Intelligence comes from ignorance as wisdom comes from naivete and there is nothing like gathering both from people who represent a diverse swath of nations throughout the world. As cultures require contact with each other in order to grow and remain viable, and not succumb to atrophy, man too requires contact with men of different beliefs and practices. No one nation or culture or religion has a hold on logic or is immune to extremism. I feel blessed that I've had the opportunity to absorb and learn about aspects of life that I'm sure I wouldn't have learned otherwise. In fact, my whole belief system was changed over the past forty-five years through this contact. I began to do some research on my family and what I learned, coupled with what I had experienced in my life, literally brought me to tears in gratitude and admiration, and hopefully in wisdom. If you like to sit down and listen to stories told by, say, an old friend, an uncle, or a person with wrinkles on his face, grey in his hair, and a sparkle of wisdom in his eyes, coupled with a smile on his face, then you should so bother. If you don't, then stop right here and go pick up and read a book on vampires or love's lost or whatever turns your fancy. My life has been tragic and wondrous and I have what I call life lessons that I believe you will find helpful in your life. I'll even go so far as to say that, given even a fraction of introspection in you, your life will be significantly altered after you've read this book. I know that doesn't sound humble but I also know this to be true. I have learned, forgot, and made up many a good story. Keep this in mind when you read these chapters (stories) compiled within this book. Are they all true? Mostly, with only the most embarrassing events removed. An old retired Air Force fighter pilot once told me "I have secrets only God and I know - and that's the way it will remain."

During her childhood, Lee Summers came to realize what a special father she had in Henry Sonnenfeld, a former US Marine. He instilled discipline and commitment in her, and he taught her about sacrifice, heroism, and patriotism. Best of all, he had wonderful bedtime stories. Never Anticipate the Command is the first in a series to share Henry's remarkable stories of being a US Marine during World War II and the Korean War. As told through his daughter, Henry reveals how, as a young man from New Jersey, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps after Pearl Harbor and fought the Japanese in the brutal Pacific campaign. Henry relates those first few harrowing days as a marine and the grueling training regimen on Parris Island. With remarkably vivid details, he recounts life on the island of Bougainville; tells the tale of his island pet, a womp-cat named Bougie Sam; and describes watching Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron perform. Never Anticipate the Command recalls an era when men rose to action to protect their country. It shows how one man in particular served God, his country, and his family-in that order.

History books and novels are filled with stories of young men and women going off to war. In each, the experiences and challenges are as varied as the people themselves. The stories tell of leaders and followers, cowards and he-roes. In "Where's Charlie?" author Tim Soyars narrates his own story of how he came of age while serving in the US Army during the Vietnam War.

In this memoir, Soyars tells how his personality, background, and attitude contributed to his will to succeed and his desire to be involved in the Vietnam War. As a boy, he always knew he'd serve his country. With both humor and sincerity, Soyars narrates his story-his birth in Virginia in 1945, his induction into the army in 1965, his marriage in 1966, and his one-year service in Vietnam with the First Calvary from March of 1967 to 1968.

Including photos of the period, "Where's Charlie?" conveys not only the sadness and heroics often associated with war, but also shares stories of warmth, compassion, and romance. It provides a glimpse into the horror of battle and offers insight into one soldier's actions and thoughts during this unique time in history.

Does class rank really matter? Q: What do you call the person who's last in their class in medical or law school? A: Doctor or Lawyer. Q: And, what do you call the person who's last in their class at West Point, Annapolis or the U.S. Air Force Academy? A: Lieutenant or Ensign. Same Date of Rank salutes 17 men and three women grads at the top and bottom, representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. They range from the "goat" or last man in West Point's Class of 1942, who was the first man in his class promoted to Brigadier General, to a 1999 Annapolis All-American rugby player who has served three tours in Iraq in the Marine Corps. Read about combat leaders, admirals, astronauts, pilots, ship captains, business leaders, an historian, logistics expert, mayor, teacher and software guru. The book also provides class ranks of many famous academy grads from George Pickett and George Armstrong Custer (lasts) to Robert E. Lee and Douglas MacArthur (2nd and 1st) as well as Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, and Jim Webb plus athletes like Roger Staubach of the NFL and David Robinson of the NBA. And, it includes timely information about how to apply to each of the three academies, too.

When Howard D. Linson joined the U.S. Army at 18 in 1998, wanting to serve his country, he never could have anticipated the ordeal he would face. During his nine-year career he experienced continuous harassment and violence for being a bisexual soldier, which nearly cost him his life. Throughout Linson's enlistment, the issue of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) people in the military was governed by the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (DADT), which was repealed in December 2010. It allowed all citizens to join regardless of sexual orientation, as long as they did not reveal their sexual identities. As a result, DADT put Linson and other GLB soldiers in a maddeningly ambiguous situation-they could serve as long as they lived a secret life. And while the law changed the military's policies, it did not change the army's entrenched hatred, ignorance, and bigotry about GLB soldiers. The Untold Truth "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is Linson's harrowing account of surviving a nightmare world of ignorance, paranoia, and oppression, where your greatest enemy is your comrade in arms.

"What next?" The Colonel asked. Chief Master Sergeant George T. Graham, Jr. stood beside the Colonel. "This will not be good," he thought. "What next?" The Colonel asked, noting no one had heard him the first time. "He shot her." Sergeant Lucas confessed, abruptly, interrupting the Colonel as if he anticipated the question. He did. He had witnessed the event. "It's that simple. He shot her...she was....very...she was very...pretty." Sergeant Lucas collected himself. Or so we thought. His eyes welled up with emotion. He glanced at Chief Graham. .."..and then he...after a very brief and...very........... quiet....argument," Sergeant Lucas continued in an uncollected tone. "There was an argument. An argument that nearly nobody - nobody - witnessed or in any way took seriously.... Why would we?" The young sergeant took another breath and pressed ahead with his story. "He stood there. Diego Gianelli stood there. He pulled out a large pistol. A LARGE pistol," Lucas emphasized. "And he shot her.....point blank......what a mess " "What next?" The Colonel asked again. "What next?" Lucas repeated. Chief Graham nodded toward Lucas to continue. Lucas continued as ordered.

For Rich Bishop, reporting to basic training for the US Navy was reminiscent of Dorothy leaving Kansas and ending up in Oz. The transition from civilian to navy life overwhelmed Bishop. In "Nuts to Butts," he narrates excerpts of his twenty-two-year career-from basic training to retirement.

In this memoir, Bishop tells of meeting a wide assortment of people and the problems they brought with them. He shares the good and not-so-good times of serving in the fleet, including dealing with the loss of privacy, becoming a team member, and keeping US warships in mission-ready condition and the crews in shape to play the mental games required in an examination- and deployment-laden schedule. "Nuts to Butts" describes living through basic training, working in the scullery of an aircraft carrier, serving duty as shore patrol, visiting exotic ports of call for liberty, climbing a plateau with shear vertical sides in Sri Lanka, living on the naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and making night dives among the sharks.

Bishop provides keen insight into the life of a sailor, delivered with humor. He not only fondly remembers his service, but preserves the stories for all.

When George Kimball (1840-1916) joined the Twelfth Massachusetts in 1861, he'd been in the newspaper trade for five years. When he mustered out three years later, having been wounded at Fredericksburg and again at Gettysburg (mortally, it was mistakenly assumed at the time), he returned to newspaper life. There he remained, working for the "Boston Journal" for the next four decades. A natural storyteller, Kimball wrote often about his military service, always with a newspaperman's eye for detail and respect for the facts, relating only what he'd witnessed firsthand and recalled with remarkable clarity. Collected in "A Corporal's Story," Kimball's writings form a unique narrative of one man's experience in the Civil War, viewed through a perspective enhanced by time and reflection.
With the Twelfth Massachusetts, Kimball saw action at many of the most critical and ferocious battles in the eastern theater of the war, such as Second Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg--engagements he vividly renders from the infantry soldier's point of view. Aware that his readers might not be familiar with what he and comrades had gone through, he also describes many aspects of army life, from the most mundane to the most dramatic. In his accounts of the desperate action and immediate horrors of war, Kimball clearly conveys to readers the cost of preserving the Union. Never vindictive toward Confederates, he embodies instead the late nineteenth-century's spirit of reconciliation.
Editors Alan D. Gaff and Donald H. Gaff have added an introduction and explanatory notes, as well as maps and illustrations, to provide further context and clarity, making George Kimball's memoir one of the most complete and interesting accounts of what it was to fight in the Civil War--and what that experience looked like through the lens of time.

This Book attempts to deduce regulatory standards that can close the gaps between the Promises made and the Outcomes secured by the United Nations in relation to its use of force. It explores two broad questions in this regard: why the contemporary legal framework relevant to the regulation of force during Armed Conflict cannot close the gaps between the said Promises and Outcomes and how the 'Unified Use of Force Rule' formulated herein, achieves this. This is the first book to coherently analyse the moral as well as legal aspects relevant to UN use of force. UN peace operations are rapidly changing. Deployed peacekeepers are now required to use force in pursuance of numerous objectives such as self-defence, protecting civilians, and carrying out targeted offensive operations. As a result, questions about when, where, and how to use force have now become central to peacekeeping. While UN peace operations have managed to avoid catastrophes of the magnitude of Rwanda and Srebrenica for over two decades, crucial gaps still exist between what the UN promises on the use of force front, and what it achieves. Current conflict zones such as the Central African Republic, Eastern Congo, and Mali stand testament to this. This book searches for answers to these issues and identifies how an innovative mix of the relevant legal and moral rules can produce regulatory standards that can allow the UN to keep their promises. The discussion covers analytical ground that must be traversed 'behind the scenes' of UN deployment, well before the first troops set foot on a battlefield. The analysis ultimately produces a 'Unified Use of Force Rule', that can either be completely or partially used as a model set of Rules of Engagement by UN forces. This book will be immensely beneficial to law students, researchers, academics and practitioners in the fields of international relations, international law, peacekeeping, and human rights.