The Battle of Fallujah tested Dr. Donnelly Wilkes in many ways. It refined his medical skills AND his faith. He tells his story in the autobiography Wilkes had accepted a Navy scholarship and was in his fourth year of medical school when the September 11th attacks occurred. At that moment he realized his career as a Navy doctor was likely to take a different turn. He chose to embed with the Marines in order to stay closer to his wife. [...]
The Devil’s Hand is the fourth book by bestselling author and former Navy SEAL Jack Carr. It follows on his three other wildly successful novels “The Terminal List”, “True Believer” and “Savage Son”. Jack served 20 years at the tip of the spear, beginning as an enlisted Navy SEAL sniper and rising to the rank of Lt. Commander. When it became apparent that further promotion would mean he would no longer be in the field “kicking in doors”, he decided [...]
“Three Wise Men” tells the story of one family’s extreme sacrifice during the longest sustained period of conflict in our nation’s history. All three Wise brothers enlisted. Jeremy became a Navy SEAL, Ben a Green Beret and Beau a Marine. Together they would spend 1,600 days deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both Jeremy and Ben would be killed in action, triggering the Department of Defense “Sole Survivor” designation for youngest brother Beau. The Fog of War is a recurring theme [...]
One might say that military service is in Col. Joseph Turnham’s DNA. His family traces their military service back to his sixth great grandfather who fought at Valley Forge and was present at Yorktown for the surrender of Cornwallis. Turnham HAD planned to become a doctor until he took some flying lessons. He now has over 3,600 hours in the cockpit – 1,149 of those in combat. Prior to assuming command of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (one of the largest [...]
Operation Desert Storm would be Jeff “Tico” Tice’s first opportunity to fly combat missions. Things didn’t turn out as well as planned. On his second combat mission of the conflict, a last minute mechanical issue forced Jeff to switch aircraft and didn’t allow time for his good luck tradition of spitting into the plane’s exhaust. On the second day of the Desert Storm "Shock & Awe" campaign Jeff’s F-16 was hit by an Iraqi surface to air missile. He would [...]
Col. Michael Drowley has flown a wide assortment of aircraft over his career. Heavy bombers like the B-1 & B-52, the C-130 and C-17 heavy transport planes, F-15 & F-16 fighter jets, the B-2 Stealth bomber and even helicopters. But the slow and tough A-10 Thunderbolt is his favorite. He is careful to make a distinction between fighter pilots and attack pilots. The A-10 was designed and built with one singular purchase – to support troops on the ground. [...]
Will and Cairo Cairo was a very special dog for many reasons – not the least of which was the fact he was part of the elite team chosen to execute Operation Neptune Spear – the mission to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden. Cairo’s partner and handler Will Chesney joins us to discuss his tribute to Cairo as presented in his book “No Ordinary Dog; My Partner From the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid.” Fellow [...]
Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation President and CEO Michael “Rod” Rodriguez certainly has the “bonafides” to lead this initiative. Military service is a “family business”; his grandfathers served in World War II and his father served in Vietnam. Rod’s wife is a Veteran and his son currently serves with the 82nd Airborne. Rod himself served 21 years, much of it as a member of the elite Green Berets. Green Berets are often the “first to go” and it was [...]
“Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes With the 101st Airborne” is one of three books authored by Colonel Jimmy Blackmon. Pale Horse tells the true story of an Army aviation task force in Afghanistan during a period when “we fought every day of the year”. While he has flown high risk missions all over the globe, Jimmy’s introduction to the Army was not quite so glamorous. With working at the local cotton mill his only prospect after High School, [...]
“Jet Girl: My Life in War, Peace and the Cockpit of the Navy’s Most Lethal Aircraft” is an autobiography of Caroline Johnson’s path to becoming one of the first women to drop bombs on ISIS fighters. While the book has plenty of combat stories, the central theme describes the challenges faced by Caroline in her quest to join the community of elite jetfighters. Following graduation from the US Naval Academy, she was assigned as a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) on [...]