Joe Pappalardo Reihenfolge der Bücher

Cowboy outlaws wanted them dead, and local authorities sought their imprisonment in a gripping true story from 1887. Between 1886 and 1888, Sgt. James A. Brooks of Texas Ranger Company F faced three deadly gunfights, suffered severe bullet wounds, participated in numerous manhunts, was convicted of second-degree murder, and ultimately received a presidential pardon. His journey is central to an epic narrative of lawmen and criminals in Texas during the decline of the "Old West." Alongside Brooks are diverse members of Company F, from a devout teetotaler to a cowboy evading justice for murder, all led by Captain William Scott, an undercover informant nearing the end of his career. Company F is determined to hunt down criminals across Texas, confident in their ability to deliver "Ranger justice." However, they encounter formidable opposition in the Conner family, notorious East Texas hunters and jailbreakers embroiled in a violent family feud. This account reveals the long-silenced story of Company F's confrontation with the Conners, illustrating a grim reality where neighbors turn into murderers, snitches, and bounty hunters, and the Texas Rangers find themselves in a perilous struggle for survival.

There's no higher accolade in the U.S. military than the Medal of Honor, and 472 people received it for their action during World War II. But only one was demoted right after: Maynard Harrison Smith.Smith is one of the most unlikely heroes of the war, where he served in B-17s during the early days of the bombing of France and Germany from England. From his juvenile delinquent past in Michigan, through the war and during the decades after, Smith's life seemed to be a series of very public missteps. The other airmen took to calling the 5-foot, 5-inch airman "Snuffy" after an unappealing movie character. This is the man who, on a tragically mishandled mission over France on May 1, 1943, single-handedly saved the crewman in his stricken B-17. His ordeal is part of a forgotten mission that aircrews came to call the May Day Massacre. The skies over Europe in 1943 were a charnel house for U.S. pilots, who were being led by tacticians surprised by the brutal effectiveness of German defenses. By May 1943 the combat losses among bomb crews were a staggering 40 to 50 percent. This book examines Smith's life in a new light, through the use of exclusive interviews of those who knew him (including fellow MOH recipients and family) as well as public and archival records. This is both a thrilling and horrifying story of the air war over Europe and a fascinating look at one of America's forgotten heroes.