These compelling, enlightening, and often highly personal experiences tell stories of average citizens as well as historical figures who made huge sacrifices by serving in the military, giving the reader new perspectives on war, and its real costs. Wars are generally started by those holding power-those whose names are recorded in history books-yet they are fought by the average citizen. In wartime, a single person's action can change the course of history. From Bunker Hill to Baghdad: True Stories of America's Veterans presents stories told by just a handful of the limitless number of men and women who put their lives on the line for the lives of others in every major American military conflict from the Revolutionary War to the present. A fantastic resource for storytellers, this collection can also be used for student research as well as for read-alouds. Many of the informative, entertaining, and uplifting stories in this book are derived from the interviews author and storyteller Pat Mendoza conducted with veterans or family members of veterans during his travels throughout the United States. The book introduces general readers and those interested in the experiences of war veterans to a diverse selection of individuals who fought in America's wars-military service people and others-and to their amazing experiences, some of which have never been previously published. For educators who work with students in grade four to the college level, these poignant, real-life stories of American military history will serve to supplement curricula and help make their students' studies come to life and gain meaning and relevance. Provides stories from male and female veterans, family and friends, and others involved in the wartime experience throughout U.S. history, all told from a unique framework, making these tales ones that readers will find engaging and unforgettable Underscores the lesson that in war-as in civilian life-oftentimes one person's decisive actions or bravery can change history and significantly affect the lives of many Supplies tales with humor as well as ones that recount somber events, such as a story told by an individual who stole the president's jeep during WWII

This book focuses on various aspects of maritime security of India. Starting with the changing dimensions of national security, it addresses the issues such as non-traditional threats to security, the threat posed by non state actors, the causes of insecurity and also the imperatives of tackling the human security challenges. The need for a comprehensive change in India's security policy is well exposed and certain policy prescriptions are also given. The oceans are generally meant for better inaction among nations, especially in the era of accelerated pace of globalization. With regard to the coastal security of India the role of coastal community is significant. The needs for inculcating awareness among the coastal community on coastal security matters as well as infrastructure development along the coastal area are also emphasized. It is very important to look into the basic problems of coastal people as they face many human security challenges. When we look into the coastal security a convergence of the national security concerns and human security concerns is visible. The overall development of the coastal area would lead to better human security and better human security would result in enlisting the support of the coastal community to ensure national security program, especially the coastal security. In short, coastal security is not only about protecting the coastal terrain and territorial waters from direct attacks by the state actors or non state actors, but also safeguarding the interests of all stake holders.

This is the little known story of a daring escape, by three young officers of Indian Army (IA), from a Japanese World War II Prisoner of War (POW) Camp, and their torturous trek to India and freedom. The trio escaped from POW Camp in Singapore in May 1942 and made their way through Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar), to reach India. In Burma they split into two groups. Balbir & Parab moved north through Myitkyina and enemy-held territories, before they contacted an allied patrol in the heavily jungled, hill tracts of upper Burma.

This book presents current research in the study of military operations, health issues, and technology. Topics discussed in this compilation include population transfers and the mediation of insurgent conflicts; the emotional and mental coping skills of a submarine crew in extreme environments; telehealth technologies for the provision of long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional education and health administration; military unit path-finding problems applying MOACO algorithms; and, the strategic and military operation issues for conducting the war in Afghanistan.

The remarkable true story that became a viral news sensation. Former Royal Engineer Sean Laidlaw was working as a bomb disposal expert in Syria when he heard whimpering from the rubble of a school that had exploded and collapsed. Upon further inspection he found that the source of the noise was a tiny, abandoned puppy, surrounded by her four dead siblings. A terrified Barrie initially rejected Sean's advances - but he refused to give up. He made sure she was safe and brought her food and drink, and cordoned off the area to ensure it was safe from explosives. After a few days Barrie grew to trust Sean and eventually the two became inseparable in the three months he was in Syria. Sean had to return to the UK, leaving Barrie behind. When his contract wasn't renewed he knew he had to bring Barrie home. The two created an unbreakable bond and they were reunited in emotional scenes that have made headlines all over the world. Sean credits Barrie with helping him with his PTSD and their story is a powerful reminder of the incredible bond that dogs and humans have, and how both can save the other.

In "Counterstrike", Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker of "The New York Times" take readers into a previously hidden theater of war, as U.S. ground troops, intelligence operatives, and top executive branch officials have fashioned effective new strategies to fight terrorism, in sharp contrast to the cowboy slogans that once characterized the U.S. government's public posture. They show how these innovative strategies, drawn from classic Cold War deterrence theory, were employed in the dramatic raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed, and in a new afterword the authors point to the on-going challenges and successes facing America in the Middle East, in cyberspace, and at home.

Where did wargames come from? Who participated in them, and why? How is their development related to changes in real-life warfare? Which aspects of war did they capture, which ones did they leave out, how, and why? What do they tell us about the conduct of war in the times and places where they were played? How useful are they in training and preparation for war? Why are some so much more popular than others, and how do men and women differ in their interest? Starting with the combat of David versus Goliath, passing through the gladiatorial games, tournaments, trials by battle, duels, and board games such as chess, all the way to the latest simulations and computer games, this unique book traces the subject in all its splendid richness. As it does so, it provides new and occasionally surprising insights into human nature.

Controversy continues over the appropriate role that Congress should play in regulating U.S. military operations against foreign entities. U.S. action against Libya reignited consideration of long-standing questions concerning the President's constitutional authority to use military force without congressional authorisation, as well as congressional authority to regulate or limit the use of such force. As Congress considers defence authorisation and appropriate bills, there may be renewed focus on whether or to what extent Congress has the constitutional authority to legislate limits on the President's authority to conduct military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or other locations. This book discusses the constitutional provisions allocating war powers between Congress and the President, and presents a historical overview of relevant court cases, and other considerations which may inform congressional decisions on war powers.

In this story from the frontlines of the undeclared battlefields of the War on Terror, journalist Jeremy Scahill documents the new paradigm of American foreign policy: fought far from any declared battlefield, by units that do not officially exist, in thousands of operations a month that are never publicly acknowledged. From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond, independent journalist Scahill speaks to the CIA agents, mercenaries and elite Special Operations Forces operators who populate the dark side of the many wars Obama's government is fighting. He goes deep into al Qaeda - held territory in Yemen and walks the streets of Mogadishu with CIA-backed warlords. We also meet the survivors of U.S. night raids and drone strikes - including families of U.S. citizens targeted for assassination by their own government - who reveal the human consequences of the dirty wars the United States struggles to keep hidden.

This book examines how the moral sentiment of gratitude, as expressed in the image of the suffering soldier, transformed the memory of the Revolutionary War, political culture, and public policy in the early American republic. This popular depiction removed the stigma of vice and treason from the Continental Army, legitimized the army as a republican institution, and credited it with securing independence. By glorifying the now aged, impoverished, and infirm Continental soldiers as republican warriors, the image also accentuated the nation's guilt for its ingratitude toward the veterans. Using Peterborough, New Hampshire, as a case study, John P. Resch shows that the power of the suffering soldier image lay partly in its reflection of reality. The citizen-soldiers from Peterborough who fought in the Continental Army did indeed represent a cross-section of the town, and they experienced greater postwar deprivation and alienation than their peers who had not gone to war. Personal and political sympathy toward the veterans eventually led to the passage of the Revolutionary War Pension Act in 1818. The War Department further validated the soldiers' claims and public gratitude through its liberal administration of the pension program, which attracted more than 20,000 applications.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, observers heralded a new era of social progress, seemingly limitless technological advances, and world peace. But within only a few years, the world was perched on the brink of war, revolution, and human misery on an unprecedented scale. Is it possible that today, in the early twenty-first century, we are on the verge of similar, tumultuous times? Blending a detailed knowledge of international security affairs with history, philosophy, psychology, and literature, Th?r?se Delpech vividly reminds us of the signs and warnings that were missed as the "civilized" world failed to prevent both world wars, the Holocaust, Soviet death camps, and Cambodian killing fields that made the twentieth century so deadly. Drawing a parallel between 1905 and 2005, Delpech warns that it could happen again in this current era of increasing international violence and global lawlessness. She looks ahead to imagine various scenarios and regions that could become flashpoints in the future. Winner of the 2005 Prix Femina de l'essai. Praise for the original French edition, L'Ensauvagement "One doesn't know what to admire most in this book: the precision of information, the scope of reference, the originality of the approach..." --Le Nouvel Observateur "From Iranian nuclear ambitions to the Taiwan question, Delpech reviews all the situations which might lead mankind to succumb to the perennial temptation of savagery --a passionate and lucid book." --L'argus de la presse "L'ensauvagement transcends its surface content, articulating great hope that our reason and will might take hold and overcome unreason." --Politique ?trang?re "Combining introspection and prediction, geopolitics and philosophy, Th?r?se Delpech has issued a warning cry." --Politique Internationale

The United States has struggled to define its approach to what has been called the information battlefield since the information era began. Yet with the outbreak of the war on terror, the United States has been violently challenged to take a position and react to the militants use of emerging information technology. Ideological demigods operating against the United States now have unprecedented channels by which to disseminate their message to those targets who are uncertain, sympathetic, or actively supportive of their philosophy. From the caves of southeastern Afghanistan to the streets of Baghdad, the message has dominated the thinking of those who perpetrate horrific acts of violence, whether in the name of ideology, ethnic and sectarian partisanship, or religion.This anthology is divided into four sections: geopolitical, strategic, operational, and tactical. The geopolitical perspective covers world politics, diplomacy, and the elements of national power, excluding military force. The strategic view examines where the violence has begun and the military element of power. The operational perspective handles the campaigns to accomplish a specific purpose on the world stage for example, as in the Iraq campaign. The tactical level takes the individual s role into account. Because the nexus of information conflict is most easily seen in the world s contemporary violent confrontations, this anthology reflects the experience and lessons learned by military personnel who have managed these difficult issues. With a foreword by Colonel H. R. McMaster, U.S. Army, the author of "Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam."

The book describes and analyses the Scanian War, which was fought from 1675 to 1679 between, on one side, primarily Brandenburg and Denmark-Norway and, on the other, Sweden. The war was mainly fought in Scania, the former Danish lands along the border with Sweden, and in northern Germany. The Danish objective was to retrieve Scania which, a generation earlier, had been captured by Sweden and ceded by Denmark. However, the Danish invasion of Scania was defeated by the young Swedish King Charles XI. Although the Danish fleet was victorious at sea, and an alliance headed by Brandenburg defeated the Swedes in Germany, the subsequent peace negotiations resulted in no major territorial changes. Danish partisans continued guerrilla operations in Scania for years, yet the former Danish territories remained in Swedish hands. The Scanian War was bloody, even by contemporary standards, and from a military point of view, quite inconclusive. Yet, Sweden's experiences in the Scanian War laid the foundation for the first substantial reform of the Swedish army since the Thirty Years' War. Based on what he had learnt, King Charles XI restructured the Swedish army and established a comprehensive military system that enabled Sweden to repeatedly mobilise trained armies during the even more devastating Great Northern War (1700-1721) which followed a generation later. Moreover, several recent archaeological excavations have increased our knowledge of the Scanian War, as well as the conditions of late seventeenth-century battles. The book describes the war and its results, and summarises the archaeological findings.

Indian Defence Review (IDR) is India's best-known defense journal. Over the year the journal has attained the "most quoted" status by defense and security analysts worldwide. The journal offers an incisive analysis of defense and politico-security affairs focused on Asia.returncharacterreturncharacterIn addition to defense and security analyses, each issue includes regular feature sections on aerospace trends, naval affairs, and army force developments, including the latest arms transfers and news.returncharacterreturncharacterIndian Defence Review, a quarterly journal, is read by almost all leading policy makers at senior bureaucratic, political and military levels. Time and again, the incisive analyses in the Indian Defence Review have helped form opinions and shape strategic responses on the subcontinent.

At the end of World War I, the United States Army-despite its recent experience with trenches, machine guns, barbed wire, airplanes, and even tanks-maintained a horse-mounted cavalry from a bygone era. From the end of World War I until well into World War II, senior leaders remained convinced that traditional cavalry units were useful in reconnaissance, and horses retained a leading role. Months into World War II, the true believers in the utility of the horses had their hopes shattered as the last horse cavalry units either dismounted to fight as infantry or traded their oat-eating horses for gasoline-guzzling iron ponies. The horse belonged to the past, and the armored truck was the way of the future. Morton has examined myriad official records, personal papers, doctrine, and professional discourse from an era of intense debate about the future of the U.S. Cavalry. He has captured the emotion of the conflict that ultimately tore the branch apart by examining the views of famous men such as George S. Patton, Jr., Lesley J. McNair, George C. Marshall, and Adna R. Chaf-fee, Jr. More importantly, Morton brings new light to lesser-known figures-John K. Herr, I. D. White, Lucian K. Truscott, Willis D. Crittenberger, Charles L. Scott, and William S. Biddle-who played equally important roles in shaping the future of the U.S. Cavalry and in determining what function it would play during World War II. At the heart of Men on Iron Ponies are the myriad questions about how to equip, train, and organize for a possible future war, all the while having to retain some flexibility to deal with war as it actually happens. Morton goes beyond the explanation of what occurred between the world wars by showing how the debate about the nature of the next war impacted the organization and doctrine that the reformed U.S. Cavalry would employ on the battlefields of North Africa, Italy, the beaches of Normandy, and through the fighting in the Ardennes to the link-up with Soviet forces in the heart of Germany. Leaders then, as now, confronted tough questions. What would the nature of the next war be? What kind of doctrine would lend itself to future battlefields? What kind of organization would best fulfill doctrinal objectives, once established, and what kind of equipment should that organization have? The same challenges face Army leaders today as they contemplate the nature of the next war.

After drilling troops during the American Revolution, Baron Friedrich von Steuben reportedly noted that although one could tell a Prussian what to do and expect him to do it, one had to tell an American why he ought to do something before he would comply. Although such individualistic thinking is part of the democratic genius of American society, it also complicates efforts to train and educate citizen-soldiers.

For more than three decades, the U.S. Army's "Troop Information" program used films, radio programs, pamphlets, and lectures to stir patriotism and spark contempt for the enemy. Christopher S. DeRosa examines soldiers' formal political indoctrination, focusing on the political training of draftees and short-term volunteers from 1940 to 1973.

DeRosa draws on the records of the army and the Department of Defense's information offices, the content of the indoctrination materials themselves, and soldiers' recollections in analyzing the political messages the nation conveyed to its army during three decades of conscription. He examines how the program took root as an army institution, how its technique evolved over time, and how it interacted with the larger American political culture. In so doing, he explores the implications of trying to impose a political consensus on the army of a democracy.

Steel My Soldiers' Hearts is the story, from D-Day to the armistice, of a Canadian tank man who fought the campaign in Northwest Europe at the sharp end - told from the fighting man's perspective. The armoured war involved the main battles for which WWII was famous: the Normandy landing; the battles to defend the beachhead; the fighting for Caen and Falaise; the pursuit across France and the Low Countries; the "Market Garden" exercise to capture the Rhine bridges at Arnhem; the Siegfried Line penetration and finally the Rhine crossing before the march deep into Germany. Stewart's personal war also involved the loss of three tanks and many gallant comrades. To accomplish their feats, the author and his colleagues had to "steel their hearts" indeed.
This book contains comments (in separate chapters) which could have been made by officers in their messes, postulated via the author's knowledge of the history of WWII. However, since the author was not an officer during the war, these chapters are pure fancy, and this is why the work is called a novel - not an autobiography. The stories are exactly as Stewart experienced them, and the names are of people, many still alive, that were with the author.

When many Americans hear that the US may go to war against another nation, they tend to believe there's probably a good reason for it or that no viable alternatives exist-or they don't think about it at all. They trust their leaders to represent them and defend their values. They accept their leaders' claims that war is to ensure their safety when others wish to harm them. The parties of war play on Americans' basic values to bring them online. The media reassures them that the reasons for war are altruistic- that Americans wish to spread democracy and allow others to adopt their way of life. But is this the case? With 24 compelling illustrations, maps and graphs, this book is intended to serve as a tool for peace advocacy. Well known peace advocates respond to 19 of the most common illusions held by the American public which weaken their opposition to Washington's wars. "The American way of war offers a nonstop supply of illusions-while imposing horrific realities far away and, ultimately, at home too. This book is intent on dispelling key illusions and coming to terms with human realities. Between the covers of American Wars, the result is a compendium of insights and hard-won knowledge of the sort you' ll rarely find in the daily paper or the evening news. The writers are myth-busters who challenge the conventional lack of wisdom that drags the United States into one war after another and keeps us lethally mired in a warfare state. This collection provides us with an array of vital perspectives, opening up a crucial topic that usually remains shut down- what American wars are doing to humanity, under false pretenses and with calamitous results, around the world and in our own neighborhoods. The future is at stake. This book helps us to understand the perils and opportunities of the present moment. -NORMAN SOLOMON, author of War Made Easy "With the War on Terror threatening to go on for decades, it's critical for Americans to examine the myriad ways our government has tricked us into supporting unjust wars, with catastrophic consequences for all sides. American Wars uncovers a tragic pattern that must be broken. Read it and act." -MEDEA BENJAMIN, Code Pink "This country needs a moral revolution where supporting work for peace and justice is not seen as weakness. The voices heard in this work truly "speak truth to power." This book addresses issues that will empower the reader to more fully appreciate the ethical challenges America faces and to effectively participate in this change. Its accessibility will attract, inform and inspire the next generation of peace activists." -RAY PARRISH, Vietnam Veterans Against the War

From the controversial expert who brought Iran's nuclear program to the attention of the world in 2002 comes a searing expose of the inner workings and plans of Iran's mullahs. With access to dissident groups inside Iran, Alireza Jafarzadeh traces President Ahmadinejad's radical roots and involvement in terror attacks to his impact on Iran's weapons program. He reveals new details on Iran's meddling in Iraq and its broader goals for the future of the Middle East. This is the most authoritative account to date of the looming threat Iran poses to the United States and the Gulf region. Readers will learn for the first time: *President Ahmadinejad's radical past as a feared torturer of political prisoners and his zealous mission to deliver the regime its first nuclear bomb *The chilling trend of the military's increasing control of the nuclear program *How Ahmadinejad was handpicked by Iran's mullahs to help create an Islamic Republic in Iraq *The latest covert actions to bury nuclear facilities in tunnels *The story of the front companies Iran used to buy its nuclear technology undetected *The author's original and insightful policy options to end the Iranian threat

In this razor-sharp analysis, TomDispatch.com commentator Michael Schwartz shows how the US occupation is fuelling civil war in Iraq and beyond. He punctures all the myths used to sell the idea of an endless war in this incisive and hard-hitting argument.

A revelatory look at the U.S. Government's plan to put weapons in outer space, by two bestselling experts.
""During the early portion of the twenty-first century, space power will also evolve into a separate and equal medium of warfare....The emerging synergy of space superiority with land, sea, and air superiority will lead to Full Spectrum Dominance.""--from ""U.S. Space Command Vision for 2020""
When most of us think about the potential of outer space for future generations, we think of world communications, satellite navigation, and scientific exploration. U.S. Space Command, however, thinks about weapons. Believing that conflict in space and wars fought from space are inevitable, the president has called on the agency to weaponize outer space and thus provoke an arms race that could cost the United States trillions of dollars and could lead to the demise of the human race.
In "War in Heaven," a Nobel Prize-nominated peace activist and a former U.S. foreign service officer (who helped write the Outer Space Treaty of 1967) look at the history of military uses of space and the current plans for "militarizing the heavens," including kinetic, laser, nuclear bombardment, and anti-satellite weapons. Contrary to the claims of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that the United States faces a "space Pearl Harbor," Caldicott and Eisendrath show that the United States itself is today the principal obstruction to passage of an international treaty banning weapons from outer space.
At a time when plans to build and deploy space weapons are on the administration's agenda but only just becoming known to the general public, this book will help launch a national discussion of acritical issue.

Philip D. Beidler, who served as an armored cavalry platoon leader in Vietnam, sees lees and less of the hard-won perspective of the common soldier in what America has made of that war. Each passing year, he says, dulls out sense of immediacy about Vietnam's costs, opening wider the temptation to make it something more necessary, neatly contained, and justifiable than it should ever become. Here Beidler draws on deeply personal memories to reflect on the war's lingering aftereffects and the shallow, evasive ways we deal with them. Beidler brings back the war he knew in chapters on its vocabulary, music, literature, and film. His catalog of soldier slang reveals how finely a tour of Vietnam could hone one's sense of absurdity. His survey of the war's pop hits looks for meaning in the soundtrack many veterans still hear in their heads. Beidler also explains how "Viet Pulp" literature about snipers, tunnel rats, and other hard-core types has pushed aside masterpieces like Duong Thu Huong's "Novel without a Name. Likewise we learn why the movie "The Deer Hunter doesn't "get it" about Vietnam but why "Platoon or "We Were Soldiers sometimes nearly do. As Beidler takes measure of his own wartime politics and morals, he ponders the divergent careers of such figures as William Calley, the army lieutenant whose name is synonymous with the civilian massacre at My Lai; and an old friend, poet John Balaban, a conscientious objector who performed alternative duty in Vietnam as a schoolteacher and hospital worker. Beidler also looks at Vietnam alongside other conflicts--including the war on international terrorism. He once hoped, he says, that Vietnam had fractured our sense of providential destinyand geopolitical invincibility but now realizes, with dismay, that those myths are still with us. "Americans have always wanted their apocalypses," writes Beidler, "and they have always wanted them now."

In February 2003, Patrick Cockburn secretly crossed the Tigris river from Syria into Iraq just before the US/British invasion, and has covered the war ever since. In The Occupation, he provides a vivid and disturbing picture of a country in turmoil, and the dangers and privations endured by its people. The Occupation explores the mosaic of communities in Iraq, the US and Britain's failure to understand the country they were invading and how this led to fatal mistakes. Cockburn, who has been visiting Iraq since 1978, describes the disintegration of the country under the occupation. Travelling throughout Iraq, from the Kurdish north, to Baghdad, Falluja and Basra, he records the response of the country's population - Shia and Sunni, Arab and Kurd - to the invasion, the growth of the resistance and its transformation into a full-scale uprising. He explains why deepening religious and ethnic divisions drove the country towards civil war. Above all, Cockburn traces how the occupation's failure led to the collapse of the country, and the high price paid by Iraqis. He charts the impact of savage sectarian killings, rampant corruption and economic chaos on everyday life: from the near destruction of Baghdad's al-Mutanabi book market to the failure to supply electricity, water and, ironically, fuel to Iraq's population. The Occupation is a compelling portrait of a ravaged country, and the appalling consequences of imperial arrogance.

In the vast body of material dealing with Custer's ""last stand,"" the journal kept by young Lieutenant James H. Bradley of the Seventh Infantry is at once graphic, incisive, and of first-rate historical importance. It is also little known.It records in detail the major incidents of the march of the Montana Column, under command of Colonel John Gibbon, to participate in the Sioux campaign of 1876. Beginning on March 17, when five companies of the regiment left Fort Shaw, it traces the progress of the column and ends abruptly with the entry for June 26, when Gibbon's command camped on the site of present Crow Agency, Montana, amid abundant indications that Custer's Seventh Cavalry had met with disaster. A letter written by Bradley describing the finding of the bodies on the Custer battlefield on the Little Big Horn is appended to provide a fitting conclusion. Bradley's journal, however, is much more than an account of a military command moving through unsettled country against a primitive foe. The Lieutenant was a gifted writer with definite scientific and historical interests, a man of infinite curiosity, who not only recorded the daily progress but also added ""historical notices of the country traversed."" His description of the grief of the Crow scouts on hearing the first news of the disaster of the Little Big Horn is a classic in the literature of the American West. A rare treat for all readers interested in the Indian wars, the journal was first published in a limited edition in 1896.

Edmund Candler was the correspondent of the correspondent of the Daily Mail who accompanied the British expeditionary forces that in 1903. He provides an eyewitness account of Great Britain's first and last military incursion in to the forbidden land on the roof of the world .The British expedition to Tibet in 1903 and 1904, led by Sir Frances seeking to prevent the Russian Empire from interfering in Tibetan affairs and thus gaining a foothold in one of the buffer states surrounding British India.