Ten Stars is a nonfiction narrative -- part biography, part oral history -- of the life story of Gary Cooper, an African American born in the depths of Jim Crow to an Alabama family that challenged the rule of segregation. The Cooper extended family, described in interludes at points within the book, has made a national mark in politics, arts, education, health care, and the military. Graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1958 as one of three African Americans in a class of 1,500, Cooper went on to become the U.S. Marines' first black commander of a combat infantry company in Vietnam. He later became the Corps' first black general from Infantry, an Alabama state legislator and governor's cabinet official, an Air Force civilian four-star who promoted the Tuskegee Airmen, and the first black U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica.

SPECIAL PEOPLE FOR SPECIAL JOBS"Yeah, yeah, we know all about them. You got the Star Army and you got the Interplanetary Special Services, but sometimes you need something more. Combat in floating space hulks, airless moons, and planets with an atmosphere so nasty you'll be dead if your suit is breached. That's what I'm talking about, the tough jobs. That's what we do."What: Sci-Fi Squad/Platoon size combat.Scale: Man to man combat. 1 figure equals 1 man.Your Role: Players can command from one Squad to a full Company of infantry. Playability: Designed for solo, same side and head to head play.5150 Star Marine is the fully compatible companion book to 5150 Star Army - 2nd Tour. Both are stand-alone games that share the same mechanics, but where Star Army is all about planet bound combat, Star Marine covers combat on hostile planets, boarding actions in space, and covert Missions in out of the way places.Inside you'll find:-A man-to-man skirmish combat system that plays fast and yields realistic results.-Eighteen different troop types, a variety of Factions, and over 100 pre-generated Non-Player Characters.-Rules to play out your 5150 Star Navy, and 5150 Carrier Command Boarding Actions.-Mechanics to interact with a wide variety of Non-Player Characters that will enhance your Story while on, wait for it... Personal Leave!-A light bookkeeping Campaign System that rewards your Characters when they succeed and punishes them when they fail as well as linking your battles together.-An easy to learn and use combat system that enhances, not inhibits, your games.-Play with any figures you may already have or the color paper counters we've included in the game.-All this and much more.You never ask how many of them there are, just where they are. That's what we do, that's what makes us ... STAR MARINES!5150 Star Marine is compatible with 5150 Star Army 2nd Tour, 5150 Star Navy, and all of the other 5150 games.Please note that the maps and counters for this book are printed inside in black and white. Please contact Two Hour Wargames for the PDF files so you can print your own: [email protected]

A fascinating biography of veteran Marine Corps officer Colonel John W. Thomason, dedicated soldier and talented artist. “On a spring morning in 1917, in fact the very day the United States declared war on Germany, a twenty-four-year-old Texan strode into the recruiting office of the Marine Corps branch of the Texas Naval Militia at Houston, and let it be known somewhat emphatically to authority there present that he desired to enlist. They assigned him to Company A, 1st Texas Battalion of Marines, and the same day they packed him off on the first train through town bound for New Orleans. “Within a month’s time he was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, and for the ensuing twenty-seven years he was to devote his life to that branch of the naval service. During those years he served within the continental limits of the United States, in France and Germany, aboard ship and ashore in the Caribbean, in Cuba, in certain of the Central American Republics, in the Orient, and briefly in the South Pacific. “This newly-commissioned young officer, John William Thomason, Jr., of Huntsville, Texas, brought with him into the Marine Corps a variety of skills and talents. Throughout his service career he was to continue to employ his unusual abilities and to develop them and to contribute materially not only to the betterment of his Corps but also to his fellow comrades. He was unique in a service where uniqueness is not unknown but rather wherein individuality is encouraged for the common good. His record in combat as well as in the administrative field was outstanding in a military organization long known to demand perfection as a matter of course. And at his death in 1944, it would appear he left the artistic, the literary, and the military worlds far wealthier than he had found them.”

Now that the secrets of Mars have been unearthed, nation stands against nation in the brink of a catastrophic war. A war that threatens our entire existence.

Yes, It All Really Happened Just Like This. . . Here's the story of Rich Merritt--the good son, teacher's pet, Southern gentleman, model Christian student at Bob Jones University, Marine officer, and the not-so-anonymous poster boy for a New York Times Magazine article on gays in the military--whose complicated sexual past caused an international scandal when The Advocate "outed" him as "The Marine Who Did Gay Porn," putting his life in a tailspin. It's the compelling, poignant story of how a boy who never listened to pop music, never cursed, and didn't have his first drink until he was eighteen exploded into a life of drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, prostitution, and pornography. And above all, it's a triumphant story of self-forgiveness and identity, of a man who refused to allow himself to be defined by the standards of anyone else--gay or straight. Along the way, Rich Merritt writes with humor, compassion, insight and naked truth about: • What it's really like growing up behind the "Fortress of Fundamentalism" and how he ultimately came to despise their views • The harsh realities of military life under the "Don't ask, don't tell" Clinton policy • A real insider's experience of working in the male porn industry--the good, the bad, and the extremely hot • Why he chose not to reveal his porn past to the New York Times journalist • What it felt like to be the most notorious marine in the world and what it took to come through the fire By turns harrowing and heartbreaking, angry and affirming, Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star is that rarest of memoirs--a fascinating slice of life that reads like the most absorbing fiction, but is all true.