Battlefield Commission

Chronicles the military career of America's most decorated living soldier, from his enlistment of age fifteen, through his service in Vietnam, where his growing disillusionment with American policies led to his post-war exile in Australia

Does class rank really matter? Q: What do you call the person whos last in their class in medical or law school? A: Doctor or Lawyer. Q: And, what do you call the person whos last in their class at West Point, Annapolis or the U.S. Air Force Academy? A: Lieutenant or Ensign. Same Date of Rank salutes 17 men and three women grads at the top and bottom, representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. They range from the goat or last man in West Points Class of 1942, who was the fi rst man in his class promoted to Brigadier General, to a 1999 Annapolis All-American rugby player who has served three tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps Captain. Read about combat leaders, admirals, astronauts, pilots, ship captains, business leaders, an historian, logistics expert, mayor, teacher and software guru. The book also provides class ranks of many famous academy grads from George Pickett and George Armstrong Custer (lasts) to Robert E. Lee and Douglas Mac Arthur (2nd and 1st) as well as Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, and Jim Webb plus athletes like Roger Staubach of the NFL and David Robinson of the NBA. And, it includes timely information about how to apply to each of the three academies.

Among the thousands who fought in the pivotal Battle of Antietam were scores of Ohioans. Sending eleven regiments and two batteries to the fight, the Buckeye State lost hundreds during the Maryland Campaign's first engagement, South Mountain, and hundreds more "gave their last full measure of devotion" at the Cornfield, the Bloody Lane and Burnside's Bridge. Many of these brave men are buried at the Antietam National Cemetery. Aged veterans who survived the ferocious contest returned to Antietam in the early 1900s to fight for and preserve the memory of their sacrifices all those years earlier. Join Kevin Pawlak and Dan Welch as they explore Ohio's role during those crucial hours on September 17, 1862.

A battlefield guide to the sites and history of the climactic attack during the American Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg. 150 years after the event, the grand near-suicidal attack against the Union position on Cemetery Ridge still emotionally resonates with Gettysburg enthusiasts like no other aspect of the battle. On the afternoon of July 3, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered more than 12,000 Southern infantry to undertake what would become the most legendary charge in American military history. This attack, popularly but inaccurately known as “Pickett’s Charge,” is often considered the turning point of the Civil War’s seminal battle of Gettysburg. Although much has been written about the battle itself and Pickett’s Charge in particular, Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg is the first battlefield guide for this celebrated assault. After the war, one staff officer perceptively observed that the charge “has been more criticized, and is still less understood, than any other act of the Gettysburg drama.” Unfortunately, what was true then remains true to this day. The authors of this book—two of Gettysburg’s elite Licensed Battlefield Guides along with one of the Civil War’s leading cartographers—have corrected that oversight. Grounded in the premise that no better resource exists for understanding this unique event than the battlefield itself, Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg encourages its readers to explore this storied event from a wide variety of perspectives. For the first time, readers can march toward the Copse of Trees with Armistead’s Virginians, advance on the Confederate left with Pettigrew’s North Carolinians, or defend the Angle with Alonzo Cushing’s gunners and thousands of Union soldiers. There is much here to enrich the experience, including dozens of full-color original maps, scores of battlefield and other historic photographs, a unique mix of rare human interest stories, a discussion of leadership controversies, and a rare collection of artifacts directly related to the charge. Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg is designed for readers to enjoy on or off the battlefield, and will give Civil War enthusiasts an entirely new appreciation for, and understanding of, Gettysburg’s third day of battle. “Extremely well done . . . designed as a tour guide to the area of the battlefield where the famous July 3 1863 Confederate assault on the center of the Union Line took place...the heart of any tour guide is maps, and that feature is served up in exemplary fashion here . . . far more than just maps. The two text authors are battlefield guides and the detail provided is immense . . . strongly recommended.” —Civil War News

A guide to learning more about your relatives’ experience serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. In this fully revised edition of Finding Your Father’s War, military historian Jonathan Gawne has written an easily accessible handbook for anyone seeking greater knowledge of their relatives’ experience in World War II, or indeed anyone seeking a better understanding of the U.S. Army during World War II. With over 470 photographs, charts, and an engaging narrative with many rare insights into wartime service, this book is an invaluable tool for understanding our “citizen soldiers,” who once rose as a generation to fight the greatest war in American history. “Jonathan's Gawne’s book is a 5-star blueprint, well-written and beautifully illustrated, to deciphering a loved one’s WW2 U.S. Army service.” —The Commander’s Voice “A great read not only for genealogists wishing to research an ancestor, but also for those who simply have an interest in the United States Army during World War II . . . written so that anyone, even those with no military background, can understand, yet also includes more advanced information . . . detail is phenomenal . . . a must read reference book for any professional genealogist or military historian.” —APG Quarterly