Titled after the US Air Force song, this engaging debut explores the legacy of the Greatest Generation from the perspective of Generation Y, the fallout of war through the eyes of a pacifist, and the enduring human desire for love, adventure, truth, and understanding. Pensive in the wake of 9/11, a young man—our “correspondent between the past and the present”—launches a mission to reunite his beloved grandfather, an American bombardier, with Luddie, the woman who saved him during WWII. Armed only with the address on the back of an old photograph and his grandfather’s memories, the young man begins writing letters to Luddie. Undaunted by her lack of response, the narrator travels to Poland with his girlfriend and grandfather. As they come closer to finding the site where the bombardier was shot down, the letters to Luddie become more personal and the saga of a family with a long and storied history emerges. Beautifully orchestrated and eloquently original, each sentence slowly builds upon the next in a charming style both poetic and engrossing. A tale of soldiers and saviors, of burning and bombing, of fathers and sons and brothers and lovers, this is also the story of what we find when we dare to revisit the past. Born in Iowa in 1979, Travis Nichols now lives in Chicago. An editor at the Poetry Foundation, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Believer, Details, Paste, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Stranger. Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder is his first novel.

Over 650 Vietnam War novels have been published, mostly dark tales from the war zone. In Wild Blue Yonder, Airman Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers goes not to Vietnam but Germany, straight into a military Catch-22. His assignment: writing stories for the Stars and Stripes newspaper that will never see print. Nate's adventure deepens as he and his fellow troops try to understand why they're there, the military mindset, and the massive social disruption roiling 1960's America. Existential, psychedelic, funny, and laced with rock 'n' roll, Wild Blue Yonder is the story of Nate's quest for personal and spiritual values while trying to learn the meaning of family, friendship, and the love of the girl he left behind.

In Wild Blue Media, Melody Jue destabilizes terrestrial-based ways of knowing and reorients our perception of the world by considering the ocean itself as a media environment—a place where the weight and opacity of seawater transforms how information is created, stored, transmitted, and perceived. By recentering media theory on and under the sea, Jue calls attention to the differences between perceptual environments and how we think within and through them as embodied observers. In doing so, she provides media studies with alternatives to familiar theoretical frameworks, thereby challenging scholars to navigate unfamiliar oceanic conditions of orientation, materiality, and saturation. Jue not only examines media about the ocean—science fiction narratives, documentary films, ocean data visualizations, animal communication methods, and underwater art—but reexamines media through the ocean, submerging media theory underwater to estrange it from terrestrial habits of perception while reframing our understanding of mediation, objectivity, and metaphor.

A habitual interloper crashes a wedding blog in this darkly comic novel of Internet obsession, unrequited love, and isolation.

The soaring saga and official history of Brigham Young University football, what some people have called the Mormon Notre Dame.

From the most important leaders and the most courageous victories to the earliest machines of flight and the most advanced Stealth technology, Walter J. Boyne's Beyond the Wild Blue presents a fascinating look at 50 turbulent years of Air Force history. From the prop-driven armada of World War II to the most advanced Stealth weaponry, from pioneers like General Henry "Hap" Arnold to glorious conquests in the Gulf War, Beyond the Wild Blue is a high-flying study of the triumphs (and failures) of leadership and technology. In three new chapters, Walter Boyne covers an eventful ten years, including 9/11, the invasion of Afghanistan, and the second Gulf War, describing in detail the technological advancements that led to highly efficient airstrikes in Iraq. He also takes stock of the Air Force's doctrine and mission statements as this unique sector of the military grapples with an ever-changing world.

One Army Air Corps soldier's ordeals during World War II. Written in the personable voice of someone reflecting honestly on his life's journey, this autobiography is full of anecdotes of a Depression-era Montana boyhood and culminates with the author's training for service as a B-17 pilot and subsequent role as a flight instructor.

You’re considering joining or joined the United States Air Force (USAF). You desire to put your best foot forward at your new job and achieve a rewarding career. To rally toward your goal, “march in step’ ---work as a team---with proven strategies of success to “close ranks”---get and stay ahead in your career---for building your leadership skills and earning your next stripe. This scaled down, second book in the Career Progression Guide for Airmen series ‘cuts to the chase’ and walks you through career progression steps –from A to Z – allowing you to still hone in on the hard-core information for leadership and promotion increase opportunities. As you near the milestone of making the next rank, it then becomes a stepping stone for you to further mission accomplishment and see, sense, and smell a ‘rewarding career’ fi nish line. You’re also supplied with coaching and mentoring you must have for growth and value as a professional Airmen. The Basics features inspirational lead-off chapter quotes, step-by-step arrangement of the performance report’s accomplishment bullet statement’ sequence, which is important for documenting your job performance, and a 6-point key summary to reinforce your learning and help you to keep your job and career goals in sight. From goal setting, successfully performing to meet expectations, to serving others and self, “The Basics” cuts to the quick and provides you the means to get the job done well and touch and taste the promotion you earn! Chief Master Sergeant Mark C. Overton, USAF (Retired), is a graduate of the USAF Chiefs’ Leadership Course and earned a masters degree in computer resources and information management. During his twenty six years in the Air Force, Chief Overton’s background includes various duties in 25 communications-computer systems assignments and deployments at the unit, wing and numbered air force levels. Offering a rare perspective of serving as a chief master sergeant, retiree, key spouse mentor, and federal civilian employee, he has penned commentaries on leadership

You’re considering joining or joined the Air Force team. You desire to put your best foot forward at your new job. Maybe you already have your foot in the door and feel job contentment eludes you. “March in step”---work as a team---with proven strategies of success to “close ranks”---get ahead in your career. Where other books are theoretical and geared toward soldiers or officers, Career Progression Guide for Airmen extends practical and insightful advice to develop your knowledge and leadership skills to see, sense, and smell a rewarding career. You´re also supplied with coaching you must have for growth as a professional Airman. Career Progression Guide for Airmen features step-by-step arrangement of the performance report’s bullet statements’ sequence and 6-point chapter key summary to keep your job and career goals in sight. From goal setting, performing to meet expectations, and serving, to transitioning, Overton covers your career progress and provides you tools to get the job done well and touch and taste promotion!

If the cast of Peanuts were on a drunken boat, their cries for help would resemble poems of Travis Nichols.