House to House: An Epic Memoir of War by David Bellavia

On the night of November 10, 2004, a U.S. Army infantry squad under Staff Sergeant David Bellavia entered the heart of the city of Fallujah and plunged into one of the most sustained and savage urban battles in the history of American men at arms.

With Third Platoon, Alpha Company, part of the Army's Task Force 2/2, Bellavia and his men confronted an enemy who had had weeks to prepare, booby-trapping houses, arranging ambushes, rigging entire city blocks as explosives-laden kill zones, and even stocking up on atropine, a steroid that pumps up fighters in the equivalent of a long-lasting crack high. Entering one house, alone, Bellavia faced the fight of his life against six insurgents, using every weapon at his disposal, including a knife. It is the stuff of legend and the chief reason he is one of the great heroes of the Iraq War.

Bringing to searing life the terrifying intimacy of hand-to-hand infantry combat, House to House is far more than just another war story. Populated by an indelibly drawn cast of characters, from a fearless corporal who happens to be a Bush-hating liberal to an inspirational sergeant-major who became the author's own lost father figure, it develops the intensely close relationships that form between soldiers under fire. Their friendships, tested in brutal combat, would never be quite the same. Not all of them would make it out of the city alive. What happened to them in their bloody embrace with America's most implacable enemy is a harrowing, unforgettable story of triumph, tragedy, and the resiliency of the human spirit. A timeless portrait of the U.S. infantryman's courage, House to House is a soldier's memoir that is destined to rank with the finest personal accounts of men at war. 

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive. This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers. A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich, moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Heroes among Us: Firsthand Accounts of Combat from America's Most Decorated Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan by Major Chuck Larson

True stories of courage from the frontlines.

Over one million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past four years, but fewer than 500 from this group have earned a Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, or the Medal of Honor. These Americans all demonstrated an extraordinary courage under fire, in the worst of circumstances. They come from all branches of the military. They also come from all over the country and all walks of life, representing the entire spectrum of races and creeds.

But what unites them are their deeds of consummate bravery, beyond the call of duty. Heroes Among Us tells these extraordinary true stories of valor, honor and sacrifice.

Adjust Fire: Transforming to Win in Iraq by Michael Baumann

This is the first book on the Iraq War written by an Army battalion commander who led troops in this war. Documenting the transformation process of the U.S. Army, to fighting the insurgency, dealing with the murky local politics, all the way to providing the first viable military-political solution to win the peace in Iraq; Adjust Fire has it all. Unencumbered because he was not a general with a reputation to protect nor inexperienced in the grander tactics of operations in Iraq like young soldiers and junior officers who have written about the war in Iraq, author, retired Lieutenant Colonel Michael Baumann, led at the echelon that literally executed the strategic policy through tactical operations on the streets of Baghdad. Since the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps raced north from Kuwait to Baghdad in 2003, the Iraq War has taken many turns. For the U.S. Army a complete transformation has occurred. Go inside the formative, evolving process and walk onto the mean streets of Baghdad through author, Michael Baumann’s eyes and learn about this war from the inside. As a citizen and retired soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Baumann writes an in-depth book that seeks to influence our thinking about this war in a way the media pundits, major political candidates, and armchair-generals simply cannot. Part memoir and part expose, Baumann doesn’t pull his punches when criticizing existing political or military policies. He provides readers a view of this war from inside the war councils and provides an exquisite political-military context that culminates with ‘The Mahalla Plan’ as the best viable plan to win the peace in Iraq. Baumann’s unique perspective gives him a voice that needs to be heard across America.

“Adjust Fire is a tremendously valuable book. While all the pundits were home playing strategist and the journalists were judging warfare from the stratosphere, Lt. Col. Mike Baumann and his soldiers were fighting in the streets of Baghdad. This is the best book yet on the grit-and-gut-level challenges our troops have faced in Iraq. Magnificently honest, Adjust Fire is a work of great integrity.” — RALPH PETERS, author of Wars of Blood and Faith

“Lt. Col. Michael Baumann writes about hard work, sacrifice and understanding of the global enemy we face at a time where the fog of national pessimism and gloom block our path toward victory. Baumann was up to his eyeballs fighting a counter insurgency before anyone at the DOD would admit there was an insurgency to fight, yet his take is anything but negative. Baumann is a commander any father would want their son to serve under. There is no substitute for Baumann’s leadership style: from the front, honest and always with heart.” – DAVID BELLAVIA, author of House to House: An Epic Memoir of War, and Medal of Honor nominee

Hard Corps by Marco Martinez

Hard corps is a term of praise for a really dedicated marine. It's highly merited by Martinez, who pulls no punches, including in his language about his gangbanging teen years before, vaguely wanting an alternative and at the prodding of some mentors, he enlisted in the marines. Nor is there any bowdlerizing in his description of boot camp as intended to simulate the stresses of infantry combat (the marines' overriding purpose, after all) without deliberately killing anybody. Thereafter comes a grunt's-eye view of marine garrison service and, at last, deployment to Iraq. Martinez's battalion was one of the first into Baghdad and shortly after was engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fire fight in the suburbs, which Martinez most vividly relates and for which he received the Navy Cross for courage and leadership. Now a civilian again, Martinez will always be proud to have worn the title of United States Marine, and any reader interested in such a man's self-portrait will devour this book.