"Somehow, through all the separations and disasters, my mother persevered. She never left my father's side, not through any of it. I always wondered and marveled at her spirit. How did she do it? Perhaps she explained it herself before she married my father in a July 7, 1944 letter to him: 'Remember though what I told you at the station dear - you make me strong.' And somehow, deep inside, even as a young girl, before she even knew my father, maybe she knew what was coming." - From the book. You Make Me Strong is an interpretive collection of letters written by Virginia R. "Jinny" Thornton and her husband retired Navy Captain John W. "Johnny" Thornton. The letters begin with the young couple's 1944 courtship and extend through the anguish of two of the family's three wars. It is a companion volume for Captain Thornton's Korean War autobiography Believed to be Alive. Decades later, and writing from his own unique perspective, their son Jay reflects on what it all meant not only to his parents but also to him. You Make Me Strong is the touching tribute of a son, now grown old, for the goodness of two courageous souls who gave him life, faith and hope.

The Constitution provides Congress with broad powers over the Armed Forces, including the power "to raise and support Armies," "to provide and maintain a Navy," and "to make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces. "It also provides the Senate with the authority to provide Advice and Consent on presidential nominations of all other Officers of the United States, which includes military officers. On the basis of its constitutional authority, Congress has passed a number of laws which govern important aspects of military officer personnel management, including appointments, assignments, grade structure, promotions, and separations. This book provides an overview of active duty general and flag officers (GFOs) in the United States Armed Forces -- including authorizations, duties, and compensation -- historical trends in the proportion of GFOs relative to the total force, criticisms and justifications of GFO to total force proportions, and statutory controls.

From hallucinogenic mushrooms and LSD, to coca and cocaine; from Homeric warriors and the Assassins to the first Gulf War and today's global insurgents - drugs have sustained warriors in the field and have been used as weapons of warfare, either as non-lethal psychochemical weapons or as a means of subversion. Lukasz Kamienski explores why and how drugs have been issued to soldiers to increase their battlefield performance, boost their courage and alleviate stress and fear - as well as for medical purposes. He also delves into the history of psychoactive substances that combatants 'self- prescribe', a practice which dates as far back as the Vikings. Shooting Up is a comprehensive and original history of the relationship between fighting men and intoxicants, from Antiquity till the present day, and looks at how drugs will determine the wars of the future in unforeseen and remarkable ways.