Military Reading (Your Favorites)

I've enjoyed books by Robert Lecke, and the book about Carlos Hathcock was a good read.

Semper Fi

We Were Soldiers, Once and Young.--Awesome
Blackhawk Down--Awesome
Into the Storm By Tom Clancy-- Good
Every Man A Tiger by Tom Clancy-- Good
By Any Means Necessary by William Burrows-- Good
The Price of Vigilance by Larry Tart & Robert Keefe--Good

Crusade by Rick Atkinson-- Decent
Storm Over Iraq by Richard Hallion-- Decent
Company C by John Sack-- Great
Warthog by William Smallwood-- Good to Great
Strike Eagle by William Smallwood-- Excellent
Vipers in the Storm by Keith Rosenkranz-- Good
Sled Driver by Brain Shul-- Fantastic Awesome
The Untouchables by Brain Shul-- Fantastic Awesome
Lockheed SR-71 by Paul Crickmore-- good
Lockheed SR-71 New Edition by Paul Crickmore
-- good
Sky Spies by Anthony Thornborough-- Great
SR-71 Revealed by Richard Graham-- Excellent
Blackbird Rising by Donn Byrnes & Ken Hurley-- Great
Going Downtown by Jack Broughton-- Great
Fast Movers by John Sherwood-- Good
Hunters & Shooters edit by Bill Fawcett--Great
Skunk Works by Ben Rich & Leo Janos-- Great
I Came Back From Bataan by James Gautier Jr.-- Great.

Wayne Baker,

Speaking of Carlos Hathcock, I have an autographed picture of him. A friend of mine who lives in northern Virginia is a good friend of Carlos, and he was able to get the photo for me. I, too, had read "93 Confirmed Kills", and thought that it was an excellent read. The USMC has it on their required reading list as well. If you've ever seen the movie "Sniper", with Tom Beringer, then you know what the book is about. What I didn't like about the movie was that at the end of the it, there was a disclaimer that all events in the movie were purely fictional, which is just a load of !@#$%$#!!! The whole movie, except for the setting, was from "93 Confirmed Kills". But, overall, the movie was pretty good.

Back to subject of books. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, by Stephen E. Ambrose, is a must-read. I've read "Band of Brothers", "Citizen Soldiers", and "The Wild Blue" by him, and I could hardly put them down long enough to eat. He was one great historian. Too bad he passed away last year.

"Punk's War", by Ward Carroll, is a good read. It's about the modern Navy, with an attitudinally-challenged F-14 pilot, as the setting.

Also, anything by Dale Brown or Stephen Coonts I'll read.

Sled71,

Thanks for the list!!! I don't think I've read any of the books that you've listed. I'll have to rush down to the bargain book store and see what I can get. If you can think of any others, please list 'em here.

As for shermanfreak, how posts does he have? I only have about 50, and I've been a member of this forum for about 6 months now. It amazes how some of these guys have thousands of post already, and this forum hasn't been in operation for a year yet. How do they get any MODELING done???

Larry Bond spins some great military yarns, very similar to Tom Clancy's books (I personally believe Larry Bond and Tom Clancy are the same guy) but with more action.

Warning of War by James Brady -- an excellent novel. A little rough in places, but it really drew me in.

Horses Don't Fly by Frederick Libby -- excellent autobio by an American WWI ace.

No Parachute by A.S.G. Lee -- another excellend memoir by a WWI pilot.

The Black Sheep and Black Sheep One: The Life of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington both by by Bruce Gamble -- Truly excellent non-fiction by a gifted author.

Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and the American Volunteer Group by Daniel Ford -- the definitive work on the AVG.

That's all for now, but I've read and can recommend others.

Regards,

-Drew

Larry,

You might be right about that. W.E.B. Griffin writes under a pen name at times, also. I've never understood why one would want to do that, though.

QUOTE: Originally posted by nwilliams Larry Bond spins some great military yarns, very similar to Tom Clancy's books (I personally believe Larry Bond and Tom Clancy are the same guy) but with more action.

No they're two seperate writers. They collaborated on Red Storm Rising. Larry Bond is one of my favorites. So is Stephen Coontz. Anything by these two is guaranteed to be good. Flight of the Cannibal Queen is VERY HIGHLY recomended. Its the story of his flight to the lower 48 in a Stearman. I couldn't put it down!!!

Hi Gary, three books that spring instantly to mind are I DESSERTED ROMMEL by CORPORAL GUNTHER BEHNEMANN, his story of how he (as he put it) cancelled his employment with adolph hitler. and the other is ENEMY COAST AHEAD by WING COMMANDER GUY GIBSON, VC. the book by Guy Gibson has recently been de-classified by the MoD so the unedited version has been published and last but not least CHICKENHAWK by ROBERT MASON, a look at the Vietnam war through the eyes of a Huey pilot. what ever you decide to read, hope you enjoy it. Greg

gregers,

Thanks for the list. I've read the "Chickenhawk" book, and it's a great read. I had to read it - my last name is Mason. 8-)) I will definitely check out the other books that you mentioned. Thanks again.

QUOTE: Originally posted by garydmason Wayne Baker, Back to subject of books. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, by Stephen E. Ambrose, is a must-read. I've read "Band of Brothers", "Citizen Soldiers", and "The Wild Blue" by him, and I could hardly put them down long enough to eat. He was one great historian. Too bad he passed away last year.

Ambrose was a great writer for sure. What really kills me is that he was working on a book about the 1st Marine Division in the PTO when he was diagnosed with cancer. The book was never finished, really a shame. Those guys never got the recognition they deserved and I'd have loved to see the Corps come to life the way that the Army did from Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan.

Both Hathcock bios are excellent, also, Marine and Chesty are required reading. About face by Col. David Hackworth is great. Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. Guadalcanal Diary is excellent. Samurai by Saboro Sakai is very good, as is Thunderbolt! by Robert Johnson. Flags of our Fathers is great as well. Pappy Boyington's book is good too, but I can't think of the name right now. Catch 22 is fantastic, The Thin Red Line is good. Pathfinder! is a very good book as well, can't think of the author just offhand though. Dear Mom is another very good sniper book by a guy named J.T. Ward. That's just bout all I can think of off the top of my head just now, but there are many many more really great books to read. Someone should ask about Science Fiction next, I love that stuff too!

For something up to date, highly recommend "The March Up: Taking Baghdad With The First Marine Division". Authors are Bing West and MajGen "E-Tool" Smith. USMC(ret) I worked for Gen Smith in Beirut and Grenada and this book is honest and Tell It Like It Is. Semper Fi!

maddafinga,

Can I assume that you're a former Devil Dog? Sure sounds like it from that reading list you just gave. I've read quite a few of those books that you mentioned, by the way. All are outstanding reading!! Thanks for your input on this. I'm glad that I posted this question. I've gotten some really great input for all of you so far.

Razor,

I'll definitely read that one as well. Semper Fi, Marine!!

If you want to try Science Fiction Military, I recommend the "STARFIST" Series by David Sherman and Dan Cragg. It's about a Marine Corps (traces its lineage back to the USMC and Royal Marines) set in the 25th Century and the story line for the first three books are based off "real world" events (Somalia, Kosovo, etc.) Both authors are Vietnam Vets (Sherman-USMC, Cragg-US Army). I usually don't read Sci-Fi but this series is a good read.

QUOTE: Originally posted by garydmason maddafinga, Can I assume that you're a former Devil Dog? Sure sounds like it from that reading list you just gave. I've read quite a few of those books that you mentioned, by the way. All are outstanding reading!! Thanks for your input on this. I'm glad that I posted this question. I've gotten some really great input for all of you so far.

I'm actually not, I have bad ankles and knee, prevented my doing a lot of running. I do come from a Corps family though, and love the Corps like nothing else in the world. Chesty puller is my hero. My dad, and brother were both in the Corps, and my grandfather and his father and so on back to Stephen Decateur or thereabouts. Check out my website, I've got an Iwo Jima picture and a Chosin reservoir pic there as well.


madda

I like reading about WWII, the best book I've read was the Ragged, Rugged Warriors, it auther wrote about all the great aviation battles in the early years of the war it started out with the Spainish Civil war and ended on Midway there was some really intresting information about WWII Aviation that I didn't know
Another great book to read is the P-38 Lightning(the Forked Tail Devils) it talks about from concept to reallity of the great fighter and all of her misgivings on teething problems and it was the only fighter that was empolyed and produced through out the entire war for the U.S.

Some of the most everlasting books on military issues
Art of War Sun Tzu
Herodotus on Persian Wars
Thoucidides on Peloponesian War...The chapters on Pericles speeches, and especially on the Pathology of the Civil War and the Milian Incident are among the greatest works ever..... highly recommended.
Xenophon The Descend of the Ten Thousand

Just finished The Mighty Eighth about the air war in Europe. Also recently finished, and would recommend, The Jolly Rogers (VF-17), Blind Man's Bluff (great read), The Blond Knight (Hartmann), The Battle of Leyte Gulf, Wildcat (Tillman)...could go on and on. Just picked up The Fleet the Gods Forgot for some cold weather reading. HTH
Madda, FWIW, My next door neighbor was with the 1st marines at Peleliu

maddafinga;

Though you wont get the book form, you will get to see the corps come to life in the PTO the way Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan brought the ETO to life. Hanks, Speilberg, and Dreamworks are working on a PTO mini-series for HBO. I can only speculate on how awesome it will be. Last I heard it didn't have a title yet, it was just called "Untitled World War II Pacific Theater Project"

Gary;

Fix Bayonets!! JWT
'nuff said!

Semper Fidelis.

For the fury, vice and folly of war there is Rumor of War by Phil Caputo, and the Tunnels of Cu Chi. I read one about a Canadian officer in WW II Italy. I think it is called, I Never Heard the Songbirds Sing.

To quote my best man, who was in the Air Force, "you can take the boy outta the Corps, but you can't take the Corps outta the boy".

Gary
non fiction flight stories - Ernest K. Gann - Fate Is The Hunter.
Gann's other stuff is very good as well.

fictional sniper stories -
Stephen Hunter's series featuring Bob 'the nailer'
Point of Impact, Dirty White Boys, Black Light and Time to Hunt.

i found William Manchester's American Caesar to be a very evenhanded look at MacArthur.
sorry, i have many more, but work is distracting me! :-o

garydmason

I have a much longer list. I prefer reading stories on the Vietnam War. Some truly remarkable people. (Both Sides) But I am biased and still prefer the American side. Lot of great air stories from that time.

OK SO I'm late getting into this . I will agree whol4eheartedly about Sephen Ambrose. He was probably the greatest real history write to come along for a long time.Citizen Soldiers and Band of Brothers stand out among the best. And The Wild Blue was very interesting especially the the business about the farm house that George McGovern's crew bombed,( dont give it away folks, if they haven't read the book leet them but it ) A few more that might interset You is Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills, one of the most decorated hellio pilots of the Vietnam era. And yes, any thing by Ernest K Gann is a very worthy read especially his biography, I believe it was titled Hostage to Fortune, Fred Amos

QUOTE: Originally posted by nwilliams maddafinga; Though you wont get the book form, you will get to see the corps come to life in the PTO the way Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan brought the ETO to life. Hanks, Speilberg, and Dreamworks are working on a PTO mini-series for HBO. I can only speculate on how awesome it will be. Last I heard it didn't have a title yet, it was just called "Untitled World War II Pacific Theater Project"

Oh christ I can't wait for that. Hopefully they'll do the 1st Marines and have my hero in it. The Marines had a D-Day every few months you know. I hope they do Pelilieu, that's a battle people need to know more about. It'll be awfully hard to watch though. Thanks for giving me a heads up on that, I really appreciate it!


Gads I'm excited.

madda

Holy Cow, Guys!!!

Thanks for all of the GREAT suggestions! I didn't realize that we had this many modelers as readers! It's gonna take me quite some time to read everything that's been suggested here. Keep it coming!!!

And I can hardly wait for the HBO special on the PTO myself. You know, I kinda hated history when I was in elementary & high school, but now I can't get enough of it. Think that maybe modeling has something to do with that?

Here's a few of my favorites:

Rolling Thunder - Jet combat from WW2 to the Gulf War
Flight of the Intruder
The Wrong Stuff...this is about naval test pilot John Moore
The Right stuff
Survivors - Vietnam P.O.W.'s tell their stories
Marine Sniper - 93 confirmed kills...also the follow up to this book (forgot the name right now) is excellant
Point Man...this cronicles the history of the Navy S.E.A.L.'s
Thunder Below... this is about a WW2 sub commander Eugene Fluckey
Richthofen - Beyond the legend of the Red Baron
Air Combat - Tatics and Maneuvering
Danger - Life and death stories of Naval Aviation...this is a selection of articles from the Navy's NATOP's magazine spanning about 30 years. Lot's of great "there I was" stories.

Darren

i've read

feet wet: reflections of a carrier pilot
air warriors: the inside store of the making of a navy pilot
wings of fury
designed for the kill: the jet fighter - development & experience
jane's how to fly and fight the f-14 tomcat
tomcat! the grumman f-14 story
warplane classics: grumman f-14 story
the naval aviation guide

the last 4 are mostly pictorial and reference books, I highly recommend feet wet to anyone who's fascinated by naval aviation, although it is out of print, you'd probably only find it used.