American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann.
Finalist – Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award
Bronze Medal Book Award – Military Writers Society of America
A Main Selection of the Military Book Club
With his parting words “I shall return,” General Douglas MacArthur sealed the fate of the last American forces on Bataan. Yet one young Army Captain named Russell Volckmann refused to surrender. He disappeared into the jungles of North Luzon where he raised a Filipino army of over 22,000 men. For the next three years he led a guerrilla war against the Japanese, killing over 50,000 enemy soldiers. At the same time he established radio contact with MacArthur’s HQ in Australia and directed Allied forces to key enemy positions.
This book establishes how Volckmann’s leadership was critical to the outcome of the war in the Philippines. It also establishes Volckmann as the progenitor of modern counterinsurgency doctrine and the true “Father” of Army Special Forces. In 1950, Volckmann wrote two Army field manuals: Operations Against Guerrilla Forces and Organization and Conduct of Guerrilla Warfare. Together, they became the Army’s first handbooks outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla operations.
Shadow Commander: The Epic Story of Donald D. Blackburn
Bronze Medal Book Award – Military Writers Society of America
The fires on Bataan burned with a primitive fury on the evening of April 9, 1942 – illuminating the white flags of surrender against the nighttime sky. Woefully outnumbered, outgunned, and ill-equipped, battered remnants of the American-Philippine army surrendered to the forces of the Rising Sun. Yet amongst the chaos and devastation of the American defeat, Army Captain Donald D. Blackburn refused to lay down his arms.
Together with Russell Volckmann, Blackburn escaped from Bataan and fled to the mountainous jungles of North Luzon, where they raised a private army of over 22,000 men against the Japanese. Once there, Blackburn organized a guerrilla regiment from among the native tribes in the Cagayan Valley. “Blackburn’s Headhunters,” as they came to be known, devastated the Japanese 14th Army within the eastern provinces of North Luzon.
After the war, Blackburn remained on active duty and played a key role in initiating Special Forces operations in Southeast Asia. He commanded the 77th Special Forces Group during their deployment to Laos, and later took command of the highly-classified Studies and Observations Group (SOG), where he discovered the clandestine networks of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Following his return to the United States, Blackburn was appointed “Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities,” where he was the architect of the infamous Son Tay Prison Raid – the largest Special Forces operation of the Vietnam War.
Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always
Finalist – Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award
Gold Medal Book Award – Military Writers Society of America
A “Top 10 Nonfiction Book of 2013” – The Statesman Journal
Hal Moore, one of America’s most admired combat leaders, is best known to the public for being portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie We Were Soldiers. In this first-ever, fully illustrated biography, we finally learn the full story of one of America’s true military heroes.
A 1945 graduate of West Point, Moore’s first combats occurred in Korea, where he fought in the battles of Old Baldy, T-Bone, and Pork Chop Hill. At the beginning of the Vietnam War, he commanded the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry in the first full-fledged battle between U.S. and North Vietnamese regulars. Drastically outnumbered and nearly overrun, Moore led from the front, and though losing 79 soldiers, accounted for 1,200 of the enemy before the Communists withdrew. This Battle of Ia Drang pioneered the use of “air mobile infantry”–delivering troops into battle via helicopter–which became the staple of U.S. operations for the remainder of the war. He later wrote of his experiences in the best-selling book, We Were Soldiers Once…and Young.
Following his tour in Vietnam, he assumed command of the 7th Infantry Division, forward-stationed in South Korea, and in 1971, he took command of the Army Training Center at Fort Ord, California where he oversaw the US Army’s transition from a conscript-based to an all-volunteer force. He retired as a Lieutenant General in 1977.
The Fires of Babylon: Eagle Troop and the Battle of 73 Easting
Finalist – 2017 International Book Awards
With a Foreword by General (ret) Fred Franks – Commander, VII Corps in Desert Storm
As a new generation of main battle tanks came on line during the 1980s, neither the US nor USSR had the chance to pit them in combat. But once the Cold War between the superpowers waned, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein provided that chance with his invasion of Kuwait.
On the morning of August 2, 1990, Iraqi armored divisions invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. The invasion drew fierce condemnation from the UN, which demanded Saddam’s withdrawal. Undeterred by the rhetoric, the Iraqi dictator massed his forces along the Saudi Arabian border and dared the world to stop him. In response, the U.S. led the world community in a coalition of 34 nations in what became known as Operation Desert Storm – a violent air and ground campaign to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. Leading this charge into Iraq were the men of Eagle Troop in the US Army’s 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Commanded by then-Captain HR McMaster, Eagle Troop was the lead element of the US VII Corps’ advance into Iraq. On February 26, 1991, Eagle Troop encountered the Tawakalna Brigade of Iraq’s elite Republican Guard. By any calculation, the 12 American tanks didn’t stand a chance. Yet within a mere 23 minutes, the M1A1 tanks of Eagle Troop destroyed more than 50 enemy vehicles and plowed a hole through the Iraqi front. History would call it the Battle of 73 Easting.
Hal Moore on Leadership: Winning When Outgunned and Outnumbered.
Co-authored by the late General Hal Moore.
Finalist – 2018 International Book Awards
Hal Moore led his life by a set of principles – a code developed through years of experience, trial-and-error, and the study of leaders of every stripe. In a career spanning more than thirty years, Moore’s life touched upon many historical events: the Occupation of Japan, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the refashioning of the US Army into an all-volunteer force. At each juncture, he learned critical lessons and had opportunities to affect change through measured responses.
Hal Moore on Leadership offers a comprehensive guide to the principles that helped shape Moore’s success both on and off the battlefield. They are strategies for the outnumbered, outgunned, and seemingly hopeless. They apply to any leader in any organization – business or military. These lessons and principles are nothing theoretical or scientific. They are simply rules of thumb learned and practiced by a man who spent his entire adult life leading others and perfecting his art of leadership.
Crusader: General Donn Starry and the Army of His Times.
Foreword by General Martin E. Dempsey (USA, RET.) Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Although he missed combat in World War II and Korea, Donn Starry became one of the most influential commanders of the Vietnam War, and after Vietnam was one of the “intellectual giants” who reshaped the US Army and its doctrines. Throughout his career he worked to improve training, leadership and conditions for the men who served under him.
Starry was a leading advocate for tank warfare in Vietnam and his recommendations helped shape the contours for American armor in Southeast Asia—and paved the way for his success as commander of 11th Armored Cavalry during the invasion of Cambodia.
As the commander of Fort Knox and the Armor Center during the 1970s, Starry redeveloped armor tactics and doctrine and improved training. During his 16 months as commander of V Corps, he thoroughly tested the doctrine of “Active Defense,” then used his observations to create a new doctrine “AirLand Battle,” which paved the way for America’s victory in the Gulf War.
Like most battlefield commanders from the Vietnam era, Starry’s legacy is often overshadowed by the controversy of the war itself and the turmoil of the immediate postwar Army. However, with the invasion of Cambodia and the development of AirLand Battle, it is hard to imagine anyone who has had a greater impact on modern maneuver warfare.
Hal Moore: A Life in Pictures.
The definitive photographic biography of Harold G. Moore – illustrated throughout with more than 300 Color and B&W photographs.
From his baptism by fire in the Korean War to his iconic leadership at the Battle of Ia Drang, Hal Moore remains one of the greatest battlefield commanders of the 20th Century. Famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in the film We Were Soldiers, Hal Moore’s innovative leadership – and the bravery of his troopers – have become the stuff of legend.
Step into the world of Hal Moore with this pictorial keepsake, illustrated throughout with more than 300 photographs, many of them never-before-published. This informative, photographic narrative will take the reader through Moore’s childhood in rural Kentucky, his tenure at West Point during World War II, his service in Occupied Japan, his life-and-death struggles during the Korean War, his decisive leadership in the jungles of Southeast Asia, and the loving family he built with his wife, Julie.