Fly Until You Die

Fly Until You Die
Author: Chia Youyee Vang
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2019-03-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190622164

During the Vietnam War, the US Air Force secretly trained pilots from Laos, skirting Lao neutrality in order to bolster the Royal Lao Air Force and their own war efforts. Beginning in 1964, this covert project, "Water Pump," operated out of Udorn Airbase in Thailand with the support of the CIA. This Secret War required recruits from Vietnam-border region willing to take great risks--a demand that was met by the marginalized Hmong ethnic minority. Soon, dozens of Hmong men were training at Water Pump and providing air support to the US-sponsored clandestine army in Laos. Short and problematic training that resulted in varied skill levels, ground fire, dangerous topography, bad weather conditions, and poor aircraft quality, however, led to a nearly 50 percent casualty rate, and those pilots who survived mostly sought refuge in the United States after the war. Drawing from numerous oral history interviews, Fly Until You Die brings their stories to light for the first time--in the words of those who lived it.

Fly Until You Die

Fly Until You Die
Author: Chia Youyee Vang
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2019
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190622148

Fly Until You Die: An Oral History of Hmong Pilots in the Vietnam War recounts the experiences of ethnic minority men from northern Laos who participated in a covert pilot training program led by the US Air Force.

Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die

Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die
Author: Chris Santella
Publisher: ABRAMS
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1613123566

“A lavishly photographed dreambook of the world’s top angling spots” (Men’s Journal) Amateur or expert, every angler dreams of landing “the big one,” but that’s only part of the appeal of fly fishing. Because even when hours pass without a bite, nothing beats the rugged beauty of the surroundings. For both armchair travelers and avid outdoorsmen who may have already started a checklist of their own, Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die maps out the meccas of the fly-fishing world. Through in-depth interviews with the sport’s acknowledged gurus, author Chris Santella goes beyond standard guides to convey the very essence of the recommended locations. Readers can vicariously cast mouse patterns to fifty-pound taimen in the wilds of Mongolia, wrangle with wily permit off the Florida Keys, and match the hatch on Montana’s Armstrong’s Spring Creek. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba (tarpon), the Zhupanova River, Kamchatka (rainbow trout), and the Rio Negro, Brazil (peacock bass) are also included. The fifty essays include a cultural and natural history of each site, along with colorful anecdotes based on the author's and authorities’ experiences. With breath-takingly-beautiful photos of the spots, many by celebrated fly-fishing photographer R. Valentine Atkinson, the book also provides adventurous anglers with enough travel-and-tackle information so that they, too, can start planning excursions to go fish around the globe. Praise for Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die “Santella offers 50 short takes on the ultimate fly-fishing destinations in this beautifully photographed and nicely packaged volume . . . With its elegant descriptions, gorgeous photos and practical information, this book is a dream travel guide for avid fly-fishers.” —Publishers Weekly “Everything dad needs to tackle his next trip.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Prisoner of Wars

Prisoner of Wars
Author: Chia Youyee Vang
Publisher: Temple University Press
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2020-12-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1439919399

Retired Captain Pao Yang was a Hmong airman trained by the U.S. Air Force and CIA to fly T-28D aircraft for the U.S. Secret War in Laos. However, his plane was shot down during a mission in June 1972. Yang survived, but enemy forces captured him and sent him to a POW camp in northeastern Laos. He remained imprisoned for four years after the United States withdrew from Vietnam because he fought on the American side of the war. Prisoner of Wars shows the impact the U.S Secret War in Laos had on Hmong combatants and their families. Chia Vang uses oral histories thatpoignantly recount Yang’s story and the deeply personal struggles his loved ones—who feared he had died—experienced in both Southeast Asia and the United States. As Yang eventually rebuilt his life in America, he grappled with issues of freedom and trauma. Yang’s life provides a unique lens through which to better understand the lasting impact of the wars in Southeast Asia and the diverse journeys that migrants from Asia made over the last two centuries. Prisoner of Wars makes visible an aspect of the collateral damage that has been left out of dominant Vietnam War narratives.

Hmong America

Hmong America
Author: Chia Youyee Vang
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 0252077598

An unprecedented inside view of the Hmong experience in America.

Someday We Will Fly

Someday We Will Fly
Author: Rachel DeWoskin
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2019-01-22
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0670014966

From the author of Blind, a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story set during World War II in Shanghai, one of the only places Jews without visas could find refuge. Warsaw, Poland. The year is 1940 and Lillia is fifteen when her mother, Alenka, disappears and her father flees with Lillia and her younger sister, Naomi, to Shanghai, one of the few places that will accept Jews without visas. There they struggle to make a life; they have no money, there is little work, no decent place to live, a culture that doesn't understand them. And always the worry about Alenka. How will she find them? Is she still alive? Meanwhile Lillia is growing up, trying to care for Naomi, whose development is frighteningly slow, in part from malnourishment. Lillia finds an outlet for her artistic talent by making puppets, remembering the happy days in Warsaw when her family was circus performers. She attends school sporadically, makes friends with Wei, a Chinese boy, and finds work as a performer at a "gentlemen's club" without her father's knowledge. But meanwhile the conflict grows more intense as the Americans declare war and the Japanese force the Americans in Shanghai into camps. More bombing, more death. Can they survive, caught in the crossfire?

The Icarus Deception

The Icarus Deception
Author: Seth Godin
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2012-12-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 067092301X

In The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin's most inspiring book, he challenges readers to find the courage to treat their work as a form of art Everyone knows that Icarus's father made him wings and told him not to fly too close to the sun; he ignored the warning and plunged to his doom. The lesson: Play it safe. Listen to the experts. It was the perfect propaganda for the industrial economy. What boss wouldn't want employees to believe that obedience and conformity are the keys to success? But we tend to forget that Icarus was also warned not to fly too low, because seawater would ruin the lift in his wings. Flying too low is even more dangerous than flying too high, because it feels deceptively safe. The safety zone has moved. Conformity no longer leads to comfort. But the good news is that creativity is scarce and more valuable than ever. So is choosing to do something unpredictable and brave: Make art. Being an artist isn't a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It's an attitude we can all adopt. It's a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things you're an artist, no matter what it says on your business card. Godin shows us how it's possible and convinces us why it's essential. 'If Seth Godin didn't exist, we'd need to invent him' Fast Company 'Seth Godin is a demigod on the web, a bestselling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger' Forbes Seth Godin is the author of thirteen international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, the ways ideas spread, leadership and change including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, The Dip and Tribes. He is the CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. His blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com, is the most influential business blog in the world, and consistently one of the 100 most popular blogs on any subject..

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture
Author: Randy Pausch
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Cancer
ISBN: 9780340978504

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.

Vesper Flights

Vesper Flights
Author: Helen Macdonald
Publisher: Grove Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2020-08-25
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0802146694

The New York Times–bestselling author of H is for Hawk explores the human relationship to the natural world in this “dazzling” essay collection (Wall Street Journal). In Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

Dead Men Flying

Dead Men Flying
Author: Patrick Henry Brady
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Generals
ISBN: 9781942475606

Presents a history of one of the most dangerous aviation operations during the Vietnam War, call-sign Dust Off, in which air ambulances speaheaded the humanitarian efforts that were being executed during the war.