Saturday, October 4, 2014

Intriguing Additions in Non-Fiction

The Demon of Brownsvile Road by Bob Cranmer

October 1988: Bob Cranmer buys a house in the Pittsburgh suburb he grew up in. He has no idea that his dream home is about to become his worst nightmare…

The Cranmers seemed fated to own the house at 3406 Brownsville Road. As a young boy, Bob had been drawn to the property, and, just when the family decided to move back to Brentwood, it went up for sale. Without a second thought, they purchased the house that Bob had always dreamed of owning.

But soon, the family began experiencing strange phenomena—objects moving on their own, ghostly footsteps, unsettling moaning sounds—that gradually increased in violence, escalating to physical assaults and, most disturbingly, bleeding walls. Bob, Lesa, and their four children were under attack from a malicious demon that was conjuring up terrifying manifestations to destroy their tight-knit household. They had two choices: leave or draw on their unwavering faith to exorcise the malicious fiend who haunted their home.

Now, Bob Cranmer recounts the harrowing true story of the evil presence that tormented his family and the epic spiritual war he fought to save everything he held dear…

Includes photos

For more information on Bob Cranmer and his latest works visit this website.

A Sniper in the Arizona: 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in the Arizona Territory, 1967 by John J. Culbertson

In 1967, death was the constant companion of the Marines of Hotel Company, 2/5, as they patrolled the paddy dikes, mud, and mountains of the Arizona Territory southwest of Da Nang. But John Culbertson and most of the rest of Hotel Company were the same lean, fighting Marines who had survived the carnage of Operation Tuscaloosa. Hotel's grunts walked over the enemy, not around him. 

In graphic terms, John Culbertson describes the daily, dangerous life of a soldier fighting in a country where the enemy was frequently indistinguishable from the allies, fought tenaciously, and thought nothing of using civilians as a shield. Though he was one of the top marksmen in 1st Marine Division Sniper School in Da Nang in March 1967--a class of just eighteen, chosen from the division's twenty thousand Marines--Culbertson knew that against the VC and the NVA, good training and experience could carry you just so far. But his company's mission was to find and engage the enemy, whatever the price. This riveting, bloody first-person account offers a stark testimony to the stuff U.S. Marines are made of.

For more information on John J. Culbertson and his latest works visit this website.

13 Cent Killers: the 5th Marine Snipers in Vietnam by John J. Culbertson

In 1967, a bullet cost thirteen cents, and no one gave Uncle Sam a bigger bang for his buck than the 5th Marine Regiment Sniper Platoon. So feared were these lethal marksmen that the Viet Cong offered huge rewards for killing them.

Now noted Vietnam author John J. Culbertson, a former 5th Marine sniper himself, presents the riveting true stories of young Americans who fought with bolt rifles and bounties on their heads during the fiercest combat of the war, from 1967 through the desperate Tet battle for Hue in early ’68.

In spotter/shooter pairs, sniper teams accompanied battle-hardened Marine rifle companies like the 2/5 on patrols and combat missions. Whether fighting their way out of a Viet Cong “kill zone” or battling superior numbers of NVA crack troops, the sniper teams were at the cutting edge in the art of jungle warfare, showing the patience, stealth, combat marksmanship, and raw courage that made the unit the most decorated regimental sniper platoon in the Vietnam War.

Harrowing and unforgettable, these accounts pay tribute to the heroes who made the greatest sacrifice of all–and leave no doubt that among 5th Marine snipers uncommon valor was truly a common virtue.

For more information on John J. Culbertson and his latest works visit this website.

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo

In March 1965, Marine Lieutnant Philip J. Caputo landed in Danang with the first ground combat unit committed to fight in Vietnam. 

Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history's ugliest wars, he returned home - physically whole, emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism shattered. 

A decade later, Caputo would write in A Rumor of War, 'This is simply a story about war, about the things men do in war and the things war does to them'.

For more information on Philip Caputo and his latest works visit this website.


MARSOC: U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command by Fred Pushies

In 2006, the U.S. Marines officially became part of the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) with the creation of the Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC). 

Drawn from the ranks of the Force Recon companies, these highly skilled and combat-proven Leathernecks would take the war to al Qaeda and the Taliban in America’s global war on terrorism. MARSOC is steeped in the heritage of the Marine Raiders of World War II, Force Reconnaissance companies of Vietnam, and Detachment-One, which stood up after the attacks on 9/11. 

Their mission is to win wars before they begin, taking the warfare beyond the front line. When America wants to display its might, the Commander in Chief will send in the Marines. With the creation of MARSOC, chances are they are already there.

For more information on Fred Pushies and his latest works visit this website.