Intrepid Spirit by David Tunno

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MWSA Review

Intrepid Spirit is an engaging thriller set in the contemporary Middle East, where a terrorist fanatic is planning to foment Shiite uprisings across the region. The goal is to alter the balance of power under the leadership of the principal Shiite state, Iran. At the core of the strategy lies a bold move designed to paralyze the ability of the United States to counter the pending Jihad—the kidnaping and assassination of the American Vice President.

The inspirational twist in the story is in placing the USS Constitution, the oldest ship afloat and the oldest commissioned US Navy warship, on a goodwill tour of Mediterranean ports. The ship, known to American sailors as “Old Ironsides,” has just been given a new commanding officer as a consequence of an unfortunate encounter between a US Navy patrol boat and an Iranian corvette. The American vessel had sunk the Iranian ship in an attempt to rescue a group of refugees. The ensuing international brouhaha led to the American boat’s overly aggressive skipper being relieved of his command and sent to a low-profile assignment as the captain of the Constitution.
It is inevitable, however, that the turn of events results in the Constitution being the only US Navy vessel in a position to thwart the Shiite terrorists’ plan.

Author David Tunno has crafted an exciting and innovative story that pits the technology of the early days of our republic against modern-day weaponry in a setting of continuing international tensions.

Review by Ingo Kauffman (March 2023)

 Author's Synopsis

Against orders, navy loose cannon Moses Redding destroys an Iranian patrol boat firing on a refugee vessel, jeopardizing upcoming mid-east peace talks and banishing him to command of 200-year-old USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," still a commissioned warship, in Italy on a goodwill tour - purgatory for a man of action. Conflicts arise immediately between the disgruntled Redding, his second in command, his crew and Dr. Miriam Hannah, attached to the cruise as a naval historian and top aide to V.P. Virginia Mitchell, point person on the peace talks.

The alpha-male Redding and the alluring, intellectual Dr. Hannah clash from the start, but the mutual attraction is undeniable. Their battle-of-the-sexes romance alternates between intellectual challenges, heated exchanges and touching, often comic moments.

The other woman in Redding's life is Constitution. Known to be haunted, she plays a mysterious supernatural character interceding to affect the arc of Redding and at key moments in the epic battle to come.

A terrorist plot is unveiled by Iranian Colonel Farzad, his Amazonia Guards, a traitorous Egyptian general and a radicalized operative on Mitchell's staff. They abduct the V.P. in Egypt to end the peace talks and launch a world-wide jihad, to be ignited by the V.P's beheading on the 4th of July at a remote location on the Libyan coast.

In a speech to international journalists, Dr. Hannah reminds her audience that the threat from Islam can be traced back hundreds of years, and a lengthy invective from the deliciously evil Farzad reveals the failures of the west to recognize that threat and the current political landscape in the U.S. that aids and abets it.

The plot fools the navy and by chance, only the crew of Constitution know the terrorists are in an ancient fortress near their position, but Redding can't convince the navy. Against orders, he and the crew must foil the plot with nothing but the ships antique weaponry, Redding's brilliant strategy and large doses of bravery in an epic battle on land and sea against the descendants of the ship's historic foes, the Barbary Coast pirates.

Author’s website: https://davidtunno.com/

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 328

Word Count: 88,482

Life on the Dark Side -- Short Stories and Plays by George J. Bryjak

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MWSA Review

Life on the Dark Side by George J. Bryjak is a compilation of short stories and plays that forces readers to question classic notions of good and evil, right and wrong. Covering a wide variety of themes, the author blurs lines between protagonist and antagonist, exploring questions of morality, tragedy, malice, victimization, and predicaments without solutions. 

Each of Bryjak's accounts presents its own well-developed and nuanced characters. Despite a few editing opportunities with typos and punctuation, the format and familiar language make for a fast and thought-provoking read. Strong-stomached readers looking for a stimulating account challenging how we view mankind and the world will find this hard to put down. Sensitive readers may find some scenes overwhelming, and those expecting happy, feel-good endings will be disappointed. The themes and characters blur ethnic, gender, geographical, and historical boundaries: an elderly couple and their assailant, a jealous husband, a girl posing as a Union soldier, a trapped teenager, a young lieutenant in Vietnam faced with a moral dilemma, a young priest in Peru, a black police officer, Nazis, and vengeful survivors, to name a few. 

Does the end justify the means? Can we transcend human nature? When all options are bad, which is best? Is it evil to punish evil? Life on the Dark Side lets the reader ponder these questions, and many others. 

Review by Ingo Kaufman (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

To fully experience the brightness of life one must know its darkness. The fear, hate, rage and despair of that ever-lurking shadow world is exposed with a Hitchcock twist in this collection of short stories and plays.

* A homeless Afghanistan combat veteran finds the streets as unhinged as a war zone.

* An unhappily married man discovers a travel agency offering a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

* A petty thief targets an elderly couple who have their own aims.

* A priest can neither face nor outrun his worst demon.

* A bickering couple visit a fortune teller and learn of a future they could never have imagined.

* A retiring police officer recounts the ominous side of being a black cop.

* Two Nazi concentration camp survivors capture one of their tormentors and give him a choice.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 285

Word Count: 55,651

Moss by Joe Pace

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MWSA Review

In Moss, author Joe Pace relates the story of Oscar Kendall, a prep school literature teacher and son of world-famous, critically-acclaimed writer Isaiah Moss. Oscar struggles with his own writing, compares himself to his father, and gives up on both his writing and relationships with predictable frequency. He prefers to live life with no one expecting anything from him.

Oscar freely admits he hates his father, and Isaiah, through his letters over the years, tells Oscar he never loved him and doesn’t care to know him. Yet when Isaiah dies, he bequeaths his New Hampshire lakeside writing cabin and everything in it to Oscar.

During the summer he spends at the cabin, Oscar finds an unfinished manuscript of his father’s and anguishes about what to do with it. After reading it, he concludes it is Isaiah Moss’s best work in a lifetime of extraordinary writing. Oscar’s dilemma is whether to pass it off as his own to launch his own writing career or relegate it to his father’s legacy.

While at the cabin, Oscar meets the colorful neighbors at the lake and learns their sometimes-tragic stories. He drinks his father’s liquor and, trying to find his own muse, starts to write using his father’s typewriter. Throughout the summer he learns some of his father’s secrets. Learns more about the man he said he hated. Learns more about the neighbors, more about himself. As the new school year begins and Oscar returns to the classroom, he finally realizes the extent of the gift his father gave him.

Mr. Pace’s prose flows beautifully, and his delicious descriptions of people and places create images that will stay in the reader’s mind for a long time. He draws on both literature and mythology for spot-on metaphors, and leaves the reader wanting more.

This book is written for a literate reader, and it does not disappoint. It is a book to read more than once—not only for the story, but also for the beauty of the way it is written.

Review by Patricia Walkow (February 2023)

Author's Synopsis

Isaiah Moss was one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. His illegitimate son Oscar Kendall wasn't. Living in Isaiah's inescapable shadow, Oscar has become an inveterate quitter who hides his own literary work from the world rather than suffer the pain of failure or rejection.

When Isaiah suddenly dies, Oscar inherits the old man's lakefront writing cabin in New Hampshire. There he finds his father's typewriter, a full liquor cabinet, and an unpublished manuscript of such genius that it could launch Oscar's career if he claims it as his own.

As Oscar wrestles with his own twisted inspirations, he meets the women in Isaiah's life and begins to learn the depths of his father's secrets...and the costs that come with unresolved trauma and romantic delusion.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 234

Word Count: 76,414

LST1150 A Lucky Draw by John Wyle

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MWSA Review

College completed, an anticipated career as an architect is interrupted for the author by induction threats into war in Vietnam. John Wyle has choices in the hand he is dealt. Graduate school with the risk of the draft into the unfavorable Army with its inevitable battlefield hardships and possible death or, as recommended by family friends, go Navy now and have a bed and three meals a day aboard ship. The author briefly details his early years’ experiences then begins concentrating accounts with his entry into Navy OCS. Details become more in-depth following his reporting aboard the World War II, LST 1150, USS Sutter County, his first assignment as a new ensign, the junior among eight officers. The officers’ daily poker games become a metaphor for life. Sometimes it is “a lucky draw.” But no matter, as he explains, one must execute with the hand dealt.

The author details his ‘dealt hands’ through a three-year Navy career and how unexpected assignments for which he had no experience, or some he could not even define, along with the people with which he is forced to work, establishes life-long bonding. Maturation for a mid-twenty’s college graduate, suddenly responsible for the lives of others, comes rapidly through meeting the challenges from many unexpected tasks. The greatest emotional impact affecting the author, however, is the combat death of a very close friend from his youth. The shock of this personal tragedy is driven deeper with the author’s assignment to escort his companion’s body home to a grieving pregnant widow and family.

The author brings remarkable accounts of atypical shipboard life aboard this small beach assault ship, with unusual assignments in a war following the war for which it was conceived and built. Some tales are somber to terrifying, and some are downright laugh-out-loud hi-jinks. The greatest lesson Wyle takes from his brief Navy career is the forever bonding of strangers through shared experiences during the brief intense period of war.

Review by Tom Beard (March 2023)
 

Author's Synopsis

This is the story of one man’s journey to manhood, based not on age, but experiences shared with friends who contributed to the evolution. Some of the author’s friendships were lifelong and formative, with others forged during the period leading to and through the Vietnam war.

Unlike so many stories focused on the war itself and the men who fought heroically, this book is about how relationships, most notably with the officers and crew of the USS Sutter County and the wartime culture they formed, brought about a new level of maturity that prepared them to meet the demands of a world in turmoil. It also taught resilience which would later be necessary to engage a much different world than the one that had faced the previous generation. These were experiences that transformed “The Boys of Sutter”, into The Men of the USS Sutter County LST1150.

It is also the story of how young men in the 1960s faced the draft, when on most evenings Vietnam’s escalating body count led on the nightly news. Women faced their own unique challenges to be full participants in American society which at the time did not include service in combat.

The story is told through the eyes of a young man from Alabama who, with his friends, found their way into the military, each with outcomes much different than expected, but all having been subjected to “The luck of the draw”. It is the author’s story of service, first aboard a WWII vintage LST running the rivers and coast of Vietnam, as well as ports throughout the South China Sea. It is a story of camaraderie, where emotions played on the routine of shipboard life, anxiety about the unexpected when in-country, and on occasion, sheer terror. It was where he and his shipmates learned to survive not just physically, but mentally as well … to paraphrase the Beatles … “With a little help from his friends.” And of the author’s friendships, one stands out - Morgan Weed, a best friend from high school who was killed in action and is now memorialized on a black granite wall in Washington DC. There and in the minds of family, friends, and the ones he led to battle, Morgan will remain ever present and honored by a grateful Nation.

From this tale of hi-jinks and fear, the author sums up his thoughts in an epilogue with lessons learned; from fighting a war, to the value of living in an interdependent community with all races and economic strata. He offers his hopes for America’s future which are rooted in service on the USS Sutter County LST 1150, a ship on which the author was lucky to have drawn duty.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 156

Word Count: 60,000

Doolittle's Men by Paul D. Burgess

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MWSA Review

Author Paul D. Burgess makes the drama, bravery, and bravado of the men of the April 1942 Doolittle Raid on Tokyo relatable to everyone.

In Doolittle’s Men, the author focuses on three of sixteen Army aircrews under Doolittle’s command. They knew they would not have enough fuel to return to the USS Hornet as they flew into the unknown, but volunteered for the mission, nonetheless. The author takes us aboard their planes as we follow them through their harrowing takeoff from the carrier, their bombing raid on Tokyo, problems with the airplanes, and the aftermath once they landed at an Allied airbase in China, crashed, or parachuted to land.

Burgess relates the assistance offered by Chinese villagers and missionaries who aided the airmen, offering them whatever medical care they could, providing shelter and food, and leading them through the countryside to safety as Japanese forces relentlessly took China under its control, mile by mile.

The Chinese risked their lives to help, and they were severely punished for it. The women were raped, most of the Chinese who aided the airmen were killed, their livestock was slaughtered, and their villages burned to the ground. The author, sometimes in disturbing detail, depicts the depravities the Japanese conquerors forced on the Chinese population as well as on one captured aircrew.

The pace of the book is riveting. The end of each chapter forces the reader to turn the page. The emotions are genuine. The characters are well-drawn, and the dialog is realistic, ensuring the reader understands the closeness of each five-man crew. Each crew created bonds only those who were there at that time could ever share or fully appreciate.

This book brings the Tokyo raid to life. For those unacquainted with World War II, it provides the context for why Doolittle’s raid was so important during the first year of America’s involvement in the war. It takes the dry facts of history and breathes life into them, as we accompany these men, many of them quite young, on a mission that was a surprise attack on Japanese soil.

We owe these airmen, the Chinese villagers, and the missionaries in China a debt of gratitude for delivering a wake-up call to Japan—a call that made them realize they were not invincible. And Japan’s response to that call revealed the kind of enemy the Allies faced.

Doolittle’s Men is a book worth reading. Though written as a novel, the airmen in the book were real people, living real lives, in an extraordinary time. Their names are in history books. Their fates are in history books, too. Burgess brings them to life for us.

Review by Pat Walkow (February 2023)
 

Author's Synopsis

January, 1942. With Pearl Harbor still smoldering, President Roosevelt seeks to give America hope that all is not lost. The resulting mission called for renowned aviator, Jimmy Doolittle, to lead eighty men in sixteen army bombers off the deck of the carrier, USS Hornet. They would bomb targets in Japan, proceed to allied bases in China, and give America that hope. Almost nothing would go as planned.

In this novelization of the Doolittle raid, we follow three of those sixteen crews as they struggle off the storm-tossed flight deck of the Hornet, attack their targets, and escape against all odds to the Chinese mainland where their most harrowing experiences await.

Doolittle's Men is more than an edge-of-your-seat telling of an iconic war story. It is also an analysis of the human qualities required of those facing unimaginable challenges.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 351

Word Count: 89,500

Congratulations, Your Daughter is Engaged. Now What? A Father's Emotional Survival Guide by Kenneth Andrus

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Author's Synopsis

Congratulations, Dad. You just learned your daughter is engaged. Another innocent is going down the aisle. But what you likely don't understand, it's not just your daughter who is about to proceed on the perilous journey, it's you. In A Fathers Emotional Survival Guide, the author explores the complex interplay of a father's emotions as he escorts his daughter down the aisle and offers advice on how to transition to a new chapter in his life.

Number of Pages: 84

Stewards of Humanity: Lighting the Darkness in Humanitarian Crisis by Robert Seamus Macpherson

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MWSA Review

Stewards of Humanity is a book that needed to be written. Given the author's 30-year military career, it was especially impactful to read about his experiences and respect for people who do important and often dangerous work, but usually without the benefit of a heavily armed infantry battalion to back them up. As a veteran myself, I always appreciate when people tell me "Thank you for your service." But I always remind people that service doesn't require one to wear a military uniform—there are many who serve, whether as civilian diplomats, teachers, health-care workers, and as the author has so vividly written about, humanitarian workers. Thank you for sharing these stories with us.

Review by Frank Biggio (May 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Robert Macpherson has been a writer, aid worker, and career infantry officer in the U.S. Marines with service in Vietnam, Iraq, and Somalia. After retiring from the Marines, he joined the humanitarian organization CARE, where he spent fifteen years directing global risk mitigation for staff and vulnerable populations and led humanitarian response missions worldwide.

As a humanitarian worker, he negotiated and coordinated with non-traditional powers such as, paramilitary forces and an assortment of armed local groups and militias who controlled territories where humanitarian organizations wanted to assist. These included the Taliban in Afghanistan and local militias throughout central and east Africa such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Somalia. Throughout this period, he conducted kidnap negotiations in Zimbabwe, southern Sudan, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Iraq. This work resulted in his own abduction in Somalia.

Stewards of Humanity is his debut book. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and service dog, Blue.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Creative Nonfiction

Number of Pages: 288

Word Count: 90,800

The Last Road Trip by James Elsener

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MWSA Review

James Elsener’s The Last Road Trip is a sad commentary on the inability of some professional athletes to make a life plan for their retirement. Fictional mediocre Kenneth “Stub” Rowe finds himself out of a job after his final season with the Cleveland Indians. He decides to take a road trip across America to see what he missed when flying at 30,000 feet to all the cities where he played Major League Baseball for sixteen years. In part he wants to visit old friends in the industry while visiting attractions he missed in the whirlwind of his career. At thirty-six, Stub also wants to find himself and discover skills for continuing his life without baseball. Instead, he finds that he is great at womanizing and drinking, but not reconnecting with his ex-wife and their two kids, or learning any new marketable skills.

Baseball aficionados will likely enjoy the book, but it’s not particularly suitable for young teens. The language and shallow sexual encounters will be off-putting to some adults as well.

Review by Betsy Beard (February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Stub Rowe’s mediocre major league baseball career ended with a ground out to the second baseman.  He considered that to be the wimpiest out in baseball.

He had never been a star, but he was considered steady and reliable.  Some team always needed a third baseman with a little pop in his bat…until the years ran out on him. Now it was time to consider what to do with the rest of his life.

Stub had bounced around professional baseball for 16 years. He ran out the string with a couple of unremarkable years with the Cleveland Indians. 

He hadn’t given a lot of thought to retirement. Now it was here staring him in the face.  He wasn’t sure if he had any marketable skills. The years had changed his relationships with people and he began to wonder where he would fit in a life outside baseball.

His ex-wife and children seemed to be getting along fine without him.  He has a few other personal relationships that need some closure as well. 

Stub decides to drive across a country that he had mostly seen from 30,000 feet flying from city to city to play baseball.  He wanted to see sights that he missed and visit old friends along the way.  This would give him time to think about his future. 

He drives from Cleveland to Los Angeles with stops in-between to visit old friends and family or just to be a tourist.  He spends time with his sister and her family including the husband Stub can’t stand.  Then he visits his ex-wife and children who hardly know him.  

His spends time with a former teammate who is a born-again Christian with a picture post card family.  Then he meets up with another ex-teammate who has become a helpless alcoholic. These visits aren’t going exactly the way he thought they would.

Stub eventually reconnects with Katie Riley, a one-legged Iraq War veteran who works for the movie industry.  Things are getting exciting when he gets an emergency phone call from his sister Tina and must head back to the Midwest to deal with family issues and the need to find a real job.     

He had never envisioned himself becoming a baseball lifer and starting all over as a coach and manager in the low minor leagues.  It’s a life of low pay, long bus rides, cheap hotels and babysitting for rookie players. But, it maybe his only option. He starts his new career in baseball the same way he ended his last career – hitting ground balls to the second baseman.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 190

Word Count: 56,000

Advance To Contact: 1980 by Alex Aaronson / James Rosone

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MWSA Review

Advance to Contact: 1980 is the flagship novel in the series of the same name.
It’s 1980.  The Shah may be falling in Iran, and President Carter and his staff are working tirelessly to keep this US ally in place in the volatile Middle East.  When the Soviets invade Afghanistan while at the same time Iranian fanatics storm the US Embassy, tensions flare.

The world knows what actually happened in the aftermath, but authors Alex Aaronson and James Rosone take us on a marvelous alternative history journey of what could have happened, and the realism is shocking.  Using in-depth knowledge of the historical military dispositions and political personalities, the two weave together an incredible story that shows just how bad things could have gotten, with CIA agent Fred Poole doing everything he can to avoid World War III.

This reviewer was continuously impressed with the military accuracy of the vast weapons platforms mentioned on both the east and west sides. At the same time, there are plenty of “raw grunt” moments that show that any soldier has more in common with his enemies than he thinks.  Fans of Dale Brown, the late Tom Clancy, or any military alternative history series will surely find this worth the effort.

Review by Rob Ballister (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

The Cold War threatens to go hot…

…when American hostages are taken in Iran.

Where will this conflict lead?

The Soviets invade Afghanistan, and the governments of Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev jockey for position on the international stage. CIA operative Fred Poole races against the clock to decode the pieces of a Soviet puzzle that could lead to war.

Will he be too late?

US Marines and Soviet paratroopers advance to contact with the enemy on battlefields across the globe, from the jungles of Central America to the deserts of the Middle East.

Can Poole and his ragtag team untangle the Soviet plans?

Or will skirmishes turn into a global nightmare?

You’ll love this gripping opener of the Soviet Endgame alternate history series because the history you remember takes a turn you never expected.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 329

Word Count: 119924

A Girl's Guide to Military Service: Selecting Your Speciality, Preparing for Success, Thriving in Military Life by Amanda Huffman

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MWSA Review

A Girl’s Guide to Military Service by Amanda Huffman is a must-read for any young woman considering a future in military service. Ms. Huffman walks the reader through the history of each service branch and what they have to offer. She challenges the reader to seek within themselves what they really want for their future and explores that with them. The pros and cons of life in the military are laid out—touching every facet, from basic training and benefits to challenges women still face.

There are testaments from many female service members (past and present) on the issues and stresses they experienced during their careers. The advice they give is worth its weight in gold. The book is a straightforward factual roadmap for joining the military. The author poses deep and insightful questions throughout the book, which dare readers to consider the consequence of each decision they make.

A Girl’s Guide to Military Service is insightful and encouraging. The author provides further resources at every turn and helps navigate the alphabet soup of acronyms of the military. I highly recommend this book to any young woman who feels the military life might be for her.

Review by Sandi Cathcart (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

For any young woman considering a job or career in the military.

With information, tips, and perspective gathered from a variety of women who serve, this introductory guide will help you:

- Discern if military service is the right choice for you

- Evaluate enlisting or commissioning as an officer

- Select a service branch and career field

- Prepare for training, mentally and physically

- Integrate personal life, relationships, and motherhood with military service

- Manage stress and increasing mental toughness

- Navigate unique challenges as a woman in the military

- Thrive in your military career!

Applicable for enlisted and officer careers in any US Armed Forces service branch and type of service commitment, including:

- Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Space Force

- Active duty, National Guard, Reserves

"... a solid, factual, and practical guide to help young women make a major life decision with confidence ... Strongly recommended."

—Mari K Eder, Major General, US Army (Ret)

"... a perfect guide to help any woman considering life in uniform get straight talk on how it all works ..."

—Jose Velazquez, Sergeant Major, US Army Public Affairs (Ret)

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)

Number of Pages: 176

Word Count: 48,498

Red Markers: The Rest of the Story by Gary N. Willis

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MWSA Review

This is the story of U.S. Air Force pilots and enlisted ground crews performing the Forward Air Control (FAC) mission for the Republic of Vietnam military during the Vietnam War. Artillery and airstrikes in the vicinity of friendly ground troops has always been a perilous operation, especially before our current era of precision guided munitions, GPS, and secure communications. While artillery spotting from aircraft started in World War I, faster aircraft introduced during the Korean War led to development of the FAC concept, which reached a peak during the Vietnam War. The Red Markers operated in isolation and in austere environments, with U.S. Army advisors and Special Forces among the Vietnamese airborne troops. This is the second of two books by the author on the Red Markers and builds on the first book with further information on operations with the Vietnamese airborne troops. Through this story, the reader obtains a unique perspective on the major battles and campaigns of the Vietnam War. Five appendices provide a glossary and rosters of the offices and enlisted who served with the Red Markers, as well as other interesting information. This book makes a great reference for this chapter in U.S. Air Force history that is little known but serves as an outstanding example of service and sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

Review by Terry Lloyd (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Red Markers: The Rest of the Story is a sequel to Red Markers, Close Air Support for the Vietnamese Airborne, 1962-1975, published in 2012. The Rest of the Story expands on the history of the Red Marker FAC detachment with more stories about the 175 airmen who served in the unit. It includes accounts from U.S. Army advisors in MACV Team 162 who fought alongside the Vietnamese Airborne for more than a decade. It also chronicles support provided by other forward air controllers and from Medevac, Cobra gunship, and field artillery units. Stories include the opening hours of the Cambodian Incursion in 1970, the daring rescue of a downed Medevac crew, and fierce battles by the Airborne during the Easter Offensive of 1972. A chapter on Dumb Things in the War Zone captures a lighter side of the unit history. The final story covers the shipboard escape of hundreds of South Vietnamese led by a Catholic seminary student.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 304

Word Count: 100,959

Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War by Barry Pencek

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MWSA Review

This detailed memoir/history is divided into three distinct parts. The first is a true memoir, briefly covering the author's youth and early years as a Marine aviator in the Vietnam era. The main part of the narrative is an exhaustive accounting of a then-secret 1970 military raid into southern Laos, in which the author played a supporting role. The last part comprises the author's critical analysis of a discredited CNN investigative report that was broadcast some 28 years after the raid.

At a period when opposition to the Vietnam War was reaching its high point, the author doggedly pursued his goal of becoming a Marine aviator. Assigned in country to an attack helicopter squadron, he provided close air support for Operation Tailwind, a four-day CIA-led raid against North Vietnamese forces on a segment of the Ho Chi Minh Trail deep in southern Laos. Since Laos was a neutral country, the use of US ground forces there was highly classified. The action was met with fierce opposition, and ended with a costly withdrawal and limited success. The author provides a day-by-day account of the raid, which was conducted by a small contingent of American Special Forces soldiers and a company of Montagnard troops. By the time the team was extracted, all sixteen Americans had been wounded and three Montagnards had been killed.

Operation Tailwind might have become a minor footnote to the Vietnam War, but 28 years after the incident a controversial TV documentary entitled "Valley of Death" alleged the use of deadly poison gas by United States forces. "Valley of Death" arose from a perfect storm of over-eager journalism, questionable sources, and slipshod oversight. A joint venture of the fledgling Cable News Network and TIME Magazine, and narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Peter Arnett, the 18-minute show was quickly discredited but nonetheless cast a shadow over the integrity and heroism of the original raiders and their leadership. The fact that the operation was highly classified added to the difficulty of countering the accusations of the documentary. Nonetheless, the sponsors and promoters of "Valley of Death" were ultimately forced to withdraw their claims and in many cases professionally disgraced.

The author is reluctant to let the conclusions of the many critics of "Valley of Death" stand and spends the third part of his book addressing the many inconsistencies and outright falsehoods in the documentary.
The book provides excellent background on the political and military challenges presented by North Vietnam’s covert invasion of its neighbor to the west and the vital role of the Ho Chi Minh Trail as the lifeline for the communist fighting forces in South Vietnam. The story of Operation Tailwind provides a vivid example of the intensity and desperation of combat in the shadows of a little-known sideshow to the greater Vietnam conflict.

Review by Peter Young (February 2023)

 Author's Synopsis

The Studies and Observations Group was a covert American military unit in Vietnam that specialized in clandestine cross-border operations in Laos and Cambodia. In September 1970, sixteen Green Berets and one-hundred-twenty Montagnard mercenaries departed on Operation Tailwind, the largest and deepest raid in SOG history. Their mission was to disrupt and distract the enemy in support of a larger CIA operation that originated in the White House.

Over the next four days, as their ammunition dwindled and casualties mounted, these soldiers, and the aircrews overhead that went to extraordinary lengths to keep them alive, achieved the improbable if not the impossible.

Twenty-eight years after Tailwind concluded, CNN produced a documentary about Tailwind, called “Valley of Death,” accusing the participants of war crimes, specifically using nerve gas to kill women, children, and American defectors. This broadcast created a media firestorm that reached around the world.

In Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War, Barry Pencek gives an incredibly detailed account of the four-day running battle and does a thought-provoking deep dive into the failure of journalistic ethics at CNN that created a media debacle. Besides being one hell of a war story, Operation Tailwind provides a great example of the need for the highest integrity in journalism and should be required reading for all J-school students.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 339

Word Count: 87,600

Hogs in the Sand: A Gulf War A-10 Pilot's Combat Journal by Buck Wyndham

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MWSA Review

In Hogs in the Sand, A-10 Warthog attack pilot Buck Wyndham's journal takes the reader into the cockpit on training missions over Great Britain and into combat during Desert Shield/Storm. The technical details, descriptive prose, and aerial accounts are a testament to A-10 pilots' talent and bravery, the awesome destructive power of the Hog, and the critical role they played in this conflict.

While the adrenaline-inducing combat sorties are the highlight, the recurring accounts of foul-weather flying and technical failures are equally riveting. The author and his squadron rely on constant vigilance, artful teamwork, and brazen courage to survive each mission.

While the aerial outings read like an action novel, "Hogs" slows down in parts to detail the day-to-day tedium and monotony of a deployment, delve into a love interest, and provide an unabashedly honest look into the warrior psyche as it processes near-death, killing, and doubt. Some readers may find the ground time a lot less interesting than the combat, but it's part of the author's story. The introspective parts reveal a patently human story of self-reflective humility that provides an interesting contrast to the prevailing "cocky pilot" attitude.

Military history and aviation buffs will likely enjoy this book's highly detailed aerial combat accounts.

Review by Ingo Kaufman (February 2023)

Author's Synopsis

"I am awed by my destructive power. With a small squeeze of the gun trigger under my right index finger, I can rip the turret off a thirty-ton battle tank and throw it 200 feet across the desert, while the rest of the tank burns in an explosion of white-hot, burning phosphorescence. But the cold, morbid reality of it does not exist from where I sit and watch it happen. There's no dramatic chord. No deafening explosion. No screams suddenly stifled. The soundtrack of a pilot's war is mostly silent."

The mighty, iconic A-10 Warthog was first thrust into battle in Operation Desert Storm. The men who flew it through walls of flak and surface-to-air missiles to help defeat the world's fourth-largest army were as untested as their airplanes, so they relied on personal determination and the amazing A-10 to accomplish their missions, despite the odds.

Hogs in the Sand is the epic and deeply-personal year-long journey of one of those pilots as he fights an increasingly terrifying war, all the while attempting to win over a woman and keep control of his internal demons. For anyone who has admired the Warthog, seen it in action, or called upon it to be their salvation, this story will fulfill a desire to virtually strap into the cockpit, while gaining unprecedented understanding of the mind of a modern combat pilot.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 440

Word Count: 142,400

Heart Songs by Dennis Maulsby

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MWSA Review

Heart Songs is a tour de force of a poetry collection by Dennis Maulsby. Songs of the heart can be expressed in a wide array of emotions, and this book handles all of them well, ranging from euphoria to abject depression. The author uses a variety of poetic forms to convey emotions and experiences, using sophisticated imagery to engage all the senses. The poems range in length from haiku of 17 syllables to longer poems and poetic essays. Powerful and effective word selection ushers the reader into realms he may not have been familiar with, from the wildly sensuous to the stark brutality of combat. There is even a playful limerick to tickle the funny bone. While it is impossible to choose just one favorite poem among many, I was enchanted by the eight-part offering that explores the different kinds of love.

Review by Betsy Beard (January 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Heart songs come from many sources. We welcome those of love, whether romantic or platonic. Our life experiences evoke other songs, whether bawdy, prideful, humorous, sad, happy, terrifying, or in joyous dance — the heart’s percussion, riffs, and chords changing in response to each experience.

Poetry can capture them all, permitting the intimate sensual and intimate virtual to blend. In this book, think of the poems as the author’s sheet music — records of the heart’s songs.

blonde girl’s earbuds throb 
heavy metal guitar chokes 
peppery symbols

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Poetry—Poetry Book

Number of Pages: 77

Word Count: 5639

The Hawk Enigma by J.L. Hancock

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MWSA Review

Author J. L. Hancock has given us a fast-paced thriller in his book, The Hawk Enigma. The Chinese and the North Koreans are racing to steal a new secret formula that is predicted to merge a person's mind with existing and future artificial intelligence systems. The formula and necessary vials of serum are kept locked in an American controlled laboratory in Japan. However, that is not enough to keep our antagonists from resorting to murder and theft to get their hands on the formula and serum. Bring in the Yakuza and U.S. military special operators, and the author has created quite the mix for a good read. Even the Russians join in at the exciting climax. I couldn't help but cheer for the good guys in this one, and I encourage anyone who enjoys thrillers to read it.

Review by Bob Doerr (February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Voodoo, a gifted military technician, struggles with harrowing memories of war and the emptiness that comes with loss. To cope, he's thrown himself into his work for a secretive military research organization, purposefully leaving little time for anything else. Until one night, a familiar voice from Voodoo's past interrupts his recurring nightmares with a cryptic prophecy.

At the same time, across the ocean in Japan, two world-renowned scientists go missing along with the secrets behind a powerful form of artificial intelligence called the "God Algorithm".

To Voodoo's surprise, he soon finds himself on the front lines of an AI arms race with the future of freedom at stake. Will Voodoo find the scientists in time? Or will the "God Algorithm", a piece of code so terrifying it has the potential to shift global power, fall into the wrong hands?

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 472

Word Count: 110,000

When Heroes Flew: The Roof of the World by H. W. "Buzz" Bernard

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MWSA Review

When Heroes Flew: The Roof of the World by H. W. “Buzz” Bernard is a fictional account of the brave pilots in WWII who flew “The Hump” in Burma. The dangerous airlift mission cut through the unforgiving Himalaya Mountain terrain in harsh, unpredictable weather. Pilots who flew in the China/Burma/India theater of operations have often gone unrecognized. Imagine the bravery of these flyers knowing there was so much blood and mangled aircraft strewn across northern Burma that it was referred to as the “Aluminum Trail.”

One aviator was heard to say, “I would rather fly a fighter against the Japs three times a day than a transport over the Hump once.”

Aviator Major Rod Shepherd, a C-46 aviator and Army Air Forces weather officer, pilots his aircraft into the unpredictable skies to fly critical missions over the Hump time after time. He braves not only the extreme—even impossible—flying conditions but commanders who believe weather support is useless and unnecessary. He fears for himself but even more for the less experienced pilots coming into the base.

Early on, Rod encounters a beautiful, frosty flight nurse who seems to dislike him intensely. Each subsequent encounter with “Nurse Nasty” is fraught with verbal barbs and sarcasm. Rod goes out of his way to avoid her until they have a flight mission together. The rest is a harrowing, life-altering adventure.

On the edge of my seat during gripping scenes in the story, I could appreciate and enjoy Major Rod Shepherd’s cynicism and dark humor.

Author Buzz Bernard has done a magnificent job of verbally painting a picture of what it’s like in the cockpit of a C-46 flying over the snaggle-toothed Himalayan mountain range. Fasten your seatbelts, folks. You are in for the ride of your life.

Review by Nancy Panko (February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

A legendary WWII airlift route cuts through the snaggletoothed Himalaya Mountains, where both the terrain and weather prove uncommonly savage.  And where American airmen leave a trail of blood and mangled aircraft.

Major Rod Shepherd, a C-46 pilot and Army Airforces weather officer, flings his airplane into the tumultuous skies to fly critical missions over the Hump--the Himalayas. He braves not only the extreme--even impossible--flying conditions, but commanders who believe weather support is useless, and a flight nurse who, for reasons unknown to Rod, dislikes him intensely.

Rod risks incredible danger with every flight.  But when a mission of grave importance is imperiled at high altitudes, Rod faces an unthinkable dilemma.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 302

Word Count: 76,000

Testing Michael: A Civil War Novel by Linda Loegel Hemby

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MWSA Review

In 1910, Yale professor Michael Mueller treats his history class to his childhood experience as a messenger in the Civil War. Were this TV, the picture would go wavy as he transports all of us to his house in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1856.

Michael has always pushed the envelope and has very fast legs. Fueled by a Yankee frame of mind, he begs his parents to allow him to join the war effort. They acquiesce and in 1861, at age 13, he becomes a messenger for the North. Linda Loegel Hemby’s Testing Michael is a slightly sugar-coated view of war, making it a historical novel for all ages.

Don’t get me wrong—these young “soldiers” saw their share of war. Ammo in, wounded out. Soldiers cut down in front of them. Michael, like all soldiers, grew up fast and hard, summoning unfathomable courage, but the author never lets us forget that he is a child. One of the touching bittersweet scenes is when Michael is in Virginia, his mother is at home in Connecticut, both singing the same Christmas song at the same time. Later, safely at home, “Mike let the horrors of war slowly slip from his mind, replacing past thoughts with the perfect and enduring love of his family. He was home, the sweetest place in the world.”

For me, the biggest shudder of the book is when, now back in 1910, one of Michael’s students asks, “Could we ever be that divided again?”

Linda Loegel Hemby’s Testing Michael: A Civil War Novel holds a refreshing perspective, appropriate for adults and a younger audience: an easy-to-read and comprehend, historic account of the children of the Civil War.

Review by Sue Rushford (January 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

In the Prologue and Epilogue, the year is 1910 and Professor Michael Mueller is teaching his Yale students about children who served in the Civil War. When they ask, "Did you know any of them?" he answers, "Let me tell you my story." The story then moves to 1856 with young Michael learning the events leading up to the war. In 1861 Michael joins the war as a thirteen-year-old messenger, much to his mother's dismay. He makes friends and travels to places far outside his New Haven home, and has experiences he never thought possible--some exciting and some that give him nightmares. 

Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 196

Word Count: 36,000

Life Dust by Pam Webber

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MWSA Review

Life Dust is an enthralling account of a young, engaged couple in 1971. Andy, an Army lieutenant, gets deployed to Vietnam for a year. Nettie is a nursing intern at an ER in Virginia. Seemingly completely different situations, Pam Webber does a superb job at artfully keeping their lives parallel. It is a refreshing Vietnam story.

Conducting reconnaissance, Andy and his men tread lightly in the jungle, to survive the enemy and the jungle itself. “[D]on’t fight the jungle. . . . It provides food, water, and cover against the enemy and the elements. Its noise, as well as its silence, warns you if someone or something is approaching. It even has medicines for some of our most common ailments. However, if you ignore or disrespect it, the jungle will kill you.” Despite also fighting human limitations, fatigue, and military bureaucracy, Andy and his men morph into a cohesive squad. After a daring reconnaissance mission, when they’re catching their breaths back at camp, they’re assigned to a secret operation. The mission’s intricate plan is dangerous but Andy’s men would follow him anywhere. Fait accompli (albeit, with repercussions), Andy goes home.

Meanwhile, Nettie finds a friend in an elderly, cranky patient with a bad heart. “He’s been angry since he woke up and realized he wasn’t dead.” She inspires him and he credits her with buying him more time. Their friendship and her dedication to him flourishes, despite the constant obstacles Nettie’s superior throws at her. Like Andy, Nettie stands up for herself and others in the face of intimidation, is a loyal friend, and feels the heartache of losing a friend.

Webber weaves flowers into both characters’ lives. In his youth, lotus blossoms were the saving grace of Nettie’s dying friend, and he introduces her to the healing powers of gardens. In Vietnam, in addition to offering a spiritual lift, the eloquent lotus blossoms and the ritual of steeping tea in the flower overnight play a logistical role in resistance operations, and in Andy’s secret mission.

We’re transported to Andy’s and Nettie’s simultaneous adventures, worlds apart. I highly recommend you stop and smell the lotus blossoms, and read Life Dust.

Review by Sue Rushford (March 2023)
 

Author's Synopsis

Nettie and Andy have been soul mates since childhood. While planning their wedding, Andy must deploy to South Vietnam for a year. To deal with the loss, Nettie dives into her work as a nursing intern in a busy Northern Virginia emergency room. When she inadvertently walks in on a nursing supervisor and surgeon during a late-night tryst, the couple begins a campaign to discredit her and sabotage her internship. Nettie's only respite is a reclusive old man with an extraordinary secret.

Meanwhile, Andy is leading a jungle reconnaissance squad when he receives orders to escort a high-ranking female freedom fighter, Bien, to a clandestine meeting with an enemy officer who wants to defect. Bien hopes the officer is the younger brother the North Vietnamese conscripted into their army as a child. However, Andy thinks his unit is walking into a trap that could cost them everything.

Struggling to survive in different worlds, Nettie and Andy navigate the best and worst of human nature as they try to find their way back to each other. Along the way they learn what real love, respect, and caring are about-- what duty, honor, and country really mean.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 312

Word Count: 83,504

The Boys of St. Joe's '65 in The Vietnam War by Dennis G. Pregent

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MWSA Review

Dennis Pregent’s The Boys of St. Joe’s 65 in the Vietnam War is a very personalized account of twelve people from a small school in a small town in Massachusetts. They all did what they did for different reasons, all bonded together by their school and the Vietnam War.

Eleven men and one woman are featured. The eleven men all served; seven in the Army, three in the Marines, and one in the Navy. One was an officer, the rest enlisted. Most saw combat. All were from blue collar families, and every one of their fathers was a World War II veteran.

One of the eleven was killed in action; two were seriously wounded, with one of those paralyzed from the waist down. Most of the rest carry significant scars seen and unseen, including PTSD and Agent Orange exposure. The lone young woman found herself on the opposite side, protesting the war, much to her veteran father’s chagrin. Though she hated the war, she loved her classmates who fought in it, and their wounds hurt her deeply.

The information was gathered after long sessions with each of the survivors, or in some cases their families. The author does a great job of tying the stories together; one section about one of the young men might mention two of the others featured in other parts of the book, tying them together and adding a poignant depth to the book. These were intertwined lives, not numbers on the evening news, and their stories are told in a well-written and very personal manner. I especially liked how the author made a point to highlight the similarities and differences between those featured, both as people and as members of the military. The book includes a glossary of military terms and many clear photos to help further the understanding of those whose stories are told.

Those who served in the Vietnam War, or who are interested in memoirs from that war, will find this book valuable and well worth the read.

Review by Rob Ballister (February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Eleven high school friends in idyllic North Adams, Massachusetts, enlisted to serve in Vietnam, and one stayed behind to protest the war. All were from patriotic, working class families, all members of the class of 1965 at Saint Joseph's School. Dennis Pregent was one of them. He and his classmates joined up-most right out of school, some before graduating-and endured the war's most vicious years. Seven served in the Army, three in the Marine Corps, and in the Navy. After fighting in a faraway place, they saw the trajectories of their lives dramatically altered. One died in combat, another became paralyzed, and several still suffer from debilitating conditions five decades later. Inspired by his 50th high school reunion, Pregent located lhis classmates, rekindled friendships, and-together, over hours of interviews-they rememberd the war years.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 248

Word Count: 90,000+

Disaster on the Spanish Main by Craig S. Chapman

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MWSA Review

Disaster on the Spanish Main: The Tragic British-American Expedition to the West Indies during the War of Jenkin’s Ear is written by Craig S. Chapman and is a historical recounting of Britain’s ill-conceived and poorly executed attack on the Spanish Main. The book is well-researched and contains enough footnotes and charts to please the most enthusiastic history reader. The book is comparable in many ways to similar books, both fiction and nonfiction, written by better known authors who write about the British Navy of the Georgian Period.

Author Chapman goes into great detail regarding the underlying conflict between Army General, Major General Thomas Wentworth, who was in charge of the British Land Forces, and Vice Admiral of the Blue, Edward Vernon, who was in charge of the Royal Navy Forces. Each needed the other to achieve their professional and personal objectives, and yet neither one could tolerate the other or work cooperatively to the desired goal, the subrogation of the Spanish Main. The only thing that the two officers appeared to have in common, was their total disdain for the American Colonials, which had been brought into the Royal Army at the direction of King George II. In addition to the primary conflict between Wentworth and Vernon, the author also discussed in some detail the secondary conflict on the Spanish side between Vice Admiral Blas de Lezo and Viceroy Eslava of Cartagena, which had its own negative impact on the defensive side of the war.

Chapman’s book is long, but reads quickly. Thanks to an enthusiastic writing style, the reader will move quickly through the material. The work is heavily footnoted, but is written in such a manner as to allow the reader to push on with the reading and come back to review the footnotes at their leisure. Sourcing and the extensive Bibliography are on par with what a reader would expect from a book of this nature.

Review by Larry Sharrar (February 2023)
 

Author's Synopsis

Disaster on the Spanish Main unveils and illuminates an overlooked yet remarkable episode of European and American military history and a land-sea venture to seize control of the Spanish West Indies that ended in ghastly failure. Thirty-four years before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, a significant force of American soldiers deployed overseas for the first time in history. Colonial volunteers, 4,000 strong, joined 9,000 British soldiers and 15,000 British sailors in a bold amphibious campaign against the key port of Cartagena de Indias. From its first chapter, Disaster on the Spanish Main reveals a virtually unknown adventure, engrosses with the escalating conflict, and leaves the reader with an appreciation for the struggles and sacrifices of the 13,000 soldiers, sailors, and marines who died trying to conquer part of Spain’s New World empire.

Disaster on the Spanish Main breaks new ground on the West Indies expedition in style, scope, and perspective and uncovers the largely untold American side of the story.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 410

Word Count: 123,000