Col. Ray "Frenchy" L'Heureux always dreamed of bring a pilot. Growing up, he built airplane models and dreamed about soaring over the earth. When he was twelve, his mom treated him to a flying lesson at the local airfield. Taken on a short flight by an instructor and allowed to operate the controls for part of the flight, he was hooked forever. It wasn't until he was running low on college funds and saw a recruiter at his college that he joined the Marines and began the journey towards his dream from Parris Island to Bravo Company and, then, officer training school. One day at an airfield when President Reagan landed on this way to a fundraiser, Frenchy's life changed forever when encountered HMX1, the squadron that flies the President in Marine One. When he saw the white-topped Sea King and White Hawk helicopters, he was determined to become part of that elite group. Inside Marine One is Col. L'Heureux's inspiring story of a young man who dreamed of flying, trained, studied and worked hard to become the pilot who ended up serving four US Presidents - George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It's also a personal guided tour inside the world's most famous helicopter by a man who knows that flying machine better than any other. Inside Marine One is a great American success story of a young boy who dreamed big, worked hard and finally flew the President of the United States as his number one passenger.

An attorney and Marine veteran must unravel a deadly conspiracy in this explosive legal thriller by a New York Times–bestselling author. The President rushes across the South Lawn through a pounding thunderstorm to board Marine One and fly to Camp David late at night. Advisors plead with him not to go—but he insists. He has arranged a meeting that only three people in his administration know about. But he never gets there. Marine One crashes into a ravine, killing all aboard . . . The government accuses the French helicopter manufacturer of killing the president. Senate Investigations and Justice Department accusations multiply as Mike Nolan, a trial attorney and a Marine Corps reserve helicopter pilot, is hired to defend the company against a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the First Lady. Now Nolan must find out what really caused Marine One to crash, and why the president threw caution aside to attend a secret meeting. To clear his client, Nolan must win the highest-profile trial of the last hundred years with very little working for him and many working against him—intent on stopping him at any cost . . . Praise for Marine One “Bestseller Huston . . . grabs the reader by the lapels with the opening sentence of the first chapter of this outstanding thriller. . . . This is nonstop legal suspense at its best.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “This gripping thriller opens with a bang. . . . The author smoothly combines the political-conspiracy and courtroom-drama formats, and he nicely explores the story’s fundamental moral quandary. . . . The book has echoes of Michael Crichton’s Airframe.” —Booklist

Marine Force One is a special detachment of the Marine Corps whose prowess in combat and specialized training sets them apart from the average grunt. They charge where others retreat, and succeed where others fail. They are the best America’s got. As tensions continue to build between North and South Korea, Marine Force One is sent on a recon mission that reveals North Korea’s plans to use chemical weapons against the South. But before they can report to H.Q., they are ambushed and overwhelmed by a relentless pursuit force. Now, the battered and bloody team must take out the chemical weapons on their own and make it across the border alive.

From the author of Special Ops and Shadow Down comes this explosive action novel about Marine Force One, a special detachment of the Marine Corps whose prowess in combat and specialized training sets them apart from the average grunt. They charge where others retreat, and succeed where others fail. They are the best America’s got. Islamic terrorists have learned a new game—wreaking havoc on Middle Eastern oil facilities to send America reeling into economic turmoil. To find the leaders of the operation, Marine Force One heads to Yemen—but the job is more complicated than any search and destroy operation they’ve ever done. The terrorists have kidnapped an American Air Force officer, and getting close to them puts his life at risk. But Marine Force One plays by their own rules . . . and they play for keeps.

This heavily illustrated work is the only book to describe the entire history of the U.S. Marine Corps' air arm. With hundreds of rare photographs, this fourth edition represents a major redesign and update of the last edition, published more than a decade ago. Chapters include descriptions of early development and training, as well as combat deployments during World War I and in Central America. World War II and Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, and Southwest Asia campaigns are also well covered. The book's emphasis is on the Marines who made up the air squadrons, developed the aircraft and tactics, and fought the battles as the main support of troops on the ground. The text includes first-person accounts and comments from many participants--aviators and crewmen alike.

The Marine Corps has always considered itself a breed apart. Since 1775, America’s smallest armed service has been suspicious of outsiders and deeply loyal to its traditions. Marines believe in nothing more strongly than the Corps’ uniqueness and superiority, and this undying faith in its own exceptionalism is what has made the Marines one of the sharpest, swiftest tools of American military power. Along with unapologetic self-promotion, a strong sense of identity has enabled the Corps to exert a powerful influence on American politics and culture. Aaron O’Connell focuses on the period from World War II to Vietnam, when the Marine Corps transformed itself from America’s least respected to its most elite armed force. He describes how the distinctive Marine culture played a role in this ascendancy. Venerating sacrifice and suffering, privileging the collective over the individual, Corps culture was saturated with romantic and religious overtones that had enormous marketing potential in a postwar America energized by new global responsibilities. Capitalizing on this, the Marines curried the favor of the nation’s best reporters, befriended publishers, courted Hollywood and Congress, and built a public relations infrastructure that would eventually brand it as the most prestigious military service in America. But the Corps’ triumphs did not come without costs, and O’Connell writes of those, too, including a culture of violence that sometimes spread beyond the battlefield. And as he considers how the Corps’ interventions in American politics have ushered in a more militarized approach to national security, O’Connell questions its sustainability.

An ex-Marine captain shares his story of fighting in a recon battalion in both Afghanistan and Iraq, beginning with his brutal training on Quantico Island and following his progress through various training sessions and, ultimately, conflict in the deadliest conflicts since the Vietnam War.

In this riveting insider's chronicle, legendary Marine General "Brute" Krulak submits an unprecedented examination of U.S. Marines—their fights on the battlefield and off, their extraordinary esprit de corps. Deftly blending history with autobiography, action with analysis, and separating fact from fable, General Krulak touches the very essence of the Corps: what it means to be a Marine and the reason behind its consistently outstanding performance and reputation. Krulak also addresses the most basic but challenging question of all about the Corps: how does it manage to survive—even to flourish—despite overwhelming political odds and, as the general writes, ""an extraordinary propensity for shooting itself in the foot?"" To answer this question Krulak examines the foundation on which the Corps is built, a system of intense loyalty to God, to country, and to other Marines. He also takes a close look at Marines in war, offering challenging accounts of their experiences in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. In addition, he describes the Corps's relationship to other services, especially during the unification battles following World War II, and offers new insights into the decision-making process in times of crisis. First published in hardcover in 1984, this book has remained popular ever since with Marines of every rank.

New in Paperback! In the 1940s, FDR was the first airborne president, flying several times in a C-54 nicknamed the "Sacred Cow." In the 1950s, it was aircraft known as "Independence", "Columbine II" and "Columbine III" that transported Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower on occasion. But it was not until after the Korean War, with the United States becoming the leader of the free world, that presidential air travel entered the modern age. The jet-age mobility of the American presidency beginning in the 1960s corresponds directly to the nation's emergence as a super power. Air Force One: The Aircraft that Shaped the Modern Presidency is the story of the planes, the Presidents, their staff and, their many trips across the nation and around the globe. But it's also more than that, it is a vehicle for better understanding the activities and dealings of each presidential administration in the second half of the twentieth century. Through vibrant photography, this book communicates the story of a unique set of planes and the presidents who made them a vital national asset. Now all of these planes and their famous passengers have been captured. Written by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator Von Hardesty and featuring over 200 illustrations, including new photos of the airplane's interiors, this book takes you on a memorable flight through history. Through insider accounts and from a unique vantage point on well-known political events, Hardesty shows how the presidency was transformed by the remarkable advances in aviation technology.