The risks are high, and the probabilities of success are low, but soldiers on rescue missions lay their lives on the line to save others. Every year people are rescued from natural disasters, accidents, and casualties of war. Get inspired by the selfless soldiers of daring rescue missions in this low-level title for young readers!
Singular in purpose, patrol missions work in support of larger missions of the army. Patrolling soldiers conduct raids, gather information, and safeguard areas. Their successful return from patrolling gives the military advantages in other missions such as combat or counterterrorism. Take a ride with soldiers on patrol in our thrilling title for reluctant readers!
Making use of physical strength and high-tech gear, military groups like the Delta Force and Navy SEALs fight to defeat terrorism around the world. Soldiers of counterterrorism missions protect people from fear and violence. They rescue prisoners, interrupt enemy plans, and dismantle terrorist operations around the world. In this introductory book, young readers will learn about the history of terrorism and the ways in which military missions succeed in protecting lives.
Secrecy is of the utmost importance in completing reconnaissance missions. Soldiers must be experts with binoculars. They move swiftly and silently to gather information about enemy weapons, territories, and operations. Learn more about the speed and intelligence of these stealthy men and women in this leveled text for beginning and reluctant readers.
Peacekeepers are dedicated to creating and maintaining peace in areas previously torn apart by conflict. They provide training, and advise leaders on how best to improve the safety of their people. Though peacekeepers often work after conflicts have been resolved, danger still lurks in dark corners. Struggling readers will be fascinated to learn about the honorable work conducted in military peacekeeping missions.
Airplanes, ships, helicopters, and more! Troop transport missions are all about moving soldiers. The record for most troops moved by ship occurred in 1943. The RMS Queen Mary transported more than 15,000 troops from the U.S. to Europe in a single trip! Clear the landing pad for this exciting, low-level read!
This captivating graphic novel recounts three historic land battles in the Middle East and Africa during World War I: Attack on the Hejaz Railway, September 16, 1917; The Charge on Beersheba, October 31, 1917; and Gallantry at Tel-el-Sheria, November 7, 1917.
This exciting graphic novel recounts three historic land and air battles in Europe during World War II: duel in the skies, the Battle of Britain, September 24, 1940, the desperate air battle told from the perspective of a young British fighter pilot; surviving Omaha Beach, D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Normandy Landings as experienced by a U.S. infantryman; and crossing the bridge at Remagen, the invasion of Germany, March 7, 1945.
This title explores the development and use of the popular F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet. Readers will follow the history of its origins and development. Chapters detail the aircraft's military and performance specifications as well as its features and advantages in the field, such as the shape of its fuselage, its ejection seat, its single turbofan engine, and its many powerful guns, missiles, and bombs. Readers will also learn about the F-16's use in Operation Desert Storm and other significant combat and peacekeeping missions.
This compelling book follows the events of the first few years of World War I. After the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, war was declared by Europes five great powers. Readers will learn that, although it was a European war, the fighting spread outward to the colonies of the countries involved. Colonies also had to supply forces for European battles. Opposing countries, equally matched in fighting power, relied on naval and U-boat, or submarine, blockades, and dug in for a new kind of long-term fighting called trench warfare. Find out what life was like for soldiers in the trenches at such famous battles as Ypres where deadly mustard gas was first used, Verdun, the Somme, and Gallipoli.
Gettysburg was the deciding battle of the American Civil War - three hot July days of Union and Confederate soldiers fighting and dying in and around a small Pennsylvania town that determined the fate of the United States. When it was over, after the final climactic fury of Pickett's Charge, the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee would never again have the strength to mount an invasion of the North. Gettysburg marked the beginning of the end for the Southern cause.Many feel that Gettysburg produced something else - something that makes objects unexplainably fall, phantom images to appear, and strange noises to be heard. That something is haunted Gettysburg.
Few things stir the imagination more than ghosts and ghostly sightings. The prospect of experiencing spectral encounters with visitors from another plane or dimension draws some 400,000 tourists to the windswept ridges of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument every year. As most ghost hunters know, there is arguably no better place to ply their trade than the scene of violent action and the irreversible loss of life - the very definition of a battlefield. And the greasy-grass knolls of the Little Bighorn killing fields stand high on the list of haunted battlegrounds.Supernatural tales o spectral sightings from visitors and park employees alike lend an irresistible mystique to the Custer legend and to the battlefield itself. Such tales go back a long way. The Crow people are thought to be the first to experience paranormal happenings. They once called the park superintendent the "ghost herder," because they believed the ghosts of the fallen arose from their graves at sundown and walked among the living until daybreak. If the stone grave markers at the Little Bighorn could talk, they would have many tales to tell. Are you ready to listen?
The Battle of Verdun claims the dubious distinction of being the longest battle of World War I. The fighting began in February 1916 and raged on for ten months, finally ending in December. Its combined casualty count of French and German soldiers numbered more than 700,000, of which 262,308 were either dead or missing. The battle left a keen sense of national pride in the hearts of the French people. It also left a deep emotional scar in their collective psyche.A hundred years after the last guns fell silent along the River Meuse, the mere mention of the name Verdun still evokes ghastly and ghostly remembrances of the unspeakable horror of 1916. Nine villages that once stood on the surroundings in Verdun, vibrant and gay, disappeared in the deathly rain of artillery and mortar shells. They exist today only as names on maps and perhaps in the whispers of the spectral sentinels that patrol the verdant countryside and watch over a nation's dead.
What does it feel like to live in a pressurized metal tube 1000 feet (300 m) under the ocean, and only steps away from lethally dangerous nuclear fissile material? Nuclear submariners know. In wartime, theirs is an unenviable task - to hunt other submarines and destroy them before they themselves can be hunted down. Nuclear power allows these submarines to operate at high speed for long durations without having to surface frequently. Nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25-year life-span. This fascinating book looks at what life is like for the men who live and work together on these boats; what the inside of a nuclear submarine looks like and how it works; how the sea gives the submariners all the air they need to breathe while under water; and how they "fight" the boat while they hunt other submarines.
Piloting experimental aircraft is more dangerous than most other types of flying. Test pilots are generally military aviators who fly new and modified aircraft, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated. In the 1950s, test pilots were being killed at the rate of about one a week, but the risks have shrunk to a fraction of that, thanks to the sophistication of aircraft technology, better ground-testing, and simulation of aircraft performance. Despite their image as fun-loving daredevils, these pilots have to be ruthlessly precise and professional when flying. This intriguing book looks at what type of people become test pilots, how they train, what the job includes, how it feels to be the first person to fly a new design, the aircraft they fly, and how they analyze and report on each flight.
When the heat gets turned up in a conflict, support helicopter pilots are called upon to bring in additional troops and equipment or even provide battle support from the air. In modern warfare, the helicopter's agility and hovering ability have made it indispensible to the army, navy, air force, and marines for tactical support. This book describes the different missions support helicopter pilots undertake and the dangerous circumstances they must usually fly under.
These army pilots fly the most demanding helicopter in existence, a machine so complex to operate that its known as Riding the Dragon. Only 3% of existing army helicopter pilots qualify to fly it. Trainees have to learn to train their eyes to work independently of each other while the right eye sees flight and weapons information in the helmet's monocle, the left eye is free to look outside the aircraft and scan for threats and other obstacles. And, flying the helicopter is only half the battle - its purpose is to provide firepower from the air to protect soldiers on the ground. This book lifts the lid on what life is like for these men and women: their training; the aircraft; the missions, and what its actually like to be under fire while flying.
The backbone of any army, infantry soldiers seem to get all of the action but none of the glory. Trained for the very physical and aggressive work of engaging the enemy on the ground, the infantry's main focus is to advance on the enemy, take control of territory, and hold it. Not surprisingly the infantry tends to take high casualties because they are usually sent to the hottest spots in combat. This book looks at the high-risk jobs of the infantry soldier, including attack, defense, patrol, and intelligence gathering.
This book follows a student who is helping set up a museum exhibit about the Civil War. The student uses primary sources and artifacts to learn about the causes of the war, the hardships of the war, and how the war concluded.
This volume details the crucial early battles of the Civil War in 1861-62, including the firing on Fort Sumter, the Confederate victory at First Manassas (Bull Run), Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign, the Union victory at Shiloh, and Robert E. Lee's Second Manassas (Bull Run) success. Timelines, annotated diagrams, and colorful maps bring each battle to life.
This fascinating book describes Canada's coming of age during World War I on the battlefields and at home. When Britain declared war on Germany, it meant that Canada was at war, too. Most Canadians supported the war, but the government faced opposition about conscription from French-speaking Canadians who did not feel a particular loyalty to Britain. In the air, the incredible feats of Canadian flying ace Billy Bishop made him a hero back home. On the battlefield, Britain came to rely on Canadian soldiers, who had a formidable reputation for taking and holding military objectives when other troops had failed. Find out how the victories of Canadian shock troops in battles at Ypres (where they faced mustard gas poisoning), the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele helped give Canada a presence on the world stage.
When war was declared in Europe in 1914, Americans were divided about becoming involved. President Wilson vowed to keep the United States neutral and tried to influence each side in the war through diplomacy. In this compelling book, readers will learn how the loss of American lives on the torpedoed ship RMS Lusitania and a telegram from Germany asking Mexico to join the German side convinced the American government to declare war on Germany in 1917. Find out how the American people responded at home, and how fresh troops from the United States, nicknamed doughboys, helped re-energize the Allies fight. Victories in the air by American aces, such as Rickenbacker, and on the battlefields of Amiens, the Marne, and the Argonne Forest are highlighted.
Events in 1917 had a dramatic influence on the course of World War I. This exciting book about the second half of World War I details the effects of the political revolution in Russia and the entry of the United States into the war. Exciting stories of tank warfare, war at sea, and war in the airhighlighting famous flying acesare featured along with such famous battles as Vimy, Passchendaele, and the Hundred Day Offensive. Find out how fresh U.S. forces helped bring the war to a conclusion and an armistice, or agreement to stop fighting, with Germany.
Abraham Lincoln. Robert E. Lee. Ulysses S. Grant. William Tecumseh Sherman. Jefferson Davis. Stonewall Jackson. These larger than life figures tower in history and their decisions and actions influenced the progress and outcome of the Civil War. This volume gives background on the politicians, generals, naval and militia commanders, and other prominent people who were involved in the Civil War, including African American leaders and women.
More than 3 million men served in the Union and Confederate militaries during the Civil War. This volume traces their recruitment, training, battle tactics, weapons, food and clothing, and medical care during the long struggle. Issues of conscription, desertion, African American regiments, and prisoners of war are covered. Primary source text and period photographs bring the battlefield camps and soldiers' experiences to life for young readers.
