The G I Journal Of Sergeant Giles

A weapons sergeant with the 291st Combat Engineers during the Second World War presents an intensely human and vivid account of a soldier's day-by-day existence.

In 1946, at the age of 41, Janice Holt Giles wrote her first novel. Although it took her only three months to complete the first draft, working at night so as not to conflict with her secretarial job, it was another four years before The Enduring Hills was published. Three years later, when her sixth novel appeared, Janice Holt Giles's works had accumulated sales of nearly two million copies. Between 1950 and 1975 she wrote twenty-four books, most of which were bestsellers, regularly reviewed in the New York Times, and selected for inclusion in popular book clubs. Her picture held pride of place in her literary agent's New York office, alongside those of Willa Cather, H.G. Wells, and Edith Wharton, yet until now there has been no biography of this immensely popular American writer. Humbly professing to be "just a good storyteller," Giles was a keen observer of life with great sensitivity, an ear for language, and a superb imagination. Her artistic achievements become even more remarkable when placed in the context of her often difficult personal struggles. Dianne Watkins Stuart, for years the acknowledged expert on Giles's work, has traced the path of her unique life. Stuart walked around the small house where Giles's brother was born and The Kinta Years (1973) had its origin, wandered through the yard where The Plum Thicket (1954) grew, and made countless trips to Adair County, Kentucky, to trace the trails of the Piney Ridge trilogy (The Enduring Hills, Miss Willie, Tara's Healing) and seek out the day-to-day life of her later years. Stuart's long-anticipated biography provides both a narrative of Giles's life and an in-depth description of the art and commerce of American publishing in the middle years of the century.

Includes Part 1, Number 1: Books and Pamphlets, Including Serials and Contributions to Periodicals (January - June)

The novels of Janice Holt Giles grew in part from her marriage to Kentuckian Henry Giles. That union and the couple's settling near Henry's boyhood home in Kentucky provided the source and inspiration for Janice's earliest books and influenced much of her later writing. Hello, Janice tells the story of how their marriage came about.

Lee Kennett provides a vivid portrait of the American soldier, or G.I., in World War II, from his registration in the draft, training in boot camp, combat in Europe and the Pacific, and to his final role as conqueror and occupier. It is all here: the "greetings" from Uncle Sam; endless lines in induction centers across the country; the unfamiliar and demanding world of the training camp, with its concomitant jokes, pranks, traditions, and taboos; and the comparative largess with which the Army was outfitted and supplied. Here we witness the G.I. facing combat: the courage, the heroism, the fear, and perhaps above all, the camaraderie—the bonds of those who survived the tragic sense of loss when a comrade died. Finally, when the war was over, the G.I.’s frequently experienced clumsy, hilarious, and explosive interactions with their civilian allies and with the former enemies whose countries they now occupied.

A comprehensive guide for the ultimate guardians of American freedom—the U.S. soldier. The Soldier’s Guide applies to every soldier in the Army—active, reserve, and National Guard—in every rank and specialty. It condenses important information from a number of U.S. Army regulations, field manuals, and other publications into one crucial volume. This manual describes the soldier’s role in the Army and the soldier’s obligations. Other subject areas are Army history, training, and professional development. This manual also describes standards in appearance and conduct and selected individual combat tasks that are important for every soldier to master. Written to answer the many questions asked by soldiers of all ranks in the Army, it covers everything from the history and traditions of the American military to training and service benefits. Find out about such ideals as The Warrior Ethos that drive soldiers during a mission and the Army’s values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, personal courage, and discipline. In addition, sections cover ethical reasoning, the basic principles of war, military courtesies, individual combat skills, and more. This guide will clarify and reinforce standards and help prepare any soldier to assume a leadership position. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a range of books for readers interested in military tactics and skills. We publish content provided by or of interest to the U.S. Army, Army Rangers, the U.S. Navy, Navy SEALs, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Department of Defense. Our books cover topics such as survival, emergency medicine, weapons, guns, weapons systems, hand-to-hand combat, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Some warriors are drawn to the thrill of combat and find it the defining moment of their lives. Others fall victim to fear, exhaustion, impaired reasoning, and despair. This was certainly true for twentieth-century American ground troops. Whether embracing or being demoralized by war, these men risked their lives for causes larger than themselves with no promise of safe return. This book is the first to synthesize the wartime experiences of American combat soldiers, from the doughboys of World War I to the grunts of Vietnam. Focusing on both soldiers and marines, it draws on histories and memoirs, oral histories, psychological and sociological studies, and even fiction to show that their experiences remain fundamentally the same regardless of the enemy, terrain, training, or weaponry. Peter Kindsvatter gets inside the minds of American soldiers to reveal what motivated them to serve and how they were turned into soldiers. He recreates the physical and emotional aspects of war to tell how fighting men dealt with danger and hardship, and he explores the roles of comradeship, leadership, and the sustaining beliefs in cause and country. He also illuminates soldiers’ attitudes toward the enemy, toward the rear echelon, and toward the home front. And he tells why some broke down under fire while others excelled. Here are the first tastes of battle, as when a green recruit reported that “for the first time I realized that the people over the ridge wanted to kill me,” while another was befuddled by the unfamiliar sound of bullets whizzing overhead. Here are soldiers struggling to cope with war’s stress by seeking solace from local women or simply smoking cigarettes. And here are tales of combat avoidance and fraggings not unique to Vietnam, of soldiers in Korea disgruntled over home-front indifference, and of the unique experiences of African American soldiers in the Jim Crow army. By capturing the core “band of brothers” experience across several generations of warfare, Kindsvatter celebrates the American soldier while helping us to better understand war’s lethal reality--and why soldiers persevere in the face of its horrors.