History > Military History

This story practically began to write itself. It was now the year, 2013 and the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Which was also one of the most significant battles of the Civil War. The irony was that this was a story from the 150th Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade of McKean County, PA. and the 150th anniversary of the battle. Perhaps this authors’ great, great, grandfather, Lorenzo Hodges had decided that it was now time for his story to be told. As time went on, even more interesting information found its way to my desktop. This information presented even more possibilities to this story, as well as even more potential questions for the descendants of Lorenzo Hodges, of Ce ...

This book chronicles the history and development of the Kevlar vest by one of the original creators. Over the past 2000 years there has been a continuing need for protective armor to counter the advancements in weapons. It was not until the 1960's that a new material was developed and technology was realized that would revolutionize personal protection. The discovery of a synthetic fiber, Dupont's PRD 49-IV, that later became Kevlar, the development of ballistic testing and medical research would come together and create a new and effective body armor that would go on to save countless lives of law enforcement officers, soldiers and government officials. This is the story of h ...

Orphaned by the age of 10, Jim Turner was left without a permanent home, bouncing between living with family members in Upstate SC and Transylvania County, NC until he was drafted into the US Army in 1943. He originally volunteered to be a paratrooper but instead found himself on the way to Walker Air Field after graduating parachute rigging school - to join the “Battle of Kansas” in preparation for the new untested B-29 Superfortress. There he became a Hellbird. Then it was off to India, where Jim did triple duty as a parachute rigger, runway inspector and volunteer tail gunner. After surviving a crash in Burma during a mission and almost starving to death, Jim and the rest of the Hellb ...

Fly with the men of the 1st Cavalry through the 1968 Tet Offensive, then to Khe Sanh and the A Shau Valley. Join the Special Forces missions to the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia. This is a personal, brutally honest, account by a helicopter pilot during the pivotal battles of the Viet Nam war. He is a witness to American victories and the unswerving bravery of his comrades. In pursuit of a determined enemy, they fly with indomitable resolution. Hear of their willingness to face a gauntlet of death each day, and rise the next day to do it all again. He comes home to a bitter unhinged America turning against their army and the people of South Viet Nam. He finds duty and honor ...

In December 1941, James Elvie Pate was a 32-year-old, single ranch hand on the Tommy Brook Ranch in west Texas and a base violin player in a local band. By April 1942 he had joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division – the Tough ‘Ombres. Two years later he was a married sergeant aboard a ship passing by the Statue of Liberty - bound for England and eventual participation in the landings on Utah Beach. Four days following that landing and within several miles of the beach he was wounded and sent back to England for treatment. Upon return to France he fought in the operation known as the Falaise Pocket. Just days before that battle was won, Sergeant Pate paid the u ...

Stonehenge, the first World War I Memorial in the United States, is located at Maryhill, Washington, 3 miles east of the Maryhill Museum. It is a memorial in honor of the 17 Klickitat County servicemen that lost their lives during World War I. The book includes a brief history of the war, history of how Stonehenge came into being, and information on each of the 17 servicemen whose names are on bronze plaques on the Stonehenge columns.