Military Literature

[Dr_PepPeR]

check out "secret soldier" by col. muki betser. it details the creation of sayeret matkal, the idf's elite unit. betser was also instrumental in the planning and execution of the entebbe raid.

 

viktor suvorov -"the liberators"

                      "aquarium"

                      "spetsnaz:the inside story of the soviet union's special forces" 

 

jeremy hands and robert mcgowan - "don't cry for me sergeant major" the falklands

 

pepper,

check this out http://www.geocities.com/peftok/  i'm sure you'll find it worth the visit, especially the section on the battle of yultong

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Thanks for the link hellspawn. I've read some books that mention the PEFTOK, mostly by Americans, and they are not entirely flattering to Filipinos. They simply didn't realize that our soldiers are not trained for cold weather warfare.

[Podweed]

Thanks for the link hellspawn. I've read some books that mention the PEFTOK, mostly by Americans, and they are not entirely flattering to Filipinos. They simply didn't realize that our soldiers are not trained for cold weather warfare.

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My grandfather fought in Korea with one of our Battalion Combat Teams. He also authored, "Guerilla Warfare on Panay Island in the Philippines".

[Dr_PepPeR]

My grandfather fought in Korea with one of our Battalion Combat Teams. He also authored, "Guerilla Warfare on Panay Island in the Philippines".

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Really? A lot of good things were said about the PEFTOK contingent. At that time, they were one of the battle tested units of the allies, having just come from the Hukbalahap campaign. They were especially appreciated by the South Koreans for their aggressive role in hunting down the North Koreans. I have a friend from the US who is compiling material for the Korean War. I gave him FVR's email but the former President is either too busy or does not want to be bothered. Can I give your grandfather's name to my friend so they can exchange some correspondence?

[Dr_PepPeR]

I have several books on the Vietnam War (VW) -- Navy Seals, LRRPs, VW Battles. Does anybody have the original "The First Casualty" by Phillip Knightley? -- a book about war correspondents.

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So do I, aside from the usual pocketbooks on SEALS, LRRP, Force Recon, I also have books on the helicopter pilots and on the USMC (by Charles Henderson).

[Corkscrew]

I prefer the strategy aspect of Military Literature. Some personal favorites include:

 

"Art of War", by Sun Tzu

"Book of the Five Rings", by Shinmen Musashi

"Hagakure" (Hidden Behid the Leaves), by Yamomoto Tsunetomo

"Book of the 36 Strategems" (ancient Chinese treatise)

"Thick Face, Black Heart" (ancient Chinese treatise)

 

"48 Laws of Power", by Ed Greene

[Podweed]

Really? A lot of good things were said about the PEFTOK contingent. At that time, they were one of the battle tested units of the allies, having just come from the Hukbalahap campaign. They were especially appreciated by the South Koreans for their aggressive role in hunting down the North Koreans. I have a friend from the US who is compiling material for the Korean War. I gave him FVR's email but the former President is either too busy or does not want to be bothered. Can I give your grandfather's name to my friend so they can exchange some correspondence?

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Sure, but it'll be difficult to get in touch with him as he's been dead since '93.

[hellspawn]

podweed wrote:

 

"Entebbe, I think, is one reason why B. Netanyahu won't make peace with the Arabs. His older brother was commander of that raid. Sadly, he also was its only casualty (if memory serves)."

 

-yup. noni netanyahu was the only israeli military casualty at entebbe. sadly, he was also the last addition to the entebbe team, joining just before the raid. muki betser was the israeli military attache to uganda, just prior to idi amin (who was originally a big israeli fan, and trained by the israelis as a paratrooper) losing what little of his mind he had left, the full story is given "secret soldier".

 

 

corkscrew wrote:

 

"Thick Face, Black Heart" (ancient Chinese treatise)

 

i don't think this falls under ancient chinese treatise as it was written by chin-ning chu in 1992. the ideas were based on a book by lee zhong wu called "thick black theory" first published in 1911, again not particularly ancient. having read this numerous times i wouldn't even label it as military.

 

"Hagakure" (Hidden Behi(n)d the Leaves), by Yamomoto Tsunetomo

 

a good read, but not really what i would call a military strategy book, more a "how to live like a samurai should" book. pretty much ignored in japan, it has a bad reputation there, but really popular among western samurai groupies and wannabes. interestingly, no record could be found of tsunetomo actually participating in a duel or in any battle. also, hagakure asserts that bushido is really the "way of dying", and that a samurai must be willing to die at any moment in order to be true to his lord. so, despite the ban on seppuku by the tokugawa shogunate, why didn't he follow his master to death if he was such an ideal samurai? not a high endorsement for somebody who wrote "the way of the warrior is death".

 

more on vietnam:

 

dispatches- michael herr

the short timers - gustav hasford

grey ghosts - deborah challinor (new zealand soldiers, the north vietnamese called them "grey ghosts")

the battle of long tan - rex mcaulay (australians in one of the most famous battles in vietnam)

 

others i enjoy reading about:

 

the french foreign legion

the gurkhas (i've worked with them before, and i'll say it again without reservation: they are the best soldiers in the f.u.c.k.i.n.g. universe)

spetsnaz (voiska spetsialnoye naznachenia, russian special forces)

 

any more come to mind i'll be back.

[Podweed]

podweed wrote:

 

"Entebbe, I think, is one reason why B. Netanyahu won't make peace with the Arabs. His older brother was commander of that raid. Sadly, he also was its only casualty (if memory serves)."

 

-yup. noni netanyahu was the only israeli military casualty at entebbe. sadly, he was also the last addition to the entebbe team, joining just before the raid.  muki betser was the israeli military attache to uganda, just prior to idi amin (who was originally a big israeli fan, and trained by the israelis as a paratrooper) losing what little of his mind he had left, the full story is given "secret soldier".

corkscrew wrote:

 

"Thick Face, Black Heart" (ancient Chinese treatise)

 

i don't think this falls under ancient chinese treatise as it was written by chin-ning chu in 1992. the ideas were based on a book by lee zhong wu called "thick black theory" first published in 1911, again not particularly ancient. having read this numerous times i wouldn't even label it as military.

 

"Hagakure" (Hidden Behi(n)d the Leaves), by Yamomoto Tsunetomo

 

a good read, but not really what i would call a military strategy book, more a "how to live like a samurai should" book. pretty much ignored in japan, it has a bad reputation there, but really popular among western samurai groupies and wannabes. interestingly, no record could be found of tsunetomo actually participating in a duel or in any battle. also, hagakure asserts that bushido is really the "way of dying", and that a samurai must be willing to die at any moment in order to be true to his lord. so, despite the ban on seppuku by the tokugawa shogunate, why didn't he follow his master to death if he was such an ideal samurai? not a high endorsement for somebody who wrote "the way of the warrior is death".

 

more on vietnam:

 

dispatches- michael herr

the short timers - gustav hasford

grey ghosts - deborah challinor (new zealand soldiers, the north vietnamese called them "grey ghosts")

the battle of long tan - rex mcaulay (australians in one of the most famous battles in vietnam)

 

others i enjoy reading about:

 

the french foreign legion

the gurkhas (i've worked with them before, and i'll say it again without reservation: they are the best soldiers in the f.u.c.k.i.n.g. universe)

spetsnaz (voiska spetsialnoye naznachenia, russian special forces)

 

any more come to mind i'll be back.

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These remind me that:

 

I would like very much to see "March or Die" again. You know, my younger brother once seriously entertained the thought of joining the French Foreign Legion. Jeez. I watched a feature about it not too long ago. They had a Mongolian legionnaire!! Very strange. He just showed up at the camp gate is what an officer said. A first in its history.

 

And what's that Van Damme film again?

[Karma Policeman]

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

[Dr_PepPeR]

Fiction:

 

The Corps Series by WEB Griffin

Seals The Warrior Breed Series by J. Riker

 

Science Fiction:

 

The Alternate Histories Series of Harry Turtledove

[Dr_PepPeR]

Sure, but it'll be difficult to get in touch with him as he's been dead since '93.

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Sayang, I'll move over to the Supernatural and Occult thread.

[willow_boy]

I have a book on the liberation of Manila that written by a Filipino author, a professor at Adamson University. His writing style is ok pero what impresses are the details he provides in the book. It was well researched. I'll post both the author's name and title later.

[Podweed]

Sayang, I'll move over to the Supernatural and Occult thread.

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Hehe. Your friend could hold a seance maybe? Kidding.

[Podweed]

I like Clancy's "Red Storm Rising".

[Dr_PepPeR]

Hehe. Your friend could hold a seance maybe? Kidding.

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Yep, that was what I was thinking. Kidding too.

 

Just bought a book for P95.00 called Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield about the battle of Thermopylae. Looks interesting. I'll probably finish it by tomorrow.