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Books By/About Living Medal of Honor Recipients You Don't Lose 'Til You Quit Trying by Sammy Lee Davis (Dutton Caliber): $20.95 (301 Pages) On November 18th, 1967, Private First Class Davis’s artillery unit was hit by a massive enemy offensive. At twenty-one years old, he resolved to face the onslaught and prepared to die. Soon he would have a perforated kidney, crushed ribs, a broken vertebra, his flesh ripped by beehive darts, a bullet in his thigh, and burns all over his body.   Ignoring his injuries, he manned a two-ton Howitzer by himself, crossed a canal under heavy fire to rescue three wounded American soldiers, and kept fighting until the enemy retreated. His heroism that day earned him a Congressional Medal of Honor—the ceremony footage of which ended up being used in the movie Forrest Gump.   You Don’t Lose ’Til You Quit Trying chronicles how his childhood in the American Heartland prepared him for the worst night of his life—and how that night set off a lifetime battling against debilitating injuries, the effects of Agent Orange and an America that was turning on its veterans.   But he also battled for his fellow veterans, speaking on their behalf for forty years to help heal the wounds and memorialize the brotherhood that war could forge. Here, readers will learn of Sammy Davis’s extraordinary life—the courage, the pain, and the triumph. Endless Love and Second Chances by Dixie Davis: $20.00 (278) Through unspeakable grief, they found an unbreakable connection—through their love, the joy of second chances. For Dixie and Sammy Davis, the road to each other’s arms was paved with tragedy. But through their marriage, they each found a new beginning filled with blessings, joy, and hope—a testament to the power of love after loss. In Endless Love and Second Chances, Dixie Davis, with Sherry Maves, describes the joys and heartbreak of Dixie’s marriage with musician Tim “Doc Holiday” Taylor, tragically cut short by terminal cancer. Years later, Dixie makes an unexpected connection with mutual acquaintance Sammy Davis—one of seventy-seven living Medal of Honor recipients who has dedicated his life to spreading the values of “duty, honor, and country.” An inspirational love story of hope, faith, and redemption, this heartfelt memoir follows Dixie and Sammy as they both recover from the profound grief of losing their spouses to find the love and healing in each other that they needed to move on. As the couple continues to travel throughout the country in the name of veterans’ awareness, this book pays a touching tribute to the difference they have made to each other—and to veterans everywhere. By Honor Bound by Tom Norris & Mike Thornton (St. Martins Griffin): $9.60 (304 Pages) In April of 1972, SEAL Lieutenant Tom Norris risked his life in an unprecedented ground rescue of two American airmen who were shot down behind enemy lines in North Vietnam, a feat for which he would be awarded the Medal of Honor--an award that represents the pinnacle of heroism and courage. Just six months later, Norris was sent on a dangerous special reconnaissance mission that would take his team deep into enemy territory. On that mission, they engaged a vastly superior force. In the running gun battle that ensued, Lieutenant Norris was severely wounded; a bullet entered his left eye and exited the left side of his head. SEAL Petty Officer Mike Thornton, under heavy fire, fought his way back onto a North Vietnamese beach to rescue his officer. This was the first time Tom and Mike had been on a combat mission together. Mike's act of courage and loyalty marks the only time in modern history that the Medal of Honor has been awarded in a combat action where one recipient received the Medal for saving the life of another. By Honor Bound is the story of Tom Norris and Mike Thornton, two living American heroes who grew up very differently, entered military service and the Navy SEAL teams for vastly different reasons, and were thrown together for a single combat mission--a mission that would define their lives from that day forward. 8 Seconds of Courage by Flo Groberg (Simon & Schuster): $16.39 (208 Pages) A story of valor and the making of a hero—Florent Groberg, who grew up in France, emigrated to the US, and was the first immigrant in forty years to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor after he saved many lives by tackling a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Florent “Flo” Groberg was born in 1983, in the suburbs of Paris. When he was in middle school, his family moved to the US, and Flo became a naturalized citizen in 2001. After attending the University of Maryland, he joined the Army in 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. He deployed a second time in 2012. In August of that year, Flo was guarding a high-level US-Afghan delegation and noticed someone suspicious: a local man stumbling toward his patrol. Flo reacted quickly and ran to tackle the man—who was wearing a suicide vest—before he could reach the patrol. Four people died in the subsequent explosion, but many others were spared. Flo himself was badly wounded and spent the next three years undergoing surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center. On November 12, 2015, Captain Groberg was given the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor—the first immigrant to be so recognized since the Vietnam War. 8 Seconds of Courage tells Flo’s story from his childhood in France to his decision to enlist and the grueling training he underwent at US Army Ranger School. Through trial and error, he learned to be a field commander and on the front lines in Afghanistan formed close and lasting bonds with his fellow soldiers. It was this powerful sense of responsibility that compelled him to take his brave action to save lives, even at the risk of his own.  Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War  by Dakota Meyer (Random House): $21.98 (256 Pages) A story of valor and the making of a hero—Florent Groberg, who grew up in France, emigrated to the US, and was the first immigrant in forty years to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor after he saved many lives by tackling a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Florent “Flo” Groberg was born in 1983, in the suburbs of Paris. When he was in middle school, his family moved to the US, and Flo became a naturalized citizen in 2001. After attending the University of Maryland, he joined the Army in 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. He deployed a second time in 2012. In August of that year, Flo was guarding a high-level US-Afghan delegation and noticed someone suspicious: a local man stumbling toward his patrol. Flo reacted quickly and ran to tackle the man—who was wearing a suicide vest—before he could reach the patrol. Four people died in the subsequent explosion, but many others were spared. Flo himself was badly wounded and spent the next three years undergoing surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center. On November 12, 2015, Captain Groberg was given the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor—the first immigrant to be so recognized since the Vietnam War. 8 Seconds of Courage tells Flo’s story from his childhood in France to his decision to enlist and the grueling training he underwent at US Army Ranger School. Through trial and error, he learned to be a field commander and on the front lines in Afghanistan formed close and lasting bonds with his fellow soldiers. It was this powerful sense of responsibility that compelled him to take his brave action to save lives, even at the risk of his own.  Single Handed: The Inspiring True Story of Tibor "Teddy" Rubin--Holocaust Survivor, Korean War Hero, and Medal of Honor Recipient  by Daniel M. Cohen (Dutton Caliber): $17.00 (448 Pages) In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, twenty-one year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades. With a brave driver at the wheel, Meyer stood in the gun turret exposed to withering fire, rallying Afghan troops to follow. Over the course of the five hours, he charged into the valley time and again. Employing a variety of machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and even a rock, Meyer repeatedly repulsed enemy attackers, carried wounded Afghan soldiers to safety, and provided cover for dozens of others to escape—supreme acts of valor and determination. In the end, Meyer and four stalwart comrades—an Army captain, an Afghan sergeant major, and two Marines—cleared the battlefield and came to grips with a tragedy they knew could have been avoided. For his actions on that day, Meyer became the first living Marine in three decades to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Noble Warrior: The Story of Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, USMC (Ret.), Medal of Honor  by James Livingston (Zenith Press): $27.99 (272 Pages) Major General James E. Livingston received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role as an infantry company commander at Dai Do, Vietnam, during a three-day grinding battle of attrition in which the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, numbering only 800 men, victoriously battled 10,000 or more NVA. His remarkable life and career is recounted in a book that has it all: exciting first-person eyewitness account of historic battle; the history of the development of tactics and strategies used in today’s war on terror; and a compelling story of leadership in action and individual courage in combat. Living with Honor: A Memoir  by Slavatore A. Giunta (Threshold Editions): $17.00 (304 Pages) Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant “Sal” Giunta’s empowering memoir describes a boy working at a Subway shop who was attracted to an Army recruiting center by a free T-shirt, but left inspired by the thought of making a difference to the world. After enlisting, he was posted to Afghanistan, where he learned from the seasoned soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade about a totally new kind of war. In 2007, while he was on patrol in the Korengal Valley—the “Valley of Death”—his lessons on duty and honor in the face of danger were tested. His squad was ambushed by Taliban insurgents and pinned down under blistering fire. When their leader fell, Giunta shielded him with his own body. Amid the chaos, he continued to fight and protect his wounded comrades until Apache air cover finally brought a halt to the action.  Living with Honor is a remarkable account by a man who insists he was “just a soldier,” but who has made the difference he dreamed of. His candid, insightful tale is a moving testament to the power of the human spirit. Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor  by Clinton Romesha (Dutton): $17.00 (400 Pages) The only comprehensive, firsthand account of the fourteen-hour firefight at the Battle of Keating by Medal of Honor recipient Clinton Romesha.  “‘It doesn't get better.’ To us, that phrase nailed one of the essential truths, maybe even the essential truth, about being stuck at an outpost whose strategic and tactical vulnerabilities were so glaringly obvious to every soldier who had ever set foot in that place that the name itself—Keating—had become a kind of backhanded joke.”   In 2009, Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost (COP) Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the US military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after its construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: it was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.    On October 3, 2009, after years of constant smaller attacks, the Taliban finally decided to throw everything they had at Keating. The ensuing fourteen-hour battle—and eventual victory—cost eight men their lives.    Red Platoon is the riveting firsthand account of the Battle of Keating, told by Romesha, who spearheaded both the defense of the outpost and the counterattack that drove the Taliban back beyond the wire and received the Medal of Honor for his actions. A Tiger among Us: A Story of Valor in Vietnam's A Shau Valley by Bennie G. Adkins (Da Capo Press) : $21.48 (224 Pages) Adaptable. Cunning. Ferocious. Fearless. The Indochinese tiger is just one of the formidable predators roaming Vietnam's jungle. In 1966 a small band of US Special Forces soldiers--most especially Bennie Adkins--spent four grueling days facing down the "tiger" among them. While the rain and mist of an early March moved over the valley, then-Sergeant First Class Bennie Adkins and sixteen other Green Berets found themselves holed up in an undermanned and unfortified position at Camp A Shau, a small training and reconnaissance camp located right next to the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail, North Vietnam's major supply route. And with the rain came the North Vietnamese Army in force. Surrounded 10-to-1, the Green Berets endured constant mortar and rifle fire, direct assaults, treasonous allies, and volatile jungle weather. But there was one among them who battled ferociously, like a tiger, and when they finally evacuated, he carried the wounded to safety. Forty-eight years later, Command Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins's valor was recognized when he received this nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor. Filled with the sights, smells, and sounds of a raging battle fought in the middle of a tropical forest, A Tiger among Us is a riveting tale of bravery, valor, skill, and resilience.

Books By/About Medal of Honor Recipients Desmond Doss Conscientious Objector: The Story of an Unlikely Hero by Francess M. Doss (Pacific Press) : $13.99 (160 Pages) Infantry men who once ridiculed and scoffed at Desmond's simple faith and refusal to carry a weapon owed their lives to him. In the midst of a fierce firefight on Okinawa that felled approximately 75 men from the 1st Battalion, Private Doss refused to seek cover and carried his stricken comrades to safety one by one. This and other heroic acts earned him the highest honor America can bestow on one of her sons - the Congressional Medal of Honor. The 2016 movie "Hacksaw Ridge" featured the story of Desmond Doss, the only Conscientious Objector to earn the Medal of Honor during World War II. Redemption At Hacksaw Ridge: The Gripping True Story That Inspired The Movie by Booton Herndon (Remnant Publications) : $24.99 (199 Pages) "When we go into combat, Doss, you're not comin' back alive. I'm gonna shoot you myself!"  The men of the 77th Infantry Division couldn't fathom why Private Desmond T. Doss would venture into the horrors of World War II without a single weapon to defend himself.  "You're nothing but a coward!" they said. But the soft–spoken medic insisted that his mission was to heal, not kill.  This page–turner will keep you riveted to your seat as you discover how Desmond Doss became the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor.  Desmond's dramatic true story of integrity, redemption, and heroism will inspire you to live by the courage of your convictions.   * Original book that inspired Mel Gibson's movie, Hacksaw Ridge  * An exciting true story of an incredible war hero. KINDLE ONLY - The Birth of Hacksaw Ridge: How It All Began  by Gregory Crosby and Gene Church: $9.99 The authorized and only book ever written on the childhood and teenage years of Desmond T Doss. Find out what inspired this young man to honor God, family, and country, and to go on to become one of America's greatest heroes. BOY, DO WE NEED MORE LIKE HIM TODAY! A great book for all ages. Quietly Exploding: The Life of Medal of Honor Hero Charles Barger by Joseph P. Bowman (Homestead Press) : $24.49 (288 Pages) More decorated but less well-known than his legendary counterpart, Alvin C. York, Charles Denver Staffelbach Barger was born on June 3, 1894, to George and Cora Victoria (Lake) Staffelbach in Mount Vernon, Missouri, and raised by the extended Staffelbach family in Galena, Kansas. In 1897, several members of the family were indicted and convicted for the murder of a visiting miner. The investigation into the murder turned up nine additional murders, and speculation about many more, ranking the Staffelbachs among the most notorious families of serial killers in American history. Charlie was off to an inauspicious start!  Quietly Exploding is meticulously researched and objectively conveyed by his paternal cousin with the inestimable editorial assistance of Charlie's maternal cousin, Chris Kraft. This compelling biography takes the reader through Charlie's tumultuous childhood, where murder was commonplace, deciphering fact from fiction regarding his infamous kinfolk. The war years provide unique insight into Charlie's heroic feats, but also include a comprehensive perspective of the war in general, and the routine of the common doughboy specifically. Finally, Charlie's difficult postwar years are detailed, culminating in his tragic suicide, the details of which have never been disclosed. Bones of My Grandfather: Reclaiming a Lost Hero of World War II by Clay Bonneyman Evans (Skyhorse): $18.71 (336 Pages) In November 1943, Marine 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr. was mortally wounded while leading a successful assault on a critical Japanese fortification on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa, and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor. The brutal, bloody 76-hour battle would ultimately claim the lives of more than 1,100 Marines and 5,000 Japanese forces. But Bonnyman's remains, along with those of hundreds of other Marines, were hastily buried and lost to history following the battle, and it would take an extraordinary effort by a determined group of dedicated civilians to find him. In 2010, having become disillusioned with the U.S. government's half-hearted efforts to recover the "lost Marines of Tarawa," Bonnyman's grandson, Clay Bonnyman Evans, was privileged to join the efforts of History Flight, Inc., a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding and repatriating the remains of lost U.S. service personnel. In Bones of My Grandfather, Evans tells the remarkable story of History Flight's mission to recover hundreds of Marines long lost to history in the sands of Tarawa. Even as the organization begins to unearth the physical past on a remote Pacific island, Evans begins his own quest to unearth the reclaim the true history of his grandfather, a charismatic, complicated hero whose life had been whitewashed, sanitized and diminished over the decades. On May 29, 2015, Evans knelt beside a History Flight archaeologist as she uncovered the long-lost, well-preserved remains of of his grandfather. And more than seventy years after giving his life for his country, a World War II hero finally came home. Medal of Honor: One Man's Journey From Poverty and Prejudice (Memories of War) by Roy P. Benavidez (Potomac Books): $12.95 (338 Pages) Half-Hispanic, half-Yaqui Indian, and an orphan, Roy Benavidez fought his way out of poverty and bigotry to serve with the U.S. Army’s elite―the Airborne and the Special Forces. Seriously wounded in Vietnam, he was told he would never walk again. Benavidez not only conquered his disability but demanded to return to combat. On his second tour, when twelve of his comrades on a secret CIA mission in Cambodia were surrounded by hundreds of North Vietnamese regulars, Benavidez volunteered to rescue them. Despite severe injuries suffered in hand-to-hand combat, Benavidez personally saved eight men. His actions ensured his everlasting place as one of the great heroes of the war. In February 1981, President Reagan awarded him the Medal of Honor. Remembering Douglas Eugene Dickey, USMC: “Reaching the Finest and Most Noble Heights” by Terrence W. Barrett PhD: $26.95 (826 Pages) Take a closer look at one of America’s unsung heroes in the remarkable new biography, Remembering Douglas Eugene Dickey, USMC. While conducting a study of 294 marines who have been awarded the Medal of Honor from the American Civil War to the present, author Terence W. Barrett, PhD, stumbled across the story of Private First Class Douglas E. Dickey. Beginning with the brief biographies he could find via newspaper articles and website searches, Barrett slowly started to piece together the extraordinary life and death of a young marine from Ohio. Through an examination of Dickey’s unfathomable heroism, in which he threw himself on a live enemy grenade in order to protect his fellow marines, Barrett raises important questions about the nature of bravery itself. What drives certain people to act against the seemingly natural instinct of survival? Could such a counterintuitive action be a different kind of natural instinct instead? Or is it always a conscious decision, a choice made in a split second that has permanent and unalterable consequences? Lovers of military history will enjoy learning more about this exceptional hero, as well as the psychology behind human courage, in this fascinating biography.  The Quiet Hero-The Untold Medal of Honor Story of George E. Wahlen at the Battle for Iwo Jima  by Gary Toyn (American Legacy Historical Media): $24.95 (236 Pages) Experience Iwo Jima, arguably the bloodiest battle of the modern era, from the perspective of an extraordinary battlefield medic, George Wahlen. As a Navy corpsman he was targeted by the Japanese, making his job of saving the injured even that much more deadly. How he saved so many lives is among the many mysteries of his incredible story. After earning three purple hearts in a matter of days, witnesses of Wahlen's heroics remain dumbfounded that he actually survived. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest military honor. But after the war, he told no one about the medal. Even his wife didn't know he was a national hero for many years after their marriage. For more than six decades he has kept the details of his story to himself, but family and friends have since convinced him to tell the gritty details of his war-time experience. His story is told using over 180 rare and unpublished photographs, many of which were previously censored for being too graphic for public sensitivities. As many now learn of Wahlen's survival, sacrifice and bravery, his story is considered among the most dramatic accounts of heroism in U.S. military history. Troubled Hero: A Medal of Honor, Vietnam, and the War at Home by Randy K. Mills (Indiana University Press): $29.00 (192 Pages) Born in rural Illinois, Ken Kays was a country boy who flunked out of college and wound up serving as a medic in the Vietnam War. On May 7, 1970, after only 17 days in Vietnam and one day after joining a new platoon, the young medic found himself in a ferocious battle. As a conscientious objector, Kays did not carry any weapons, but his actions during that engagement would earn him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Yet Kays’ valor came during just another unheralded fire fight near the end of a long and seemingly fruitless war. He returned home and, with other vets, struggled to reconcile his anti-war beliefs with what he and others had done in Vietnam. This dramatic and tragic story is a timely reminder of the price of war and the fragile comforts of peace. A Cause Greater than Self: The Journey of Captain Michael J. Daly, World War II Medal of Honor Recipient  by Stephen J. Ochs (Texas A&M University Press): $24.95 (296 Pages) A privileged, hell-raising youth who had greatly embarrassed his family―and especially his war-hero father―by being dismissed from West Point, Michael J. Daly would go on to display selfless courage and heroic leadership on the battlefields of Europe during World War II. Starting as an enlisted man and rising through the ranks to become a captain and company commander, Daly’s devotion to his men and his determination to live up to the ideals taught to him by his father led him to extraordinary acts of bravery on behalf of others, resulting in three Silver Stars, a Bronze Star with “V” attachment for valor, two Purple Hearts, and finally, the Medal of Honor. After a period of post-war drift, Daly finally escaped the “hero’s cage” and found renewed purpose through family and service. He became a board member at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he again assumed the role of defender and guardian by championing the cause of the indigent poor and the terminally ill, earning the sobriquet, “conscience of the hospital.” A Cause Greater than Self  is at once a unique, father-son wartime saga, a coming-of-age narrative, and the tale of a heroic man’s struggle to forge a new and meaningful postwar life. Daly’s story also highlights the crucial role played by platoon and company infantry officers in winning both major battles like those on D-Day and in lesser-known campaigns such as those of the Colmar Pocket and in south-central Germany, further reinforcing the debt that Americans owe to them―especially those whose selfless courage merited the Medal of Honor. Above and Beyond: The Incredible Story of Frank Luke Jr., Arizona's Medal of Honor Flying Ace of the First World War  by Keith Warren Lloyd: $9.99 (132 Pages) "An intimate and inspiring portrait of a true hero few people know. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in American history--or for readers looking for a book they won't be able to put down." - Tom McCarthy, author of "The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told." Above and Beyond is the incredible true story of Frank Luke Jr. Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1897, Luke was an adventurous young man who was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. When America entered the First World War in 1917, Luke became a fighter pilot in the newly-formed U.S. Army Air Service and was soon serving with a combat squadron in France. Seen as a "high-strung, excitable boy," scorned by his squadron mates and frequently at odds with his commanders, "Above and Beyond" tells the story of how Luke soon became one of the most revered fighter aces on the Western Front. Exhibiting great audacity and skill in combat, he quickly racked up an impressive number of air-to-air victories, many of them against heavily-defended observation balloons which few pilots dared to attack. "Above and Beyond" chronicles Luke's most daring mission of all on September 29, 1918, which cost him his life, and for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Dr. Mary Edwards Walker: Civil War Sugeon & Medal of Honor Recipient: Civil War Surgeon & Medal of Honor Recipient   by Bonnie Z. Goldsmith (Abdo Group): $37.07 (112 Pages) "An intimate and inspiring portrait of a true hero few people know. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in American history--or for readers looking for a book they won't be able to put down." - Tom McCarthy, author of "The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told." Above and Beyond is the incredible true story of Frank Luke Jr. Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1897, Luke was an adventurous young man who was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. When America entered the First World War in 1917, Luke became a fighter pilot in the newly-formed U.S. Army Air Service and was soon serving with a combat squadron in France. Seen as a "high-strung, excitable boy," scorned by his squadron mates and frequently at odds with his commanders, "Above and Beyond" tells the story of how Luke soon became one of the most revered fighter aces on the Western Front. Exhibiting great audacity and skill in combat, he quickly racked up an impressive number of air-to-air victories, many of them against heavily-defended observation balloons which few pilots dared to attack. "Above and Beyond" chronicles Luke's most daring mission of all on September 29, 1918, which cost him his life, and for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  A Marine Named Mitch: Medal of Honor World War II  by Colonel Mitchell Paige: $12.29 (258 Pages) One honest story entirely written by one extraordinary Marine Mitch Paige who earned the Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal 26 October 1942 fighting against overwhelming odds immersed in a horrific surrounding A MUST read for all who love our country and its Marines Semper Fidelis.  My Son My Hero A Mothers Journal: Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith Medal of Honor War on Terrorism  by Janice Pvire (iUniverse, Inc.): $16.95 (180 Pages) One honest story entirely written by one extraordinary Marine Mitch Paige who earned the Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal 26 October 1942 fighting against overwhelming odds immersed in a horrific surrounding A MUST read for all who love our country and its Marines Semper Fidelis.  Renunciation: My Pilgrimage from Catholic Military Chaplain, Vietnam Hawk, and Medal of Honor Recipient to Civilian Warrior for Peace by Charles J. Liteky: $15.00 (302 Pages) "Renunciation" is the dramatic story of a man who was awarded and then renounced the Medal of Honor. This book will take you on a journey with a Catholic priest who first found the war in Vietnam to meet the “just war” criteria of his church to a man who left the priesthood and came to renounce all war. You will read about the terrible events – from U.S. policy in Central America to his protest and jail time at the School of the Americas – that inspired a man to challenge all of his former beliefs about war and peace. Inspired by his wife, Judy, and fellow peace workers Roy Bourgeois and Brian Willson, Charlie Liteky chose to pursue the majestic path of nonviolent direct action against the principalities and powers that led the United States to wreak such violence and injustice around the world. Read this story; learn from it; be inspired by it. And then look into your own conscience.  Lasting Valor: The Story of the Only Living Black World War II Veteran to Earn America's Highest Distinction for Valor, the Medal of Honor by Vernon J. Baker (Bantam): $7.99 (336 Pages) Lasting Valor tells of some of the most dramatic acts of courage attempted in the entire Mediterranean theater during WWII–acts that resulted in Baker’s being awarded the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Cross. On April 15, 1945, as part of one of the last segregated outfits to go to war for the United States, Lieutenant Baker knew he and his men were being deserted when, during the battle for Castle Aghinolfo in Northern Italy, his white commander told him he was going for reinforcements. Caught three miles behind enemy lines, and with half their comrades in arms dead, they refused to turn and run. Although he was decorated for his efforts, the army quietly surpressed this action until 1997, when Baker was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.  Lasting Valor also reveals Baker’s early life. An orphan raised by grandparents in nearly all-white Cheyenne, Wyoming, he survived a rocky adolescence and went on to live in Father Flanagan’s Home, and then to fight to join a segregated army. His years in the army are recounted, and give us a rare glimpse into the life of a World War II black infantryman. It is a powerful book; as The Washington Post praised: “Whites should read this book to learn of Baker's accomplishments against a background of severe prejudice. Blacks should read it for the heroism it reveals. Everybody should read it for the power of its narrative." I'm Staying with My Boys: The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC by Jim Proser & Jerry Cutter (St. Martin's Griffin): $17.99 (368 Pages) I'm Staying with My Boys is a firsthand look inside the life of one of the greatest heroes of the Greatest Generation. Sgt. John Basilone held off 3,000 Japanese troops at Guadalcanal after his 15-member unit was reduced to three men. At Iwo Jima he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse, allowing his unit to capture an airfield. Minutes later he was killed by an enemy artillery round. He was the only Marine in World War II to have received the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, and a Purple Heart and is arguably the most famous Marine of all time. I'm Staying with My Boys is the only family-authorized biography of Basilone, and it features photographs never before published. Distinctive among military biographies, the story is told in first person, allowing readers to experience his transformation, forged in the horrors of battle, from aimless youth to war hero known as "Manila John". John Basilone World War II Medal of Honor Recipient for Action in the Pacific by Philip Martin McCaulay: $19.95 (112 Pages) On October 24-25, 1942, Marine Sergeant John Basilone was in charge of two sections of heavy machine guns defending a narrow pass to Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Although vastly outnumbered, Manila John and his fellow Marines checked the assault by the Japanese. For that, Sgt. Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor and sent back to the states to appear at war-bond rallies. He toured the country and met Hollywood starlets. His picture made the cover of Life magazine. But Sergeant Basilone was unsatisfied back home and volunteered to return to combat, ending up at Iwo Jima. Under heavy artillery fire on February 19, 1945, he singlehandedly took out an enemy blockhouse. Minutes later, he and four others in his platoon died in an artillery blast. Sergeant Basilone was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart, making him the only enlisted Marine in World War II to receive all three medals. Hero of the Pacific: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone by James Brady: $14.95 (272 Pages) Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was a Marine legend who received the Medal of Honor for holding off 3,000 Japanese on Guadalcanal and the Navy Cross posthumously for his bravery on Iwo Jima. This is the story of how a young man from Raritan, New Jersey, became one of America's biggest World War II heroes. Profiles one of three main characters in HBO's The Pacific, the successful sequel to the popular mini-series Band of Brothers "A carefully reported, briskly written book . . . that could go a long way toward correcting . . . historical oversight." –The Los Angeles Times Sorts through the differing accounts of Basilone's life and exploits, including what he did on Iwo Jima and how he died. Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN by Gary Williams (Naval Institute Press): $21.95 (256 Pages) Lt.Michael Patrick Murphy, a Navy SEAL, earned the Medal of Honor on 28 June 2005 for his bravery during a fierce fight with the Taliban in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan. The first to receive the nation's highest military honor for service in Afghanistan, Lt. Murphy was also the first naval officer to earn the medal since the Vietnam War, and the first SEAL to be honored posthumously. A young man of great character, he is the subject of Naval Special Warfare courses on character and leadership, and an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, naval base, school, post office, ball park, and hospital emergency room have been named in his honor.  A bestselling book by the sole survivor of Operation Red Wings, Marcus Luttrell, has helped make Lt. Murphy's SEAL team's fateful encounter with the Taliban one of the Afghan war's best known engagements. Published on the 5th anniversary of the engagement, SEAL of Honor also tells the story of that fateful battle, but it does so from a very different perspective being focused on the life of Lt. Murphy. This biography uses his heroic action during this deadly firefight in Afghanistan, as a window on his character and attempts to answer why Lt. Murphy readily sacrificed his life for his comrades. SEAL of Honor is the story of a young man, who was noted by his peers for his compassion and for his leadership being guided by an extraordinary sense of duty, responsibility, and moral clarity.  In tracing Lt. Murphy's journey from a seemingly ordinary life on New York's Long Island, to that remote mountainside a half a world away, SEAL of Honor will help readers understand how he came to demonstrate the extraordinary heroism and selfless leadership that earned him the nation's highest military honor. Moreover, the book brings the Afghan war back to the home front, focusing on Lt. Murphy's tight knit family and the devastating effect of his death upon them as they watched the story of Operation Red Wings unfold in the news. The book attempts to answer why Lt. Murphy's service to his country and his comrades was a calling faithfully answered, a duty justly upheld, and a life, while all too short, well lived. Six Essential Elements of Leadership: Marine Corps Wisdom of a Medal of Honor Recipient  by Wesley L. Fox (Naval Institute Press): $14.49 (194 Pages) Col. Wesley Fox is a Medal of Honor recipient who wrote two widely respected accounts of his wartime experiences in the Marine Corps. His books, Marine Rifleman: Forty-Three Years in the Corps and Courage and Fear: A Primer, are both considered classic war memoirs. Drawing on over four decades of leadership experience, both during two wars and peacetime, Fox insists that a good leader must focus on building an organization based on the bonds of comradeship. Successful leaders are those who are actively concerned with the health, happiness, and daily lives of those who follow them. He contends that those who have such leaders will be better prepared to cope with any challenge because they are part of a group built on loyalty and trust. Fox defines the six essential elements of successful leadership as care, personality, knowledge, motivation, commitment, and communication. He presents a chapter on each element, recounts how his views of leadership were forged, and offers impressive examples of leadership displayed by his fellow Marines. While drawn directly from his military experience, Fox contends that these six elements apply to all who want to pursue effective leadership. His book is certain to inspire and motivate both civilians and members of the military. A Civil War Marine at Sea: The Diary of Medal of Honor Recipient Miles M. Oviatt by Miles M. Oviatt (White Mane Press): $29.00 (197 Pages) Recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor at the Battle of Mobile Bay, Miles Oviatt of Olean, New York exemplified the courage and traditions of the United States Marine Corps from the Civil War until the present day. Oviatt's voyages aboard the U.S.S. Vanderbilt and the U.S.S. Brooklyn furnished many incidents for his diaries. His descriptions of the battles of Mobile Bay, where he was involved in a gun battle for two hours until the surrender of the Confederate ram Tennessee, and of Fort Fisher are highlights of the book. To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy (Hole Paperback): $9.86 (274 Pages) Originally published in 1949, To Hell and Back was a smash bestseller for fourteen weeks and later became a major motion picture starring Audie Murphy as himself. More than fifty years later, this classic wartime memoir is just as gripping as it was then. Desperate to see action but rejected by both the marines and paratroopers because he was too short, Murphy eventually found a home with the infantry. He fought through campaigns in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Although still under twenty-one years old on V-E Day, he was credited with having killed, captured, or wounded 240 Germans. He emerged from the war as America's most decorated soldier, having received twenty-one medals, including our highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor. To Hell and Back is a powerfully real portrayal of American GI's at war. The Price of Valor: The Life of Audie Murphy, America's Most Decorated Hero of World War II by David A. Smith (Regnery History): $18.99 (256 Pages) When he was seventeen years old, Audie Murphy falsified his birth records so he could enlist in the Army and help defeat the Nazis. When he was nineteen, he single-handedly turned back the German Army at the Battle of Colmar Pocket by climbing on top of a tank with a machine gun, a moment immortalized in the classic film To Hell and Back, starring Audie himself. In the first biography covering his entire life—including his severe PTSD and his tragic death at age 45—the unusual story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated hero of WWII, is brought to life for a new generation. The Miracle of Father Kapaun: Priest, Soldier and Korean War Hero by Travis Heying & Roy Wenzl (Ignatius Press): $16.95 (200 Pages) Emil Kapaun priest, soldier and Korean War hero was a rare man. He was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, and is also being considered by the Vatican for canonization as a saint. Just as remarkable are the many non-Catholic witnesses who attest to Father Kapaun's heroism: the Protestants, Jews and Muslims who either served with the military chaplain in the thick of battle or endured with him the incredibly brutal conditions of a prisoner of war camp. These Korean War veterans, no matter their religion, agree that Father Kapaun did more to save lives and maintain morale than any other man they know. Then there are the alleged miracles the recent healings attributed to Father Kapaun's intercession that defy scientific explanation. Under investigation by the Vatican as a necessary step in the process of canonization, these cures witnessed by non-Catholic doctors are also covered in this book. In tracking down the story of Father Kapaun for the Wichita Eagle, Wenzl and Heying uncovered a paradox. Kapaun's ordinary background as the son of Czech immigrant farmers in Kansas sowed the seeds of his greatness. His faith, generosity and grit began with his family's humility, thrift and hard work. Sgt. Rodney M. Davis: the Making of a Hero by John D. Hollis (Hugo House Publishing): $17.95 (218 Pages) Honor. Courage. Commitment. These are the pillars of United States Marine Corps values. So why Sgt. Rodney M. Davis lunged atop that enemy grenade at the expense of his own life on Sept. 6, 1967 is the quintessential question that has haunted not only those who stood closest to him at that critical moment, but his own family and friends for over fifty years now. Why would a young African-American with a beautiful wife and two infant children eagerly awaiting his return home from Vietnam commit such a noble and courageous, yet sacrificial act? And for Marines he barely knew if at all? And for a country that often treated him like a second-class citizen at the time? was a brave man and a good Marine. My grandfather always told me that if [Davis] had not jumped on that grenade, every Marine in that trench would have been seriously injured or killed. My grandfather believed that he would have died that day. My mother would have been an orphan at the age of one, and I would have never known my grandfather. In a time when the United States was ravaged by racial tension, I wonder what kind of bond men form while fighting a war, for him to have saved the lives of a bunch of white men - including a Texan officer - that he knew for a short period of time? [Davis] was a modern-day hero, and the kind of Marine I strive to live up to." Steven Brackeen Turunc, the eldest grandson of Davis' late platoon commander, John Brackeen. Turunc graduated from Officer Candidates School in November 2014 and is currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. That Davis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House on March, 26, 1969 did little to assuage the heartbreak felt by his grieving family and the many friends he left behind. But looking after his own had always been Davis' calling. This is his story. Phantom Warrior: The Heroic True Story of Pvt. John McKinney's One-Man StandAgainst the Japanese in World War II by Forrest Bryant Johnson (Berkley Hardcover): $12.00 (352 Pages) A portrait of World War II Congressional Medal of Honor winner John McKinney describes how he single-handedly fought off a Japanese surprise attack, killing more than one hundred enemy combatants and saving many of his fellow soldiers in the process. Remembering James Stockdale by Jim Redman: $6.95 (142 Pages) “For Conspicuous Gallantry . . . ” These are the first three words of Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale’s Medal of Honor citation. He was the most highly decorated senior naval officer in recent history. He was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965 and spent the next eight years as leader of the POWs in the hellhole prison known as the Hanoi Hilton. Enduring incredible torture and privation, he remained steadfast in his resolve to serve his country with honor. His courage, leadership and example remain an inspiration to all who knew him and to all Americans. Dustoff: The Memoir of an Army Aviator by Michael J. Novosel (Presidio Press): $20.08 (384 Pages) Michael Novosel never set out to be a hero. In fact, it looked like he might never see military action. After fast-talking his way into the aviation cadet program (he was too short to pass the physical) and earning his wings, he became a heavy-bomber instructor for the Army Air Corps. But it wasn’t until Germany’s defeat that the ace pilot finally saw combat. Assigned as a B-29 Super-fortress command pilot, he reached Tinian just before the Enola Gay took off to end World War II in the skies over Hiroshima. Despite being a senior airline pilot, when the war in Vietnam started, Novosel applied again for active duty. The only thing that the air force was willing to give reserve lieutenant colonels like Novosel to fly, however, was a desk. Resigning his commission, he approached the army, which decided that flying dustoffs (medevac helicopters) in Vietnam was a perfect job for this seasoned aviator. With two tours, 2,038 hours of combat flight, 2,345 aerial missions that evacuated 5,589 wounded, and a Congressional Medal of Honor, it’s easy to see that Mike Novosel is a genuine, 24-karat American war hero. The Gift of Valor: A War Story by Michael M. Phillips (Broadway Books): $13.99 (256 Pages) Corporal Dunham was on patrol near the Syrian border, on April 14, 2004, when a black-clad Iraqi leaped out of a car and grabbed him around his neck. Fighting hand-to-hand in the dirt, Dunham saw his attacker drop a grenade and made the instantaneous decision to place his own helmet over the explosive in the hope of containing the blast and protecting his men. When the smoke cleared, Dunham’s helmet was in shreds, and the corporal lay face down in his own blood. The Marines beside him were seriously wounded. Dunham was subsequently nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’ s highest award for military valor. Phillips’s minute-by-minute chronicle of the chaotic fighting that raged throughout the area and culminated in Dunham’s injury provides a grunt’s-eye view of war as it’s being fought today—fear, confusion, bravery, and suffering set against a brotherhood forged in combat. His account of Dunham’s eight-day journey home and of his parents’ heartrending reunion with their son powerfully illustrates the cold brutality of war and the fragile humanity of those who fight it. Dunham leaves an indelible mark upon all who know his story, from the doctors and nurses who treat him, to the readers of the original Wall Street Journal article that told of his singular act of valor. ooking for a Hero: Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper and the Vietnam War by Peer Maslowski & Don Winslow (University of Nebraska Press): $18.58 (618 Pages) Widely acclaimed as the Vietnam War's most highly decorated soldier, Joe Ronnie Hooper in many ways serves as a symbol for that conflict. His troubled, tempestuous life paralleled the upheavals in American society during the 1960s and 1970s, and his desperate quest to prove his manhood was uncomfortably akin to the macho image projected by three successive presidents in their "tough" policy in Southeast Asia. Looking for a Hero extracts the real Joe Hooper from the welter of lies and myths that swirl around his story; in doing so, the book uncovers not only the complicated truth about an American hero but also the story of how Hooper's war was lost in Vietnam, not at home. Extensive interviews with friends, fellow soldiers, and family members reveal Hooper as a complex, gifted, and disturbed man. They also expose the flaws in his most famous and treasured accomplishment: earning the Medal of Honor. In the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies that mar Hooper's medal of honor file, authors Peter Maslowski and Don Winslow find a painful reflection of the army's inability to be honest with itself and the American public, with all the dire consequences that this dishonesty ultimately entailed. In the inextricably linked stories of Hooper and the Vietnam War, the nature of that deceit, and of America's defeat, becomes clear.

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