Bloody Sixteen

Strategy and reality collide in Peter Fey's gripping history of aircraft carrier USS Oriskany's three deployments to Vietnam with Carrier Air Wing 16 (CVW-16). Its tours coincided with the most dangerous phases of Operation Rolling Thunder, the ill-fated bombing campaign against North Vietnam, and accounted for a quarter of all the naval aircraft lost during Rolling Thunder--the highest loss rate of any carrier air wing during Vietnam. The Johnson administration's policy of gradually applied force meant that Oriskany arrived on station just as previous restrictions were lifted and bombing raids increased. As a result CVW-16 pilots paid a heavy price as they ventured into areas previously designated "off limits" by Washington DC. Named after one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, the Oriskany lived up to its name. After two years of suffering heavy losses, the ship caught fire--a devastating blow given the limited number of carriers deployed. With only three months allotted for repairs, Oriskany deployed a third and final time and ultimately lost more than half of its aircraft and more than a third of its pilots. The valor and battle accomplishments displayed by Oriskany's aviators are legendary, but the story of their service has been lost in the disastrous fray of the war itself. Fey portrays the Oriskany and its heroes in an indelible memorial to the fallen of CVW-16 in hopes that the lessons learned from such strategic disasters are not forgotten in today's sphere of war-bent politics.

This book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign during the Vietnam War between 1965 to 1975, where the US Seventh Fleet, stationed off the Vietnamese coast, was given the tongue-in-cheek nickname 'The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club'. On August 2, 1964, USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' that lead directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War. Supporting the Maddox that day were four F-8E Crusaders from the USS Ticonderoga, signalling the start of the US Navy's commitment to the air war over Vietnam. The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club was the nickname for the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, Task Force 77, stationed off the coast of Vietnam which, at various points throughout the war, comprised as many as six carriers with 70–100 aircraft on board. The Seventh Fleet played an essential role in supporting operations over Vietnam, providing vital air support to combat troops on the ground and taking part in major operations such as Rolling Thunder and Linebacker I and II. Serving with the US Seventh Fleet during this period and involved in the dramatic history of The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club was author Tom Cleaver, who was a 20-year-old member of Commander Patrol Forces Seventh Fleet which had operational control over Maddox and Turner Joy. His use of dramatic first-hand experiences from interviews with both American and Vietnamese pilots plus official Vietnamese accounts of the war provides a balanced and personal picture of the conflict from both sides. Detailing the very earliest incident in the Gulf of Tonkin through to the final evacuation of US nationals in 1975, he brings the story of US air intervention into Vietnam vividly to life.

Profiles the life and works of Thurgood Marshall, with his speeches, writings, arguments, opinions and reminiscences.

Chris O'Dell has packed a lot in a small amount of time and is probably surprised that she made as far as she has, considering the life she have lived. Hanging around with the Beatles, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones and managing tours for George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Santana, Earth, Wind & Fire and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. In the early 1980s she worked with Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, The Grateful Dead, and The Band. During all those years, drugs were everywhere. She smoked marijuana, popped black bombers, dropped LSD, and drank endless Scotch and cokes (the Beatles' favourite drink). Getting deep into cocaine while touring with the Stones by the end of the tour in New York she was shooting up the drug. Now sixty years old and with a full life she reflects back on her past.

When the CIA can’t get the job done, its legendary director of operations turns to “Mac” MacMurphy, in this exciting sequel to Rustmann’s first best-selling novel,The Case Officer. Mac is the best. A proven talent in fighting fire with fire. Able to be as ruthless as any enemy, showing no mercy where none is due. The perfect man to pit against an out-of-control drug lord who has declared war on the U.S. Consulate in Northern Thailand. But do the ends justify the means? Is it worth the risk of collateral damage—and there will be some when Mac is involved—to bring down the unscrupulous drug king? These are the moral conundrums facing Mac and his team as they embark on a slippery slope upon which there is no turning back, and they prepare for the fight of their lives against a veritable army of heavily armed drug merchants in the steamy jungles of the Golden Triangle. And they really don’t bother Mac a bit. Unusual challenges require unorthodox responses. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s a woman involved…

Hardly a day passes when Israel is not in the news. This book provides essential facts about not only the political events in the news, but also the positive contributions Israel is making in the arts and sciences. This is not a recitation of facts and figures, but a mosaic of the most important aspects of Israel's past and present. The book will entertain those interested in some of the fascinating trivia about Israel and inform those doing more serious research about the economy, government, and culture of the Jewish State.