Wayne Thompson

Guaranteed to delight NBA historians and Blazermaniacs a like, this release chronicles forty years of Portland Trail Blazers basketball with an amazing collection of anecdotes, rare photographs, and more. Guaranteed to delight NBA historians and Blazermaniacs alike, this release chronicles forty years of Portland Trail Blazers basketball with an amazing collection of anecdotes, rare photographs, and more. Blazermania: This is Our Story captures the magic moments and behind-the-scenes stories that have unfolded in the four decades since Harry Glickman and his serendipitous raincoat first brought professional basketball to Portland. The book highlights great moments, reveals long lost anecdotes, and uncovers photographs from the vast archives of the Trail Blazers and The Oregonian. The book takes an in-depth look at an array of topics, including: - The birth of "Rip City" and the team's rise to prominence. - Dr. Jack Ramsay's arrival and the road to the 1977 NBA championship. - The career and legacy of Bill Walton, the mercurial, star-crossed center. - Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, and the beloved two-time Western Conference champions. - A new tradition of excellence, led by Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, and LaMarcus Aldridge - The team's biggest characters, overachievers, and winners. Learn how one of the NBA's smallest cities was transformed into one of basketball's foremost meccas, hosting 814 straight sellouts, 21-straight playoff appearances, three NBA Finals, as well as the NBA Draft and the historic 1992 Dream Team.

After nearly eighteen months of the largely unsuccessful bombing campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder, the US Air Force began to look for ways to overcome technological, geographical, and political challenges in North Vietnam and use limited air power more effectively. In 1972 the two Linebacker campaigns joined with other air operations to make a dramatic, although temporary, difference. While they unleashed powerful B-52 area bombers, the campaigns also demonstrated the efficacy of newly developed laser-guided precision bombs. Drawing upon twenty years of research in classified records, Wayne Thompson integrates operational, political, and personal detail to present a full history of the Air Force role in the war against North Vietnam. He provides an unprecedented view of the motivations and actions of the people involved--from aircrews to generals to politicians--in every phase of the air campaigns. He outlines, for instance, the political reasons for President Johnson's reluctance to use B-52 bombers against major North Vietnamese targets. He also examines how the media influenced US policy and how US prisoners became the war's most celebrated heroes. The war in Southeast Asia ultimately pushed the Air Force toward adopting more flexible tactics and incorporating increasingly sophisticated weapons that would shape later conflicts.

Drawing upon 20 years of research into classified records, Thompson integrates operational, political, and personal detail to present a full history of the U.S. Air Force's role in North Vietnam from 1966 to 1973. 32 photos.

Despite American success in preventing the conquest of South Korea by communist North Korea, the Korean War of 1950-1953 did not satisfy Americans who expected the kind of total victory they had experienced in World War II. In that earlier, larger war, victory over Japan came after two atomic bombs destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in Korea five years later, the United States limited itself to conventional weapons. Even after communist China entered the war, Americans put China off-limits to conventional bombing as well as nuclear bombing. Operating within these limits, the U.S. Air Force helped to repel two invasions of South Korea while securing control of the skies so decisively that other United Nations forces could fight without fear of air attack.