Brutal Battles of Vietnam: America's Deadliest Days, 1965-1972 is VFW's contribution to the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. This 480-page book covering some 100 military actions is an outgrowth of VFW's award-winning magazine series called Vietnam's Deadliest Battles. Running over seven years, its excellence was recognized with 13 national magazine awards. Genuinely a one-of-a-kind work, it provides the most comprehensive battle history of the war yet published in a single volume. Brimming with compelling stories, the book focuses exclusively on the perspective of the fighting man. Virtually all of the deadliest engagements are covered concisely. The high drama of the battlefield is felt through fast-paced personal accounts, some 700 pictures, battle maps and war statistics.

This is the story of the genesis of the VFW, and its steday growth. It is the story of dedication to the welfare of those who served overseas and a chronicle of civic presence thoughout the nation.

Chronicle of America's oldest major veteran's organization of the VFW.

The White Table is set in many mess halls as a symbol for and remembrance to service members fallen, missing, or held captive in the line of duty. Solitary and solemn, it is the table where no one will ever sit. As a special gift to her Uncle John, Katie and her sisters are asked to help set the white table for dinner. As their mother explains the significance of each item placed on the table Katie comes to understand and appreciate the depth of sacrifice that her uncle, and each member of the Armed Forces and their families, may be called to give. It was just a little white table... but it felt as big as America when we helped Mama put each item on it and she told us why it was so important. "We use a Small Table, girls," she explained first, "to show one soldier's lonely battle against many. We cover it with a White Cloth to honor a soldier's pure heart when he answers his country's call to duty." "We place a Lemon Slice and Grains of Salt on a plate to show a captive soldier's bitter fate and the tears of families waiting for loved ones to return," she continued."We push an Empty Chair to the table for the missing soldiers who are not here..." Margot Theis Raven has been a professional writer working in the fields of radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and children's books for 30 years. Margot's first children's book, Angels in the Dust, won five national awards, including an IRATeacher's Choice Award. Her first book with Sleeping Bear Press, Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot, was the runner-up for the 2004 Texas Bluebonnet Award. She lives with her family in Charleston, South Carolina. Mike Benny's illustrations have appeared in Time, GQ, New Yorker and Sports Illustrated Magazines. He has also been awarded two Gold Medals from the Society of Illustrators. This is Mike's first children's book. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Mary Ann and daughter Adele.

This book tells the story of The Veterans of Future Wars (VFW), a student movement that attracted widespread support in a short few months in 1936. Despite its short life, it was a successful movement that attracted wide support and caused serious discussion about the role of the federal government in providing bonuses to veterans. It focused American attention on the bonus issue, which had been a political issue for many years.

Punk rock culture in a preeminently average town Synonymous with American mediocrity, Peoria was fertile ground for the boredom- and anger-fueled fury of punk rock. Jonathan Wright and Dawson Barrett explore the do-it-yourself scene built by Peoria punks, performers, and scenesters in the 1980s and 1990s. From fanzines to indie record shops to renting the VFW hall for an all-ages show, Peoria's punk culture reflected the movement elsewhere, but the city's conservatism and industrial decline offered a richer-than-usual target environment for rebellion. Eyewitness accounts take readers into hangouts and long-lost venues, while interviews with the people who were there trace the ever-changing scene and varied fortunes of local legends like Caustic Defiance, Dollface, and Planes Mistaken for Stars. What emerges is a sympathetic portrait of a youth culture in search of entertainment but just as hungry for community—the shared sense of otherness that, even for one night only, could unite outsiders and discontents under the banner of music. A raucous look at a small-city underground, Punks in Peoria takes readers off the beaten track to reveal the punk rock life as lived in Anytown, U.S.A.

Short history book on the life of James Ballentine who was killed in action in France in World War I, and the formation of Ballentine Post 246 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars which bears his name.