The trauma of hostile fire, roadside bombs, mines, and the ab- duction and death of comrades is told in vivid, unforgettable detail. ''''The fundamental and essential purpose of the United Nations is to keep the peace. Everything which does not further that goal, either directly or indirectly, is at best superfluous.'''' - Henry Cabot Lodge, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations From the 1950s to the present day, Canadian peacekeepers have been employed as a stabilizing force and an instrument of peace in every corner of the globe. In this first-hand account, Terry ''''Stoney'''' Burke paints a graphic picture of a peacekeeper's life in one of the most tumultuous and dangerous regions of the world. From the war-torn island of Cyprus, through his later missions in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, we follow him as he weaves an intriguing narrative of life as a Canadian peacekeeper.

From inexperienced soldier to seasoned veteran of nine U.N. missions in Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, Terry Burke gives us a detailed account of a peacekeeper's life in the ever-turbulent Middle East.

Inspired by the wartime experiences of her late father-in-law, award-winning author Bobbie Ann Mason has written an unforgettable novel about an American World War II pilot shot down in Occupied Europe. When Marshall Stone returns to his crash site decades later, he finds himself drawn back in time to the brave people who helped him escape from the Nazis. He especially recalls one intrepid girl guide who risked her life to help him--the girl in the blue beret. At twenty-three, Marshall Stone was a U.S. flyboy stationed in England. Headstrong and cocksure, he had nine exhilarating bombing raids under his belt when enemy fighters forced his B-17 to crash-land in a Belgian field near the border of France. The memories of what happened next--the frantic moments right after the fiery crash, the guilt of leaving his wounded crewmates and fleeing into the woods to escape German troops, the terror of being alone in a foreign country--all come rushing back when Marshall sets foot on that Belgian field again. Marshall was saved only by the kindness of ordinary citizens who, as part of the Resistance, moved downed Allied airmen through clandestine, often outrageous routes (over the Pyrenees to Spain) to get them back to their bases in England. Even though Marshall shared a close bond with several of the Resistance members who risked their lives for him, after the war he did not look back. But now he wants to find them again--to thank them and renew their ties. Most of all, Marshall wants to find the courageous woman who guided him through Paris. She was a mere teenager at the time, one link in the underground line to freedom. Marshall's search becomes a wrenching odyssey of discovery that threatens to break his heart--and also sets him on a new course for the rest of his life. In his journey, he finds astonishing revelations about the people he knew during the war--none more electrifying and inspiring than the story of the girl in the blue beret. Intimate and haunting, The Girl in the Blue Beret is a beautiful and affecting story of love and courage, war and redemption, and the startling promise of second chances.

An unprecedented view of Green Beret training, drawn from the year Dick Couch spent at Special Forces training facilities with the Army’s most elite soldiers. In combating terror, America can no longer depend on its conventional military superiority and the use of sophisticated technology. More than ever, we need men like those of the Army Special Forces–the legendary Green Berets. Following the experiences of one class of soldiers as they endure this physically and mentally exhausting ordeal, Couch spells out in fascinating detail the demanding selection process and grueling field exercises, the high-level technical training and intensive language courses, and the simulated battle problems that test everything from how well SF candidates gather operational intelligence to their skills at negotiating with volatile, often hostile, local leaders. Chosen Soldier paints a vivid portrait of an elite group, and a process that forges America’s smartest, most versatile, and most valuable fighting force.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An edge-of-your-seat thriller about a group of retired Green Berets who come together to save a former comrade—and 500 other Afghans—being targeted by the Taliban in the chaos of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. In April 2021, an urgent call was placed from a Special Forces operator serving overseas. The message was clear: Get Nezam out of Afghanistan now. Nezam was part of the Afghan National Army’s first group of American-trained commandos; he passed through Fort Bragg’s legendary Q course and served alongside the US Special Forces for over a decade. But Afghanistan’s government and army were on the edge of collapse, and Nezam was receiving threatening texts from the Taliban. The message reached Nezam’s former commanding officer, retired Lt. Col. Scott Mann, who couldn’t face the idea of losing another soldier in the long War on Terror. Immediately, he sends out an SOS to a group of Afghan vets (Navy SEALs, Green Berets, CIA officers, USAID advisors). They all answer the call for one last mission. Operating out of basements and garages, Task Force Pineapple organizes an escape route for Nezam and gets him into hiding in Taliban-controlled Kabul. After many tense days, he braves the enemy checkpoints and the crowds of thousands blocking the airport gates. He finally makes it through the wire and into the American-held airport thanks to the frantic efforts of the Pineapple express, a relentless Congressional aide, and a US embassy official. Nezam is safe, but calls are coming in from all directions requesting help for other Afghan soldiers, interpreters, and at-risk women and children. Task Force Pineapple widens its scope—and ends up rescuing 500 more Afghans from Kabul in the three chaotic days before the ISIS-K suicide bombing. Operation Pineapple Express is a thrilling, suspenseful tale of service and loyalty amidst the chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The inspiring true story of a US Special Forces soldier who was medically retired after stepping on an IED, and his incredible return to active duty. Sergeant First Class (SFC) Ryan Hendrickson is a brave, determined, and courageous soldier -- a Green Beret clearing the way for his twelve-man team while conducting combat operations against the Taliban. As the "tip of the spear," his role is to ensure the route taken by U.S. and Afghan troops are free of IEDs -- improvised explosive devices. Many soldiers do not survive their last step; those who do often lose at least one limb. While rescuing an Afghan soldier outside a mud-hut compound in 2010 -- knowing that he was in "uncleared" territory -- Ryan stepped on an IED with his right foot. The device exploded, leaving his foot dangling at the end of his leg. American soldiers losing a limb is an all-too-common occurrence. But what makes Ryan's story different is that after undergoing two dozen surgeries and a tortuous rehabilitation, he was medically retired but fought to return to active duty. Multiple skin grafts to his leg and right foot successfully reattached his lower leg, and he was aided in his recovery by wearing a new prosthetic device known as an IDEO (Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis). Once he passed a series of crucial physical tests, Ryan was able to rejoin the Green Berets within a year and physically perform his duties, redeploying to Afghanistan in March 2012. In 2016, he volunteered to return to Afghanistan with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group. During a firefight with the Taliban, he risked his life under heavy enemy fire to rescue three Afghan soldiers cut off from friendly forces and return the bodies of two dead Afghan soldiers under the ethos that "no one gets left behind." For his heroic efforts on the battlefield, SFC Ryan Hendrickson was awarded a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor. An engaging and harrowing account, Tip of the Spear tells the amazing story of one Green Beret's indomitable spirit.

The danger of participating in live-fire exercises and a Christmas spent in a military prison are described in detail in this graphic picture of military life at the height of the Cold War. ''''From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an 'iron curtain' has descended across the continent.'''' These words, uttered by Winston Churchill in 1946, heralded the beginning of the Cold War. In this first-hand account of a NATO soldier, Terry Stoney Burke paints a graphic picture of military life at the height of the Cold War. From the trials and tribulations of basic training, through his progress of becoming an infantryman and explosive specialist, to his posting in Germany, his pull no punches narrative tells the sometimes humorous, often poignant, story of life as a common soldier. Cold War Soldieris not a book for veterans alone. Burkes explanations of military procedures, weapons, and army life strike a happy balance between reminding ex-servicemen of things they knew but may have forgotten, and creating a clear picture for the military novice.

Inside the Blue Berets looks at the origins of the Russian shock troops. It provides an exciting description of the harrowing Russian airborne assaults of World War II and the combat uses of these troops in the Cold War years as they took on an important new role as "imperial storm troopers" - the infantry that enforced Soviet power, first in Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia. By then paratroopers had become a true elite, with the best and brightest of the Red Army competing for the prized blue beret. In the 1980s, the VDV became trapped in the quagmire of Afghanistan. Bloodied and weary after ten years of brutal fighting, the paratroopers returned home and were immediately ordered to don their flak jackets and control the civil turmoil resulting from perestroika. Inside the Blue Berets offers the first lucid description of the murky situation that surrounded the breakup of the USSR.

Chief Warrant Officer and Green Beret Dave Riley returns in a contemporary thriller set in the shrouded, secret world of the federal witness protection program, where he discovers once again that no one can be trusted and the stakes are life itself.