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.
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 WW II. In Korea, the U.S. 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 2 invasions of South Korea while securing control of the skies so decisively that other U.N. forces could fight without fear of air attack.
While working alone on his parent's North Dakota farm one January morning in 1992, 18-year-old John Thompson became entangled in a piece of machinery. In an instant, both arms were severed. This is the story, told in the plain-talk of John, himself, of one young man's horrible injury and of his remarkable and courageous recovery.
Bringing together proponents and opponents of the Strategic Defense Initiative, this book includes original essays by leading experts on every aspect of the issue. The collection provides a valuable introduction to the many complex questions involved in any serious consideration of the SDI. The contributors explore such issues as the strategic impl
This is a story about a poor boy lost in obscurity, who struggled to find meaning in life, as he faced many adventures along the way. He was the youngest of three children. His father was gone most of the time, and his mother was of ill health. The man who had the biggest influence on him was his grandfather, whom he called Pop Pop, a godly man who lived next door. Laddie was always the littlest, slender but quick on his feet, which saved him from danger later on. Throughout his life, Laddie had good and bad influences, successes and failures; yet in the end, the good won over the evil. Like the Prodigal Son, he made things right with God before his time on this old earth was done (Luke 15:11). May the following stories be a blessing to you as you search for meaning in your own life as Laddie found the answers in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other hope for mankind except in Him.
Includes 3 maps and 40 photographs No experience etched itself more deeply into Air Force thinking than the air campaigns over North Vietnam. Two decades later in the deserts of Southwest Asia, American airmen were able to avoid the gradualism that cost so many lives and planes in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Readers should come away from this book with a sympathetic understanding of the men who bombed North Vietnam. Those airmen handled tough problems in ways that ultimately reshaped the Air Force into the effective instrument on display in the Gulf War. This book is a sequel to Jacob Van Staaveren’s Gradual Failure: The Air War over North Vietnam, 1965-1966, which we have also declassified and are publishing. Wayne Thompson tells how the Air Force used that failure to build a more capable service-a service which got a better opportunity to demonstrate the potential of air power in 1972. Dr. Thompson began to learn about his subject when he was an Army draftee assigned to an Air Force intelligence station in Taiwan during the Vietnam War. He took time out from writing To Hanoi and Back to serve in the Checkmate group that helped plan the Operation Desert Storm air campaign against Iraq. Later he visited Air Force pilots and commanders in Italy immediately after the Operation Deliberate Force air strikes in Bosnia. During Operation Allied Force over Serbia and its Kosovo province, he returned to Checkmate. Consequently, he is keenly aware of how much the Air Force has changed in some respects-how little in others. Although he pays ample attention to context, his book is about the Air Force. He has written a well-informed account that is both lively and thoughtful.
The passing of the The Waitākere Ranges Heritage Act in 2008 represents a milestone in the life of the Waitākere Ranges ProtectionSociety. Wayne Thompson documents the story behind the legislation coming into force. Read about the people, the politics and the passion!
More than 200 airmen and historians met in Washington, D.C., on April 13 and 14, 1984, to discuss the men who have led American air forces. The first century of air power is drawing to a close and though some retired air leaders joined in the discussion, many have passed from the scene. What kind of men were they? What kind of leaders were they? What can we learn from their experience? The conference approached broad questions of leadership by taking a close look at two air leaders, Rear Adm. William A. Moffett (1869-1933) and Gen. Carl A. Spaatz (1891-1974). While Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics during the 1920s, Moffett did as much as anyone to nurture air power within the Navy. Spaatz, on the other hand, helped to lead the increasingly autonomous Army Air Forces during World War II and became the first Chief of Staff of the independent Air Force when it separated from the Army in 1947. Despite the major roles played by Moffett and Spaatz in the development of American air power, there has been little biographical work on them until recently. A decade ago Alfred Goldberg, chief historian in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, contributed an essay on Spaatz to Field Marshal Sir Michael Carver’s The War Lords. Richard G. Davis, an Air Force historian, has just completed a dissertation on Spaatz’s service in World War II. Meanwhile the Air Force Historical Foundation has sponsored a biography of Spaatz by Lt. Col. David R. Mets, USAF, Retired, and the first fruit of his effort is one of two essays on Spaatz published here; the other is by Maj. Gen. I. B. Holley, Jr., USAFR, Retired, who has drawn upon his many years as a professor of military history and biographer.
Lost & Found challenges the popular idea of beauty. The author opens our eyes to the strikingly beautiful world of color, texture and shape produced by our modern daily grind. Twenty close-up photographs showcase his unique found object art; finely balanced designs rich in detail and deftly wrapped with sterling silver wire in a lasting embrace.
The definitive characteristics of the Baptists have been gained at great price, and the authors of This Day in Baptist History II reaffirm those distinctives for the present generation. The selections, one for each day of the year, spotlight men and women whose lives are challenging and inspirational and whose testimonies help establish a foundational understanding of what it means to be a Baptist. Their stories will be informative to all, especially to those having a Baptist heritage.
This richly illustrated photographic overview captures the beauty and artistry of the remarkable world-class, Native American Indian baskets of California, circa 1895 to 1940, known as the Florescence or Flowering. It is a tribute to these artisans and includes biographical snapshots of weavers and portraits of their masterpiece California Indian baskets, which today exist in museums and private collections throughout the United States. Collecting highly complex and artistic Native American baskets became a successful tourist business in the late 19th and early 20th century -- tourism in the United States exploded as a result of the expansion of the railway system to hitherto relatively inaccessible locations. This new business benefitted both collectors of this art form and the weavers who created them. The transition from woven baskets used for utilitarian use to more durable and less expensive metal cookware and storage vessels allowed weavers the time needed to innovate and create baskets specifically catering to tourist interests. During this period of Florescence, some of the world's most intricate, beautiful, and artistic baskets were woven, particularly by highly-talented weavers representing several Native American tribes located throughout California.
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