It is 1970, and Jon Zachery is a young United States Navy pilot who wants nothing more than to gain combat experience during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, his patriotic sacrifice is of no value to the navy or the nation. His squadron has been slated to decommission with most of its pilots destined for dead-end jobs. As the pro-war lieutenant awaits his orders and drowns his sorrows in whiskey, his wife, Teresa, prays and hopes for a better tomorrow. Navy Lieutenant Amos Kane is a natural stick-and-throttle jockey who is known as Cool Hand Duke in the air and a prankster on the ground. As his dreams of being an attack pilot in Nam are taken away, he begins dating Charlotte Wilkins, who convinces him to adopt an antiwar philosophy. When orders cause Zachery and Kanes paths to converge in a bunkroom aboard an aircraft carrier in the Tonkin Gulf, it quickly becomes evident that the two lieutenants have vastly different viewpoints. As tragedy strikes and antagonism escalates, everyone discovers just how quickly life can change. In this military thriller, the paths of two navy pilots come together in a JO bunkroom during the Vietnam War where their perspectives clash, instigating life-changing consequences.

“The Restless Wave is not only a stirring and gripping story of the sea, but also of love and war and leadership. Admiral Stavridis’s sweeping knowledge of history and life in the Navy shines on every page, imbuing this work with authenticity and power.” —David Grann, #1 NYT bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon “In the engaging tradition of Herman Wouk and Patrick O’Brian, Admiral James Stavridis has given us a fascinating novel of one young man’s—and one great nation’s—war at sea. The book is at once entertaining and illuminating, touching on the most fundamental of human themes with deftness and an appreciation of the immense achievements of the United States Navy in the deadliest of eras.” —Jon Meacham From the New York Times bestselling former NATO commander comes a riveting historical novel that charts the coming-of-age of a gifted but immature young naval officer as he is tested in the crucible of World War II in the Pacific Scott Bradley James arrives in Annapolis, Maryland, as a plebe in the class of 1941 without a terribly good idea why he wants to be a naval officer, other than that his father was a sailor, and he wants to see the world, whatever that means. Scott and his roommate become fast friends, and, after surviving scrapes of their own making, the two fetch up at Pearl Harbor. War is brewing, and their class has graduated early. They have been sent to battle stations. Admiral James Stavridis is an acclaimed novelist, a decorated military leader, and a great student of military history. He draws on it all to capture the experience of being storm-tossed by the bloody first years of the Second World War. Scott Bradley James is a talented young officer, but he has a lot to learn. And war will have a lot to teach him. The Restless Wave offers a gripping account of the U.S. Navy’s astonishing progress through the first three years of the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor through to Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Coral Sea. A story of character under pressure in the harshest of proving grounds, it is written with careful fidelity to the truths of war that have made sea stories essential to the art of storytelling since Odysseus.

WWII 1944 The Pacific War Zone In the Pacific Fleet Replacement Pilot Pool at Pearl Harbor, Ensign Bruce Weber receives training in the new Grumman Hellcat fighter planes. He is then assigned to a fighter squadron aboard a carrier. Bruce demonstrates exceptional airmanship skills, shooting down several enemy aircraft. After he has accounted for more than a dozen enemy planes, squadron enlisted personnel repaint their heros plane with white engine speedring and tail to resemble a bald eagle. During the first few months of the deployment, three of Bruces close friends are shot down by Kenji Okada, a Japanese super ace known as The Osprey. Okada flies a Distinctively painted Zero. Bruce swears vengeance and searches for the Osprey on every flight. The two aces eventually meet. The dogfight is long and difficult but Bruce finally shoots Okada down. Returning to the carrier, Bruce lands almost out of fuel just before the ship is disabled by a Kamikaze. Fire decimates the aircraft and the ship is out of action. Both are ordered back to the states, their fighting days over at least for a while.

On July 20, 1969, the world stood still to watch American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong become the first person ever to step on the surface of another heavenly body. Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong was celebrated for his monumental achievement. He was also--as NASA historian Hansen reveals in this authorized biography--misunderstood. Armstrong's accomplishments as an engineer, a test pilot, and an astronaut have long been a matter of record, but Hansen's access to private documents and unpublished sources and his interviews with more than 125 subjects (including more than fifty hours with Armstrong himself) yield the first in-depth analysis of this elusive, reluctant hero.

The first official history of the legendary aircraft carrier that fought in World War II and Vietnam and continues to serve as a major air and space museum in New York City The USS Intrepid is a warship unlike any other. Since her launching in 1943, the 27,000-ton, Essex-class aircraft carrier has sailed into harm’s way around the globe. During World War II, she fought her way across the Pacific—Kwajalein, Truk, Peleliu, Formosa, the Philippines, Okinawa—surviving kamikaze and torpedo attacks and covering herself with glory. The famous ship endured to become a Cold War attack carrier, recovery ship for America’s first astronauts, and a three-tour combatant in Vietnam. In a riveting narrative based on archival research and interviews with surviving crewmen, authors Bill White and Robert Gandt take us inside the war in the Pacific. We join Intrepid’s airmen at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in October 1944, as they gaze in awe at the apparitions beneath them: five Japanese battleships, including the dreadnoughts Yamato and Musashi, plus a fleet of heavily armored cruisers and destroyers. The sky fills with multihued bursts of anti-aircraft fire. The flak, a Helldiver pilot would write in his action report, “was so thick you could get out and walk on it.” Half a dozen Intrepid aircraft are blown from the sky, but they sink the Musashi. A few months later, off Okinawa, they again meet her sister ship, the mighty Yamato. In a two-hour tableau of hellfire and towering explosions, Intrepid’s warplanes help send the super-battleship and 3,000 Japanese crewmen to the bottom of the sea. We’re next to nineteen-year-old Alonzo Swann in Gun Tub 10 aboard Intrepid as he peers over the breech of a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun. He’s heard of kamikazes, but until today he’s never seen one. Swann and his fellow gunners are among the few African Americans assigned to combat duty in the U.S. Navy of 1944. Blazing away at the diving Japanese Zero, Swann realizes with a dreadful certainty where it will strike: directly into Gun Tub 10. The authors follow Intrepid’s journey to Vietnam. “MiG-21 high!” crackles the voice of Lt. Tony Nargi in his F-8 Crusader. It is 1968, and Intrepid is again at war. Launching from Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, Nargi and his wingman have intercepted a flight of Russian-built supersonic fighters. Minutes later, after a swirling dogfight over North Vietnam, Nargi—and Intrepid—have added another downed enemy airplane to their credit. Intrepid: The Epic Story of America’s Most Legendary Warship brings a renowned ship to life in a stirring tribute complete with the personal recollections of those who served aboard her, dramatic photographs, time lines, maps, and vivid descriptions of Intrepid’s deadly conflicts. More than a numbers-and-dates narrative, Intrepid is the story of people—those who sailed in her, fought to keep her alive, perished in her defense—and powerfully captures the human element in this saga of American heroism.

Today only a select few know firsthand what it is like to feel their ship shudder from the blast of their own guns, watch enemy guns flash back, and see friendly ships erupt in flames. Russell Crenshaw is one of those few. His riveting account of the savage night battle for the Solomon Islands in early 1943 offers readers a unique insider’s perspective from the decks of one of the destroyers that bore the brunt of the struggle. Russell Crenshaw was a gunnery officer on the USS Maury. His vivid, balanced, and detailed narrative includes the Battle of Tassafarounga in November 1942 and Vella Gulf in August 1943, actions that earned his warship a Presidential Unit Citation and sixteen battle stars. Crenshaw also discusses the impact of radar and voice radio, the shortcomings of U.S. torpedoes and gunfire, and the devastating effectiveness of Japan’s super torpedo.

A Vietnam veteran takes you into the cockpit and shares true stories of his flying career in this compelling memoir. In this action-packed memoir, Jules Harper recounts the unique process of becoming a naval aviator, revealing his experiences as a brand new pilot in a combat squadron and, finally, a flying warrior. He survived two combat cruises aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk from 1966–1968, compiled 332 career carrier takeoffs and landings, and was shot at daily by enemy fire while completing 200 combat missions over Vietnam, and shares the views of the aviators who flew along with him on these missions while fighting this unpopular war. A recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, twenty-one Air Medals, and many other accolades, he offers readers a new understanding and appreciation of the warriors who protect not only their comrades in arms, but the defense of the nation as well.

This is a courageous act of self-reflection, a firsthand meditation on one man’s surviving humanity as experience transforms to tales recited and truths gained, weaving his own path in an evolving voice into the fabric of America’s efforts in WWII, his pursuit to realize childhood dreams—the battle between the time we get in life and the earned wisdom we take from it in the ever-important hunt for what it all should mean. — Charles Clayton, screenwriter We follow a boy’s passion for flying to become one of the unsung heroes of World War II—his extensive flight training, earning navy wings of gold, being an aviator aboard the USS Franklin in the Pacific theater, deaths of friends, destruction of his ship while being the agent of destruction of the enemy (a toll he keeps to himself), the eye-opening July 4 mission, being hit, returning safely to the Franklin, only to fly two more missions that day. A must read. — John Holzapfel, past Southold Town trustee, past Oysterponds Historical Society president, educator US Navy lieutenant Robe r t Hungerford’s boyhood dream of flying led to flight training, his life on the line as a fighter aviator aboard the USS Franklin, and major battles against the Japanese war machine. The final tribute to Lieutenant Hungerford will leave you with tear-fi led eyes. A tender memoir from our greatest generation. — Edward Wellington Webb, navy veteran, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, retired senior VP of American Heart Association (Heritage Affiliate) As a former CWO who flew army aviation with the 117th Assault Helicopter Company during the Vietnam era, reading my pal Bob’s memoir put me in his cockpit, on board the Franklin, and in the squadron ready room and added some good laughs at his barstool. A tender tale of a flying dream accomplished. — Richard Constant, former CWO, USAR, Third Platoon (Sidewinder 5)

In 1951, as tensions escalate on the Korean Peninsula, a Stanford freshman who prefers a dry ship to a wet foxhole, and who has a ferocious fear of flying, joins the Stanford NROTC on the promise of a Marine Colonel that he never has to fly in the Navy. The Colonel of course meant fly like at the controls of an airplane. Our young hero thought he meant fly like in an airplane. And thus began the hysterical adventures of he who didnt want to fly but ended up in the air. Four years later, he is commissioned an ensign after graduating from Stanford and completing two years of law school. He then receives orders for Japan and nervously boards a cargo plane, beginning an unforgettable adventure to keep America safe for democracy with a laugh a minute. When Dick finally arrives on his assigned ship, the USS Oriskany, he is appointed temporary legal officer and even more temporarily, a lieutenant commander. In the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, he handles legal cases, makes new friends, and learns how to survive life on an aircraft carrier. His adventures eventually lead him to the girl of his dreams, literally, and onto the deck of the USS Lake Champlain where more hysterical and some very moving events await. Carrier Daze shares tales of a nave naval officers entertaining adventures on the water and beyond as he serves his country and becomes a man.

A smash bestseller that spent over six months on the New York Times bestseller list, Flight of the Intruder became an instant classic. No one before or since ever captured the world of Navy carrier pilots with the gripping realism of Vietnam veteran Stephen Coonts, who lived the life he wrote about. More than a flying story, Flight of the Intruder is also one of the best novels ever written about the Vietnam experience. It's all here—the flying, the dying, the blood and bombs and bullets, and the sheer joy—and terror—of life at full throttle. "Gripping...Smashing. —The Wall Street Journal Grazing the Vietnam treetops at night at just under the speed of sound, A-6 Intruder pilot Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton knows exactly how precarious life is. Landing on a heaving aircraft carrier, dodging missiles locked on his fighter, flying through clouds of flak—he knows each flight could be his last. Yet he straps himself into a cockpit every day. "Extraordinary!"—Tom Clancy Then a bullet kills his bombardier while they're hitting another ‘suspected' truck depot. Jake wonders what his friend died for—and why? Hitting pointless targets selected by men piloting desks just doesn't make sense. Maybe it's time to do something worthwhile. Something that will make a difference... "Superbly written." — Washington Times Jake and his new bombardier, ice-cold Tiger Cole, are going to pick their own target and hit the enemy where it hurts. But to get there and back in one piece is going to take a lot of nerve, even more skill, and an incredible amount of raw courage. Before it's over, they're going to fly into hell.