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In Baghdad
Jack Coughlin
Coughlin goes from his early days of shooting to his military career when he joins the Marines. He becomes a sniper and gets 60 kills through his years in the USMC and in the 2003 invasion of Baghdad. His comcept of mobile shooting - shoot in one town and ride to another - catches on and becomes SOP. After the invasion he's mustered out back to 29 Palms CA and retires with sole costody of his 2 daughters after his divorce and as he tells them will fight no more. He still has lots of medals to show for it. Army and British troops take over to hold what Coughlin's advance forces take from Saddam. He shoots his way through downtown Baghdad (it takes over half the book to get there) after arriving in Basra.
When camo was green
Charles Henderson
The story of Carlos Norman Hathcock, supersniper, champion at 1000 yards. Carlos at first flashes back to his early days shooting his way through Arkansas woods to the Marines in Viet Nam. He trains new recruits in field sniper schools and takes on dangerous, important missions he couldn't trust to others. He takes them in the field often, telling of one who washed out by aiming his gun at harmless rice farmers. He neglects his own health in the process and suffers burns over most of his body saving his buddies from fire in a military vehicle traveling to a job in the field, returning in a stretcher. He's a serious Marine, always cleaning his rifle and writing in his sniper's logbook before eating or otherwise seeing about his own needs. Tragically he's diagnosed with MS and unable to shoot in tournaments any more. Henderson's sequel Silent Warrior only retells his first book Marine Sniper.
Rewind 2 generations
Herbert W McBride
World War I, not the first time riflemen cut down enemy soldiers while hidden in bushes. McBride's father was a Civil War vet, his grandfather went to the war in Mexico, his great grandfather the War of 1812 and so on I'm sure. McBride can't wait to see action and does whatever it takes to get shipped overseas and carry a rifle. In those early days he carried a Springfield rifle with a range of only 600 yards, shooting Fritz and Heinie, his drinking buddies back home in Indiana. Like others later, he believes good shooting is learned beforehand against targets, hunting or doing pest control in the field. He sees many of his buddies cut down. He's wounded a couple of times and can't wait to get back to the trenches. Finally he's home for good, no longer fit for duty. This book is a classic I had a hard time getting via a interlibrary loan. There's onlhy about 3 copies left in the state.
These books all tell how important it is for each batallion to contain snipers to clear the way for troops afterwards by getting rid of enemy soldiers before they harm our troops. I have no trouble about enemy shooters, it's just when they shoot us I'm worried. Self-recruited snipers are suspected aand rejected as hot dog souvenir hunters instead of serious people dedicated to their job of saving the lives of troops in action.
War in Poland
Szpilman, Wladyslaw.
Actually it's his son who finally discovers his father's Jewish holocaust memoirs and gets themn published, first in Poland and then in the United States. The story begins when Wladyslaw won't leave the radio station where he plays Chopin until he's finished playing, despite a raid going on. He barely makes it home. This isn't the first or the last time it happens. He and his parents and two brothers move from the top floor downstairs to share the basememt apartment with another family; then to the Warsaw ghetto. Their last meal together was a piece of caramel bought from another captured Jew, cut with a knife into 6 pieces. They neveer saw each other again. Wladyslaw was the only survivor, after seeing many workmates shot down. He escapes to an abandoned apartment in town. From there a German soldier finds and rescues him after proving he's the pianist he says he is. After the war the soldier dies as a captured prisoner while Wladyslaw plays Chopin and writes his memoirs.
He's a hotel manager
Paul Rusesabagina with Tom Zoellner
Yes he's a hotel manager. His book does begin with his childhood, school, a bit of Rwandan history and politics, particularly relations between Hutus and Tsutsis. Then it moves on to his move to hotel management, again because of his friend in a high place who would refuse to send any more Rwandans to hotel management or other schools if Paul wasn't accepted immeidatley. Paul and his ssecond wife Tatiana and his four children moved in to the mamager's suite at Hotel Mille Collines, owned by the Belgian firm Segundo. He still also managed their Hotel Diplomate. Fast forward to 1994 and Rwanda's mass killing. I still can't remember and don't care about hutus and Tsutsis but in Rwands it was a major issue for centuries which Belgian colonizers exploited for financial profit. Corpses piled up along roadsides and collected in churches, schools and other public buildingsor they were buried in mass graves. radio RTLM started out playing Rwandan popular Top 40 music, then gradually changed its format to propaganta, telling listeners to "do their work" and kill their neighbors, friends they'd known all their lives. People even those who disagreed with this policy, still kept their radios on RTLM and more inncent civilians wre murdered with impunity.
Paul had a hotel to manage and while the genocide went on none of his guests all 1263 of them were murdered or injured. Water and electricity were cut off, "churned," but alternatives were found and life went on. Booze, much needed to sweet talk their way out of harmful raids and other killing, ran out at the end. Paul, offered evacuation more than once, allowed his family to leave (the first time) but refused to leave his guests, all refugees from genocide around them. Hotel Mille Collines became Rwanda's only safe place, where nobody was killed.
As the genocide ended 3 months later, work began to clean the hotel thoroutly and prepare it for new guests, mostly workers for nonprofits and reporters. Paul's life still in ganger, he moved with his family to Brussels, Belgium. Rather than live on government handouts (welfare) he bought a car and drove cab. he saved his money and expanded to two caba snd hired a driver. Next he bought a house and with 4 trucks srove freight in neighboring countries. The book ends with the psychology of genocide, a divide and conquer group philosphy dictators are all too wiling to exploit. This philosophy is still used today in Africa and other places worldwide. We much do our little bit to stick to our vows of "never again" and make sure this book isn't written in vain.
Viva Lance
Every Second Counts
23 Days in July
Lance Armstrong
Joseph Horn
Nazi Spy
Gimpel, Erich
Judy Crichton
Laura Hillenbrand
Rick Atkinson
Erik Saar
Leonard L Richards
Sue Monk Kidd
Reading in Progress
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