James E. Wise

"A companion volume to the popular Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services by the same authors, this book is filled with more than thirty celebrity profiles of motion picture stars who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from World War I through Vietnam. Many readers will discover for the first time the contributions to the Corps of such actors as Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Harvey Keitel, Brian Dennehy, Hugh O'Brian, and Ed McMahon, and the heroic actions of Marines like Sterling Hayden, Brian Keith, Dale Dye, and Lee Marvin."--BOOK JACKET. "Accompanied by some never-before-published photographs, many of these revealing profiles are based on recent interviews with the stars or their families and friends. Battle reports, unit diaries, and personnel records were consulted to authenticate the details of their military careers. Filled with little-known facts and fascinating tidbits of information, this book will delight and inform the staunchest Marine supporter and most avid movie fan."--BOOK JACKET.

"Heroism, tragedy, devotion to duty, and scandal are just a few of the ingredients that make up this dramatic account of troopship losses in wartime. International in scope, the book offers a compilation of stories about historic troopship disasters caused by torpedoes, aerial attacks, mines, surface fire, foul weather, friendly fire, and poor planning by military decision makers ... Board of inquiry hearings, action reports, survivor debriefings, and personal correspondence collected from archives in Germany, Italy, Russia, Australia, Britain, and the United States help tell the stories of the fifty vessels described in the book. An introductory chapter provides an overview of troopship evolution and losses at sea, beginning with the age of galley warfare. The first to provide a sweeping survey of the subject, this book pays long overdue tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in vast oceans far from home"--Dust jkt.

"This book is filled with celebrity profiles of motion picture stars who served in the U.S. Army and air services from World War I through the Vietnam War. Many readers will discover for the first time details of the contributions made by Audie Murphy, Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart, and many others. Most remarkable is the large number of celebrities who chose to serve their country in a military capacity - especially during World War II - instead of continuing their lives of luxury in Hollywood.". "Readers can find out about Ronald Reagan producing training films for pilots as an officer in the Army Air Corps Reserve, Sgt. Elvis Presley's expertise in jeep maintenance, and how Clark Gable almost became a casualty while flying on a bombing mission over Germany. Rarely have the lives of movie stars been so honestly portrayed and with such interesting anecdotes and photographs of their military experiences. Encyclopedic in scope, these portraits draw on interviews with the stars and their families, and on official reports and documents to assure authenticity. Even the most avid movie buff will be surprised and delighted by the little-known facts presented here, and military buffs and historians will be impressed by the often difficult and sometimes dangerous work of these celebrities."--BOOK JACKET.

"This collection of profiles in courage highlights the Sailors and Marines awarded the U.S. Navy's highest honor for valor, the Navy Cross. It is the first book to focus on the stories of those recognized for their heroic actions while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Descriptions of their bravely during hellish firefights against insurgents in Baghdad, Nasiriyah, Fallujah, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kandahar read like scripts from Hollywood action films, but they are about actual events carried out by real people putting their lives on the line to save others. This book also includes selected profiles of Navy Cross recipients from previous wars whose stories stand out as the best among an elite group.". "Readers will marvel at the extraordinary courage shown by the awardees and at their modesty in describing their actions as something any Marine or Sailor would do. Among the recent Navy Cross recipients included here are CPO Stephen Bass and CPO Britt Slabinski, both Navy SEALs; the "Fallujah Seven" Marines; Capt. Brent Morel; Sgt. Willie L. Copeland III; 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal; Sgt. Robert J. Mitchell; Sgt. Jeremiah Workman; Sgt. Jarrett Kraft; and LCpl. Dominic D. Esquibel."--BOOK JACKET.

London, 1851. An alluring, outspoken widow and an enigmatic agent are drawn into a web of power, greed, and ambition that threatens to overturn the very future of the British Empire…Society knows Lilly Clarence Hampton as a respected widow who was wildly in love with her husband, the architect of London’s famed Crystal Palace. The truth…well, the truth would cost Lilly her reputation, her freedom, and quite possibly her life. And one man has uncovered it—the reclusive, savagely handsome Julian St. Martin. A former agent of the Crown, Julian intends to blackmail Lilly to obtain plans to the Palace, where the Koh-I-Noor—the largest diamond in the world—will be presented to Queen Victoria at the Great Exhibition. Men have committed all manner of crimes to possess the fabled gem, but Julian’s intentions are even darker. And the closer he gets to the beguiling Lilly, the more complicated matters become.Succumbing to intense, primal desire, Julian and Lilly both become pawns in a wicked game where no one can be trusted, and where the final, shocking truth will test their newfound passion to the limit…

"This book profiles the 23 men who commanded the America and her crew of 5,000 during 31 years of service. Most of them were combat veterans who served. Four were Naval Academy graduates; seven were test pilots; one became Inspector General; one wore both Navy wings and submariner dolphins; and one was a prisoner of war"--

"This is the long anticipated, never-before-told account of one of the icons of twentieth-century television. As the principal performer of Gunsmoke for twenty years (1955-1975), the actor and his character of U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon of Dodge City took on mythic proportions"--Provided by publisher.

Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Montgomery, and Ernest Borgnine are among many stars who have portrayed naval personnel on film - but do their fans know that Fonda won a Bronze Star for his actions during Pacific naval encounters, that Bogart dropped a fleeing prisoner with his .45, that Montgomery was awarded a Bronze Star for his courageous performance of duty during the Normandy invasion, or that Borgnine hunted U-boats off America's East Coast? A virtual who's who, this entertaining and historically accurate work brings to life these and dozens of other stars' naval and coast guard service backgrounds and film careers. It is drawn from interviews with the actors, diaries, letters, and official military and film industry archives. Here you'll find out how John Howard won a Navy Cross, how Navy Hellcat ace Wayne Morris downed seven Japanese planes, how UDT frogman Aldo Ray reconned the Okinawa landing beaches, how Eddie Albert saved more than a dozen wounded marines on the bloody reefs of Tarawa, and how Hedy Lamarr patented World War II communications antijamming technology still in use today. Rarely have movie stars' real lives been portrayed in such detail, including interesting anecdotes from their Hollywood careers and never-before-published photographs from their military careers, including Paul Newman as a Navy radioman/gunner who flew in torpedo bombers during World War II.

Two motherless sisters--Bean and Liz--are shuttled to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that's been in their family for generations. When school starts in the fall, Bean easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz becomes increasingly withdrawn. Then something happens to Liz and Bean is left to challenge the injustice of the adult world.