SGT. RODNEY M. DAVIS “The Making of a Hero”
Ebook – March 15, 2018
[maxbutton id="2" text="Ebook | $7.99" url="#"] [maxbutton id="1" text="Paperback | $17.95" url="/the-making-of-a-hero-paperback"]How Far Would You Go to Honor a Code?
Honor. Courage. Commitment. These are the pillars of United States Marine Corps values.
So why Sgt. Rodney M. Davis lunged atop that enemy grenade at the expense of his own life on Sept. 6, 1967 is the quintessential question that has haunted not only those who stood closest to him at that critical moment, but his own family and friends for over fifty years now.
Why would a young African-American with a beautiful wife and two infant children eagerly awaiting his return home from Vietnam commit such a noble and courageous, yet sacrificial act? And for Marines he barely knew if at all? And for a country that often treated him like a second-class citizen at the time?
“He was a brave man and a good Marine. My grandfather always told me that if [Davis] had not jumped on that grenade, every Marine in that trench would have been seriously injured or killed. My grandfather believed that he would have died that day. My mother would have been an orphan at the age of one, and I would have never known my grandfather.
In a time when the United States was ravaged by racial tension, I wonder what kind of bond men form while fighting a war, for him to have saved the lives of a bunch of white men – including a Texan officer – that he knew for a short period of time?
[Davis] was a modern-day hero, and the kind of Marine I strive to live up to.”
Steven Brackeen Turunc, the eldest grandson of Davis’ late platoon commander, John Brackeen. Turunc graduated from Officer Candidates School in November 2014 and is currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps.
That Davis was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House on March, 26, 1969 did little to assuage the heartbreak felt by his grieving family and the many friends he left behind.
But looking after his own had always been Davis’ calling.
This is his story.
STATEMENTS FROM THE OFFICIAL MEDAL OF HONOR INVESTIGATION INTO SGT. RODNEY M. DAVIS
“On 6 September 1967, we were engaged with the enemy when they outflanked us on all the sides. We pulled back and regrouped in a trench surrounding a bomb crater. There were about seven people in a 20-foot in this trench when the enemy started their advance. We were putting out a base of fire when we started to receive incoming grenades when one grenade landed about eight feet to my right on the other side of Lance Corporal
[Lonnie] Hinshaw. Lance Corporal Hinshaw jumped from the trench to safety, but failed to mention the presence of the grenade to anyone. At this time, Sgt. Davis saw the danger to himself and the rest of the Marines in the area. He threw himself intentionally on this grenade and sacrificed his life to save the men in the trench. I believe he should receive this award for service above and beyond the call of duty. Myself, my platoon commander and Lance Corporal Hinshaw are alive today because of Sgt. Davis’ act of heroism.” Lance Corporal Gregory G. Crandall (USMC)
“On 6 September 1967, I witnessed the actions of Sergeant Davis while on Operation Swift. My platoon was pinned down around a bomb crater when the NVA started attacking our position with heavy automatic fire. Sgt. Davis effectively directed his men’s fire to stave off the attacking enemy. The enemy again assaulted our position, this time getting within hand grenade range. I believe there were about four [grenades] thrown at us, three of them landed outside the trench, the other one hit me in the leg and fell into the trench as I rolled out of the trench. At this time, Sergeant Davis saw the hand grenade and the danger to the men left in the trench. Sergeant Davis, seeing the grenade, dropped down on it, using his body to protect the other men in the trench from the explosion. I feel that he knew what he was doing and gave his life to save the five lives of his fellow Marines. I am alive today due to his actions.” Lance Corporal Lonnie R. Hinshaw (USMC)
Shadow of Descent
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The Tobin children grew up alone, with no memory of each other or their parent’s untimely deaths.
Their guardian separated the children to maintain control of their vast fortune, hiring former SEAL team agents to ensure they never meet.
With deadly intentions against people close to the Tobin children and eye-for-an-eye revenge plans from psychopathic gangsters—reunion seems impossible.
Shadows Over Baku
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“My husband, Anatoliy, and I are in bed, but we dare not sleep…These dangerous days, sleep comes only in short intervals and only when I’m so tired that I lose focus temporarily. The respite never lasts long. The threat of violence keeps us on a razor’s edge so thin we can feel it cutting our skin.”
So begins the harrowing experience of Karina Yesayeva Khachatorian and her family as they endured seven days of hell, as Azerbaijanis (or Azeris as they’re called locally) targeted Armenians living in the cosmopolitan city of Baku.
Baku had been a peaceful blending of many nationalities. But on the eve of the collapse of the mighty Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (better known as the USSR), the unrest between the Azeris and Armenians planted by Stalin seventy-years prior erupted into a violent pogrom, killing at least ninety Armenians, injuring countless others.
Genocidal violence, however, never occurs in a vacuum. Shadows Over Baku pulls apart the history, the mindset, and the deep roots of distrust that catapulted Khachatorian’s beloved city into violence.
Caught in the crossfire, this is one of—if the only—eye-witness account of the events of that harrowing time.
Simply Wrapped
Paperback – February 19th, 2013 (March 18th, 2008)
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Simply Wrapped: The Gift on the Outside, is the story of how Laurel Boone Helm developed a way to wrap gifts with fabric. She began the project because was concerned with the amount of paper waste that happens whenever gifts are exchanged, but it quickly developed into a way to develop gift-giving traditions. The first half of the book is the story of how Simply Wrapped was developed. The second half gives the reader a clear, step-by-step how-to guide to wrap gifts in twelve different ways using Simply Wrapped techniques.
Sing Active for Seniors
Paperback – April 12th, 2013
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Let music enhance the care you provide to those you help on a daily basis! With Sing Active For Seniors: The Resource Guide, Kathleen du Toit has developed a hands-on guide for all caregivers, practitioners, care and nursing teams alike. It is a “ready to use” tool that will help you enhance music programs for seniors aging in place and residents in facilities. This guide will make your music programming easier and save you time. And here’s the best part: you don’t even have to be musical to use these programs! The activities and programs have been thoroughly tested and researched and the programs adapted to maximize the resident’s participation, enjoyment and fulfillment. “I highly recommend this resource and think it should be an essential starting place for many homes, assisted living, supportive housing and residential care settings, who care for older adults and want to ensure they implement quality, purposeful, music sessions.” Michelle Wingfield, TRP Therapy Team Manager inSite Housing, Hospitality and Health Services Inc.
Song of the Mountains
Ebook – April, 2015
[maxbutton id="2" text="Ebook | $5.95" url="#"] [maxbutton id="1" text="Paperback | $14.95" url="/product/song-of-the-mountains-paperback/"]What Happens When Those Things that are Supposed to Comfort You—Don’t?
When Shakuntala Rajagopal lost her husband of forty-seven years in 2010, she was devastated. A devout Hindu, she followed what she had learned since birth. Her family celebrated their beloved father, uncle, and mentor through the many rituals sending him off to his new life. Shakuntala even travelled to India to lovingly give her husband’s ashes to the oceans off the southern coast of India.
As her husband’s last ashes floated away, Shaku felt her will to go on float away with him. At the age of seventy, she decided that she needed to revisit her own devout spirituality and take one of the more grueling but one of the most spiritual of all pilgrimages in India—the Char Dham—where she could bathe in the sacred waters of the River Ganges, Maa Ganga. She knew it would be her chance for a rebirth, a new beginning. But she almost doesn’t make it.
Song of the Mountains: My Pilgrimage to Maa Ganga is a story of survival, changing and challenging any reader in the way he or she approaches major changes in life. Rajagopal’s story is one that will empower the reader to take action and go forward in their own life, whatever the circumstance they are facing.
Stefan’s Promise
NEW Universal* Ebook, Kindle and Epub – Sept. 24th, 2019
(*NOTE: Download UPDF then Click on link inside front cover)
[maxbutton id="2" text="Ebook | $7.99" url="#"] [maxbutton id="1" text="Paperback | $24.95" url="/stefans-promise/"]THE VIETNAM WAR CHANGED AMERICA.
TWO BEST FRIENDS WEREN’T SPARED.
ONLY ONE WAS DRAFTED.
It’s 1968. America is rocked by assassinations, war protests and political upheaval. Alan Young, 21, is brooding over having been dumped by his girlfriend. This won’t last long. His draft notice is in the mail.
Stefan Kopinski isn’t about to let the war get in his way. He spends his days at the mercy of his reckless ambition. When fate steps in, will he finally understand what has been right in front of him for 30 years?
Stefan’s Promise is the story of Alan and Stefan. Circumstances part them, and sharply diverging temperaments further erode their bond. Yet, Alan and Stefan are wrong in supposing their friendship has ended. It’s just getting started.
Straight Dirt: New York’s Premier Landscape Designer Tells it Like It Is.
Straight Dirt is Steve Griggs’s “tell all” book about the inner workings of a landscape design firm in the TriState area. Griggs has been designing and installing residential backyards spaces in affluent areas in and around the New York metro area for the past thirty-five years. Straight Dirt is not a “how to” book on doing your own backyard. Rather, it gives expert insight on how to work with designers and contractors to create dream backyards and rooftop terraces in New York City. It includes segments on design and execution, with special sections on Grigg’s favorite plants, dos and don’ts for pools, and an invaluable list of tips on how to deal with your landscape contractor in “What Google Won’t Find For You.”
Griggs combines an artist’s sensibility with a commitment to client satisfaction. His passion is contagious and tell-it-like-it-is attitude gets the job done. He transforms every environment from ordinary to extraordinary, and the book is a masterful reflection of his work ethic (“Do it Once, Do It Right”) and attitude, (“Anyone can shower you with roses. I bring the thorns…and the cutter. Translation: Don’t believe the B.S. I tell it like it is” ).
Loaded with pictures from six showcased homes and stories from a handful of clients, Straight Dirt not only illustrates the various elements of landscape design and construction, it also gives the reader insight into how clients should feel at the completion of their project: “I had spent much of my life dealing with designers and contractors. Steve is very much unique. He is an artist and is someone who tacks on pride to what he does. What he created for us is extraordinary. We are grateful.” —Linda and Regis Boff
Straight Dirt is to the point, oftentimes funny, and the reader will never look at your backyard the same again.
Struggle for the Union
Connecting the Causes and Conflicts of the American Civil War
Paperback – September, 2023
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How “United” was the United States of America before and after the Civil War?
The Civil War was a defining moment in our history. It’s not just because the North won and slavery was abolished in the South.
The struggle for the Union is as alive today as it was in Lincoln’s time. The intense differences of opinion between North and South about the role of slavery in the nation eventually brought the South to secede from the Union to protect its economic interests. But those in the North, loyal to the Constitution and a united America, resisted the demands of the South, which led to the Civil War. It was a conflict of irreconcilable differences that nearly cost us our democracy.
Struggle for the Union: Connecting the Causes and Conflicts of the American Civil War takes a deep dive into social history, looking at what people thought about the war at the time.
Some questions the book makes you consider:
Why did the Civil War happen? Was it about slavery? Or states’ rights?
Was Grant a drunkard? Why did the Union lose so many battles until Grant took command?
Why did the Battle of Gettysburg cause the most casualties of any single battle in U.S. history?
How important was Grant’s defeat of the fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi?
How did Grant win the battles against Robert E. Lee in 1864 and gain his surrender at Appomattox, ending the war?
How did Sherman’s March through Georgia break the will of the Confederates?
There are still pockets of resistance to embrace fully-integrated African Americans into our social order, but in order to heal, it is vital we understand the political differences that led a nation to fight against its own countrymen.
Sandra Zink has written an account of the American Civil War that is organized by year and the battles that occurred. The book is easily understood but can also be used as a scholarly reference to understand the complexities of the events and the generals of the war.
Struggle on the High Plains
UPDF – August 16th, 2022
(NOTE: To download the UPDF click on link inside front cover of downloaded PDF)
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Colorado History has a Forgotten Corner
Ever wonder what happened to the Colorado Sugar Beet Industry—or remember when tractors drove down main streets in small towns across Eastern Colorado in the 1970s?
The story of Colorado’s eastern plains is one of ongoing efforts on the part of farmers, families, business and community leaders to achieve security and prosperity in the face of harsh economic and climatological conditions. The enduring struggle has been playing out over the nearly two centuries since the first settlement by Europeans.
Struggle on the High Plains chronicles this region’s overlooked economic saga, a rich if neglected part of Colorado’s history, that extends from founding of Bent’s Fort in the 1830s through siting of the massive Rush Creek wind farm in the 2010s. Highlights include:
- The surge of homesteaders in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- The large irrigation projects in the Arkansas and South Platte River Valleys
- The Dust Bowl in southeast Colorado and its influence on the lives of plains citizens.
- The entrepreneurs, adventurers and rogues who left their mark on the regions’ economy.
The book combines analysis of the episodes of prosperity and decline in the plains economy with stories of their impacts on its communities and their people. It is an invaluable study of the Colorado plains region’s history and will serve as an indispensable resource for students and researchers.
