Campaign is here in unsurpassed detail. From the author of two previous works on the 504th PIR, The Battle of the Bridges and Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper, this book shows that the Italian theater was second to none in terms of grueling combat, courage against formidable odds, and an extremely expert enemy.

21st Panzer Division

21st Panzer Division PDF Author: Chris Ellis
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Book Description
The new Spearhead series is designed to look at the cutting edge of war, dealing with units capable of operating completely independently in the forefront of battle. Each volume in the series examines a historic unit's origins, history, organization, order of battle, battle history, insignia and markings. The 21st Panzer Division gained greatest fame in North Africa, but also served in Normandy and on the Russian Front. Each Spearhead title includes an evaluation of the units combat effectiveness as seen by the unit, its opponents and subsequent researchers, and a research section including a bibliography and a listing of museums, websites, re-enactment groups and memorials.

Spearhead of Logistics

Spearhead of Logistics PDF Author: Benjamin King
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160931192
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 584

Book Description
Spearhead of Logistics is a narrative branch history of the U.S. Army's Transportation Corps, first published in 1994 for transportation personnel and reprinted in 2001 for the larger Army community. The Quartermaster Department coordinated transportation support for the Army until World War I revealed the need for a dedicated corps of specialists. The newly established Transportation Corps, however, lasted for only a few years. Its significant utility for coordinating military transportation became again transparent during World War II, and it was resurrected in mid-1942 to meet the unparalleled logistical demands of fighting in distant theaters. Finally becoming a permanent branch in 1950, the Transportation Corps continued to demonstrate its capability of rapidly supporting U.S. Army operations in global theaters over the next fifty years. With useful lessons of high-quality support that validate the necessity of adequate transportation in a viable national defense posture, it is an important resource for those now involved in military transportation and movement for ongoing expeditionary operations. This text should be useful to both officers and noncommissioned officers who can take examples from the past and apply the successful principles to future operations, thus ensuring a continuing legacy of Transportation excellence within Army operations. Additionally, military science students and military historians may be interested in this volume.

Spearhead for Blitzkrieg

Spearhead for Blitzkrieg PDF Author: Paul Deichmann
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 9780804116954
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Book Description
The former chief of the German air force, Luftwaffe Command 4, evaluates its performance during World War II, with emphasis on the Eastern Front. Deichmann outlines the history of the Luftwaffe from its beginnings through the Spanish Civil War and the early years of World War II on the Western Front. of photos.
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