Kirjahaku

ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE D-DAY INVASION OF NORMANDY, THE BATTLE FOR CONTINENTAL EUROPE AND THE DEFEAT OF THE NAZI'S, COMES THIS STORY OF A SMALL TOWN AND ITS DETERMINED "BAND OF BOYS"... In a strangely abandoned and boarded up high school in a deserted small town in Pennsylvania, an elderly, crippled and heartbroken Veteran of WWII recounts for his two grandchildren and a Pittsburgh reporter a poignant yet heartbreaking and horrific story of events in his life and hometown after war breaks out on December 7, 1941. On a cold November night, by the eerie light of kerosene lanterns, their flames casting flickering shadows on the walls of a long dead high school Principal's office, the D-Day survivor, Sam Harding shares the story of his 41 boyhood friends and fellow senior classmates - the "Spirits" of small town Hillsville Crossing High School - and their eagerness to join the fray and to fight in the war together. Seduced by their na ve sense of romance and adventure that inflicts the young with war fever, they are convinced by the Principal to remain in high school for their final semester to graduate as the price a local Army recruiting sergeant demands to arrange for the 42 boys to train and join the battle together. The "Spirits" endure nearly two years of intensive training and are selected to join the new and elite 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion - destined for the most infamous mission of D-Day history: the assault on the 100-foot high cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, the most strategic target of the Normandy Invasion. The "Spirits" take on the impossible - if not suicidal - mission without a whimper. Back home, the small town of Hillsville Crossing waits anxiously for news of their fate in Normandy... a wait made worse by a conspiracy to hide the truth. "The Spirits of Normandy" is a telling look at the innocence of youth, the horrors of war, the unthinkable near collapse of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and the incredible individual acts of courage and bravery that turned the potential disaster of "Operation Neptune" into a victory at a most appalling price. At its heart, this story of a young man and his heroic friends, near brothers of the heart and soul, is an historical chronicle of the feats of heroes and the crimes of villains.

When Charles Lindbergh's tiny, fuel-laden "Spirit of St. Louis" barely lifted off from a short Long Island runway on May 20, 1927, the world held its breath. Lindbergh and a host of post-war fliers were determined to win the "Orteig Prize" -- an award of $25,000 for the first pilot or pilots to cross the vast Atlantic Ocean between New York and Paris. Tragedy has already struck numerous attempts prior to Lindbergh's. At least six men have died in the pursuit.In America, victory in the First Great War less than a decade before has already become a distant memory. But in defeated Germany, torn and humiliated by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, rearming has already begun in secrecy. It is only a matter of time before Europe explodes in war again. The Orteig Prize - seen by the Germans as an Allied attempt to seat Paris as the capital of Europe -- is the final humiliation. The Germans sabotage several attempts at success even before Lindbergh's attempt. Will the same fate await Lindbergh? Or can the Allies harness their might and resolve to protect the young pilot - and crush a German super-plot to seek revenge against America?

When aimless, nineteen-year-old boyhood friends catch war fever at the height of the Vietnam conflict, they dream of adventure, glory and the romance of victory. Within weeks of beginning their combat tour as U.S. Marines, one is dead, a hero who has selflessly sacrificed his life to save his friend. Grievously wounded, the comatose survivor fights to stay alive for the girl they both loved. "Finding David" is the touching story of young, unfinished lives, unquenchable love, broken hearts and haunted minds, and an enduring devotion to "Semper Fi" - always faithful.Although "Finding David" is a work of fiction, it is based on a war that fifty years later is still a source of pain that changed America forever. For many of those who fought the battles of Vietnam and returned to a deeply divided country, the scars of their service are often unhealed and untreated. It was in the wake of Vietnam that we began to recognize and confront one of war's most horrific legacies: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. "Finding David" is a story dedicated to a nineteen-year-old friend and classmate, David Michael Kirk, who survived just fifty-five days in the jungles of Vietnam as a U.S. Marine, in the hope that it helps to continue to raise awareness of the desperate need for greater efforts to help those suffering from PTSD.

They've been called the "Greatest Generation" - those Americans who survived the Depression only to face the horrors of global war. There is little to challenge the "greatness" of the generation that lived for so many years with so little and then accepted the need to give so much. This is the story of one small-town family among millions in America who fought two wars from 1942 to the end of 1945: one on the battlefields, the other on the home front. They gave up their boys to the harsh realities of war while at the same time sacrificing the few luxuries of life that the poor and middle class could afford - anything that was required to support their fathers, sons and brothers in uniform was embraced in a spirit of patriotism America had perhaps never seen before and may never experience again. And it is the story of an entire nation that lived in terror and anxiety for four long years, and whose people shed a trillion tears. People like the Hughes' of Wethersfield, Connecticut, one of the millions who hung Blue Star Banners in their windows.

In his twelfth historical fiction novel, Author F. Mark Granato returns to his roots for inspiration on the south end streets of Hartford, Connecticut. The Vietnam War is raging, the Draft Board is desperate for fresh recruits, and Joe Bertone has pulled a lottery number that all but ensures he will be forced to join the divisive conflict that is tearing America apart. At the same time, his family disowns him, a fickle girlfriend dumps him, he flunks out of school and no longer has a student deferment from the draft. It seems his fate is decided. But like thousands of others who are being bullied by the government into fighting an endless, tragic war without meaning, he must face up to a hard, lonely reality. He takes to the road in his eccentric and battered vintage British sports car, a friend as much as a set of wheels, and sets out to find a world where real freedom is not an illusion. The path is painful and torturous for the fugitive boy who wants only peace and to share love with someone who understands his struggle. Is he a coward? Or a hero? Only he can decide.