Treading Softly


Book Description

From the mid-19th century to the early Cold War, the United States has a long history with China, and that interaction has not always been positive or productive. This brief history of foreign intervention in China, viewed through the experiences of the United States Marines, examines how the occupying powers dealt with a fellow sovereign nation. In many cases this involved the partition or outright absorption of Chinese territory through naked aggression. Clark contends that, considering the past two centuries, the Chinese have good reason to distrust all foreigners, and he urges the pursuit of a badly needed rapprochement. This is, however, also the story of the evolution of the Marine Corps as a separate service. Although an occupying force, the Marines did make considerable efforts to earn the friendship of the Chinese people. Always on the brink of extinction due to budgetary cuts and the enmity of the army and navy, the Marines managed to perform an onerous and difficult duty in a foreign land. With a resurgent China constantly testing the United States, a fellow Pacific Rim nation, every policymaker should be well aware of the often difficult history that we share and the mistakes that have been made in the past.










The Life and Loves of a United States Naval Aviator


Book Description

After his graduation in 1941 from Canoga Park High School, Harry Carter wanted a career in aviation. He was accepted into the United States Navy as an aviation cadet and upon completion of flight training, became a commissioned officer in the US Navy thus beginning his thirty-one-year career as a naval aviator and a commanding officer of three warships and service in a diplomatic post as the Naval Attach to Pakistan. Full of vivid historical details and anecdotes, The Life and Loves of a Untied States Naval Aviator charts Carters professional and personal journey in the air and on the sea and in foreign lands. Carter shares his experiences of flying out of England and the Azores during World War II and hurricane hunting in the Caribbean. He takes you through his wartime days as a surface line officer operating off the coast of Korea and Vietnam in destroyers, a carrier, and a fleet oiler. Carter, never one to turn down a pretty girl, met his match when, while attending a Navy program at the University of Southern California, he met and married the love of his life, Ellie. Carter returned to sea in command of the destroyer Durant and continued to have a career full of foreign intrigue and adventureminus the ladies---until his retirement in 1973. Through four wars, several countries, and a lot of romance, Carter lived life to the fullest. The Life and Loves of a United States Naval Aviator combines history, humor, and reflection to reveal one mans extraordinary life.










Unit Histories of World War II


Book Description