Through one man’s career, Colt Terry, Green Beret portrays the birth and development of America’s most elite fighting unit. The 10th Special Forces Group was the first of the Green Beret units. Its five hundred men, all Airborne and mostly Rangers, received extensive training in everything from specialized weapons to uncommon languages. Their primary mission was to train and lead indigenous guerillas operating in enemy territory. Second Lieutenant Colt Terry, who had joined the 82nd Airborne in 1947, had already done this in Korea. As a volunteer in the 10th SFG, he carried on his service, working with the Montagnards in Vietnam and The Khmer in Cambodia. He fought at Pleiku, Duc Co, and Plei Me, and he ferried supplies and weapons on elephants into Cambodia. From his enlistment as a buck private in 1945 to his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 1970, Terry served five tours in combat, trained guerrillas, and earned two combat infantry badges, a Purple Heart, and two Bronze Stars. His experiences contributed to Special Forces’ expertise in ambushes and killing techniques. Even as an officer, Terry never shied away from going deep into the jungle in search of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. He personally organized a successful effort to save hundreds of men in one of Special Forces’ most critical A-team camps. As one of the original Green Berets, Terry helped set the standards by which these units have become known. Anyone who has ever wondered what the Green Berets were like during their first two decades will appreciate the riveting action and close-up detail of Terry’s true-life story . This is the story of Curtis “Colt” Terry, one of the original Green Berets. The information for this story came primarily from Colt’s personal recollections documented in taped interviews. Many facts were confirmed with fellow paratroopers, military historians, and Special Forces NCOs and officers who served with him. Colt gave the interviews to leave a record of his experiences. After hearing Colt’s story, the author felt that other people should know this man.

From Army Rangers to Green Berets to the U.S. Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden, this book explains what makes Special Forces "special," covering the rich and varied history of elite formations in American military history and describing their recruitment, intense training, and equipment in depth. Most civilians have only a vague idea of what the U.S. Special Forces are all about—who they are, how they differ from our "normal" military forces, what they've accomplished throughout our history, and how they operate today. Fighting Elites: A History of U.S. Special Forces examines the rich and varied history of U.S. Special Forces, identifies their contributions to specific conflicts from colonial times forward, and highlights their present operational excellence. In this first-ever reference guide to U.S. Special Forces, military historian John C. Fredriksen provides a carefully balanced presentation, describing all units in their own detailed section that discusses their origins, recruitment, training, tactics, and equipment, and defining military engagements, if known. The text also contains 20 biographical entries of noted personalities associated with special purpose activities.

For Southeast Asia, the Vietnam War altered forever the history, topography, people, economy, and politics of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Cambodia, and Laos. That the war was controversial is an understatement as is the notion that the war can be understood from any one perspective. One way of understanding the Vietnam War is by marking its time with turning points, both major and minor, that involved events or decisions that helped to influence its course in the years to follow. By examining a few of these turning points, an organizational framework takes shape that makes understanding the war more possible. Historical Dictionary of the War in Vietnam emphasizes the international nature of the war, as well as provide a greater understanding of the long scope of the conflict. The major events associated with the war will serve as the foundation of the book while additional entries will explore the military, diplomatic, political, social, and cultural events that made the war unique. While military subjects will be fully explored, there will be greater attention to other aspects of the war. All of this is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Vietnam War.

This book teaches you how to succeed in every aspect of your life through the intelligent use of strategy. Strategy is the essence of getting what you want. A child talks her grandpa into buying an ice cream cone. One spouse tries to convince the other that a new set of golf clubs is a necessity. A salesperson tries to displace his or her competitor’s products on a retailer’s shelves. Strategies are in use everywhere and affect the success of whatever you are trying to do. The first eight chapters lay out the structure of strategy. Some people think strategy is something mystical and only understood by born leaders. In this book, you will find strategy is eminently learnable and the structure easy to understand. When you learn how to strategize by following the structure, your chances of success in any endeavor will be greatly improved. The next four chapters spell out the specifics of offense and defense and provide over 300 actual offensive and defensive strategies that can be used in different real life situations. The remaining two chapters cover what to expect when you succeed or fail, detailing the consequences of victory or defeat, and conclude with a condensed summary of the process. This book is the result of over twelve years of interviews; research that included a wide variety of business, academic, military, and other written works, the analysis of the strategic actions taken by top executives in many businesses; in-depth study of military strategies and their application to life’s other problems; and general observations of people going about their everyday lives. The subject matter of this book can be applied to all aspects of life and is timeless.

Comedian Robin Williams said that if you remember the '60s, you weren't there. This encyclopedia documents the people, places, movements, and culture of that memorable decade for those who lived it and those who came after. Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture surveys the 1960s from January 1960 to December 1969. Nearly 500 entries cover everything from the British television cult classic The Avengers to the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement. The two-volume work also includes biographies of artists, architects, authors, statesmen, military leaders, and cinematic stars, concentrating on what each individual accomplished during the 1960s, with brief postscripts of their lives beyond the period. There was much more to the Sixties than flower power and LSD, and the entries in this encyclopedia were compiled with an eye to providing a balanced view of the decade. Thus, unlike works that emphasize only the radical and revolutionary aspects of the period to the exclusion of everything else, these volumes include the political and cultural Right, taking a more academic than nostalgic approach and helping to fill a gap in the popular understanding of the era.

“I like what you’ve done. Very Professional,” Perry Snyderman. “Timesharing is a complex business model and for someone that has little or no experience and wants to better understand the fundamentals, this book works well to fi ll many of the information gaps,” Bob Miller According to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the timeshare industry is a $10 billion per year business in the U.S. alone and supports 565,300 jobs. By my estimation, more than 50,000 of these jobs are people working directly in the industry. Until now, no book has been written for this group of people that explains the functioning of the timeshare business. This book is written for those who want to fully understand the timeshare business from the inside out or who are in the business and want to be promoted to management positions or are already managers and want to become better. This book begins with how strategies are developed by senior management, continues with many important operating practices and metrics and ends with a series of bonus secrets to help a timeshare company reach its optimum performance. This book explains many of the common terms used in the industry as well as providing high level models to help timeshare management put all the components of this complex business into proper perspective.