Eagles on Their Buttons is a fascinating examination of the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, United States Colored Troops -- the Union Army's first black regiment from Ohio. Although the Fifth USCT was one of more than 150 regiments of black troops making up more than 10 percent of the Union Army at the end of the war, it was unique. The majority of USCT regiments were made up of freed men who viewed the army as an escape from slavery and a chance to take up arms against their former masters. The men serving in the 5th USCT, however, were freemen who were raised in a northern state and saw serving in the army both as a way to gain equal rights under the law and as an opportunity to prove their worth as men. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

There were no marching bands welcoming home returning troops from Vietnam, no ticker-tape parades for its heroes and no celebrations in Time Square. Instead, returning Vets were confronted with a range of reactions, not the least of which were indifference, silent disapproval, criticism, hostility and even contempt, in some quarters, for their lack of cleverness in not avoiding service in a war zone. Most returning Vietnam warriors were bewildered by the reactions of their fellow countrymen; but, then how could they possibly comprehend the psychological phenomenon which was only beginning to take hold and would later be named the "Vietnam Syndrome", a phenomenon which, at its extremes, was manifested in a revulsion to all things military? Even those who were proud of the returning servicemen and women were hardly effusive in their praise and greeted them with only muted enthusiasm. Most of these young veterans of an undeclared war had been shaped and molded in their formative years by the patriotic fervor which seized America during World War II and continued for perhaps a decade and a half after V. J. day. But, American society had profoundly changed in the 1960s with a shift in emphasis away from national goals to more individual ones such as civil rights, sexual liberation, pacifism, academic freedom, consciousness raising and a reaction against the excesses of the "military industrial complex", ironically named by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The cataclysmic cultural revolution of the 1960s collided violently with the more nationalistic goals of containing the spread of international communism and curbing the expansionist policies of the Soviet Union and Red China. Those who actually fought the Vietnam War became collateral victims of a wrenching cultural war, not of their own making; for the core values of these young men and women had, for the most part, not changed. Just as the World War II generation was imbued with traditional values of patriotism, loyalty to one's comrades, anti-totalitarianism and democratic freedom, most heroes of the Vietnam War were similarly grounded. The major difference is that while the former were celebrated, the latter were largely forgotten. Last Full Measure of Devotion calls upon us to revisit this remarkable generation of military heroes and, at long last, accord them the recognition withheld from them for almost four decades. The 22 individual profiles of Vietnam heroes contained between these covers are meant to be representative of the vast majority of Americans who served with honor in that lonely and beleaguered country on the South China Sea, more than thirty-five years ago.

Infantry Soldier describes in harrowing detail the life of the men assigned to infantry rifle platoons during World War II. Few people realize the enormously disproportionate burden the men in these platoons carried: although only 6 percent of the U.S. Army in Europe. They suffered most of the casualties. George W. Neill served with a rifle platoon in the 99th Infantry Division. Now a seasoned journalist, he takes the reader into the foxholes to reveal how combat infantrymen lived and survived, what they thought, and how they fought. Beginning with basic training in Texas and Oklahoma, Neill moves to the front lines in Belgium and Germany. There he focuses on the role of his division in the Battle of the Bulge. The 99th, recruits bolstered by veterans of the 2nd Division, held the northern line of the bulge, preventing a German breakthrough and undermining their strategy. Using his wartime letters, his research in the United States and Europe, and hundreds of interviews, Neill chronicles his and his friends’ experiences—acts of horror and heroism on the front line.

Napoleon's line infantry was founded upon that of the Ancien Régime. A total re-organisation began on 1 January 1791 with the abolition of the old regimental titles, and over the next two years an increasing number of conscript and volunteer battalions were formed. Their quality varied from the proficiency of the early National Guard regiments to the untrained and ill-equipped rabble of the levée. To combine the discipline and steadiness of the regular army with the revolutionary fervour of the new army, the Amalgame was decreed on 21 February; by this measure each regular battalion became the nucleus of a new Demi-Brigade.

This is a reprint of the second edition of this important work prepared by the Military History and Publication Section of The Infantry School under the direction of George C. Marshall. Maps. Illustrated.

EARL J. HESS is Stewart W. McClelland Chair in History at Lincoln Memorial University and the author of fifteen books on the Civil War, including Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign ; The Knoxville Campaign: Burnside and Longstreet in East Tennessee ; and The Civil War in the West: Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi.

From the first battle at Lexington Green in 1775 that started the Revolutionary War to the on-going War Against Terrorism, the American Infantry Soldier has stood courageously to fight toe-to-toe against the enemies of freedom and our way of life. Battle is up close and very personal to the Infantryman in a way that no other Soldier must face. Forged in the fires of revolution, tested on continental battlefields, battered at the shores of Normandy, fought through frozen ridgelines and jungle swamps, and hardened on the sands of the Persian Gulf, for over 230 years the Infantryman has honoured his non-negotiable contract with the American people to fight and win the nation's wars. Written by an outstanding team, including historians, and distinguished retired Army officers, U.S. Army Infantry has over 350 pages of riveting and informative text and stories of the Infantry experience. Essays on the Infantry's history and today's soldiers focus not only on the weapons, but especially on the people-the Infantry Soldier-that make it all work. The thoughtful incorporation of full-colour and vintage photography, portraits, recruiting posters, and historically inspired paintings complements the text while adding the excitement that only spectacular illustrations can bring to a book.