Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green PDF Author: Johnny Rico
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307494187
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Outrageous, hilarious, and absolutely candid, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green is Johnny Rico’s firsthand account of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, a memoir that also reveals the universal truths about the madness of war. No one would have picked Johnny Rico for a soldier. The son of an aging hippie father, Johnny was overeducated and hostile to all authority. But when 9/11 happened, the twenty-six-year-old probation officer dropped everything to become an “infantry combat killer.” But if he’d thought that serving his country would be the kind of authentic experience a reader of The Catcher in the Rye would love, he quickly realized he had another thing coming. In Afghanistan he found himself living a Lord of the Flies existence among soldiers who feared civilian life more than they feared the Taliban–guys like Private Cox, a musical prodigy busy “planning his future poverty,” and Private Mulbeck, who didn’t know precisely which country he was in. Life in a combat zone meant carnage and courage–but it also meant tedious hours standing guard, punctuated with thoughtful arguments about whether Bea Arthur was still alive. Utterly uncensored and full of dark wit, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green is a poignant, frightening, and heartfelt view of life in this and every man’s army.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green PDF Author: Johnny Rico
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307494187
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Get Book

Book Description
Outrageous, hilarious, and absolutely candid, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green is Johnny Rico’s firsthand account of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, a memoir that also reveals the universal truths about the madness of war. No one would have picked Johnny Rico for a soldier. The son of an aging hippie father, Johnny was overeducated and hostile to all authority. But when 9/11 happened, the twenty-six-year-old probation officer dropped everything to become an “infantry combat killer.” But if he’d thought that serving his country would be the kind of authentic experience a reader of The Catcher in the Rye would love, he quickly realized he had another thing coming. In Afghanistan he found himself living a Lord of the Flies existence among soldiers who feared civilian life more than they feared the Taliban–guys like Private Cox, a musical prodigy busy “planning his future poverty,” and Private Mulbeck, who didn’t know precisely which country he was in. Life in a combat zone meant carnage and courage–but it also meant tedious hours standing guard, punctuated with thoughtful arguments about whether Bea Arthur was still alive. Utterly uncensored and full of dark wit, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green is a poignant, frightening, and heartfelt view of life in this and every man’s army.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow: A Norwegian Volunteer's War Against the Islamic State

Blood Makes the Grass Grow: A Norwegian Volunteer's War Against the Islamic State PDF Author: Mike Peshmerganor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781718059177
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
The incredible true story of a young Norwegian who put his life on the line to fight the world's most brutal terrorist organization.August 2014: ISIS continues its reign of terror, conquering new areas in Iraq and Syria, leaving tens of thousands of dead and millions displaced in their homelands. International news shows gruesome images of massacres and ethnic cleansing. A horrified Norwegian soldier at Camp Rena, shocked by Norway's unwillingness to commit troops to eradicate the terrorists, decides to take matters into his own hands and travels to the Kurdish front line in Iraq.In this gripping memoir, Mike Peshmerganor recounts how his Kurdish heritage, liberal Norwegian upbringing and military training shaped his worldview and drew him into the fight against militant Islamism. Armed only with gear he purchased himself and the name of a Kurdish contact, Mike is thrust into a military culture completely foreign to Westerners; where soldiers work without pay, adequate food and even ammunition, and their revered leader is a former hitman. Here are dramatic firefights against the world's most feared terrorist organization, and insight into the mindset of a true warrior.Mike Peshmerganor is a pseudonym. He escaped from Kurdistan as an infant with his family, grew up in Eastern Norway and served in Norway's elite Telemark Battalion. "I couldn't think of a single better reason for the government to send troops abroad than to stop an ongoing genocide. And what about all the foreign fighters from Europe who fought for ISIS? Didn't we have a responsibility to stop our own citizens from actively perpetrating war crimes and other atrocities in Iraq? Who will prevent them from returning home and carrying out terrorist attacks here, inour own cities? I realized it was futile to wait for Norway to engage directly in the fight against ISIS. I had to do it on my own."

Border Crosser

Border Crosser PDF Author: Johnny Rico
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345515226
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Johnny Rico is back. After risking his life as an Afghanistan stop-loss soldier, an experience he described in the cult phenomenon Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green, he now dares to embed himself on both sides of America’s most dangerous domestic conflict–the war for and against illegal immigration–in an exhilarating new exercise in immersion journalism. The gonzo author–part Hunter Thompson, part George Plimpton–explores a seemingly insoluble issue by getting his hands dirty and his boots on the ground. As a “typically spoiled American” who doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish, he takes it upon himself to try to cross the Mexican border into the United States illegally. Eager to tell the story from all sides–or simply to get good material for his book–Rico also travels treacherously with the Border Patrol, meets extreme immigrant advocates who publish maps for illegals, visits a modern-day “underground railroad” in Texas, and hunts for miscreants with angry vigilantes. In such hot spots as the Tecate Line, a forty-five-mile stretch of hills on California’s southern fringe, and Arizona’s Amnesty Trail, the single busiest part of the U.S. border, Rico encounters Los Zetas, the paramilitatry group that has taken over Mexico’s drug cartels, interviews the volunteer Minutemen, who believe in an imminent and apocalyptic Mexican invasion, and tries to recruit coyotes (human smugglers, usually fortified by meth and cocaine). In his heedless and openly opportunistic style, Rico unearths more truths about this explosive subject than most traditional reporters could ever hope to. Border Crosser is another knockout from this new-generation journalist, at once a concerned citizen, courageous spy, and unparalleled author.

If I Ran the Zoo

If I Ran the Zoo PDF Author: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: RH Childrens Books
ISBN: 0385379382
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
Animals abound in Dr. Seuss’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book If I Ran the Zoo. Gerald McGrew imagines the myriad of animals he’d have in his very own zoo, and the adventures he’ll have to go on in order to gather them all. Featuring everything from a lion with ten feet to a Fizza-ma-Wizza-ma-Dill, this is a classic Seussian crowd-pleaser. In fact, one of Gerald’s creatures has even become a part of the language: the Nerd!

Dudes of War

Dudes of War PDF Author: Benjamin Tupper
Publisher: Epigraph Publishing
ISBN: 9780983051732
Category : Afghan War, 2001-
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Dudes of War" is an enlightening and uncensored introduction to modern American soldier culture. As told through personal vignettes of men serving in Afghanistan, this revealing account of life on the bases and in the hootches explores the good times and bad habits of today's soldier at war. From the pranks and humor and heartbreaks, to the hobbies, lingo, and vices, "Dudes of War" is a no-holds-barred tour of life down range. "Tupper is a sharp, honest guy...He's no meathead, but he's still a dude" - Newsweek.com " Tupper deploys a razor wit and an unusual level of sensitivity and compassion towards profiling the men of his combat unit while in Afghanistan. "Dudes of War" is a fantastic glimpse into the lives of soldiers in Afghanistan." - Johnny Rico, Author, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green

A Way to Garden

A Way to Garden PDF Author: Margaret Roach
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1604698772
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.

A People's History of the United States

A People's History of the United States PDF Author: Howard Zinn
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9780060528423
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 764

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Book Description
Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools -- with its emphasis on great men in high places -- to focus on the street, the home, and the, workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles -- the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality -- were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history. Revised, updated, and featuring a new after, word by the author, this special twentieth anniversary edition continues Zinn's important contribution to a complete and balanced understanding of American history.

Across the Green Grass Fields

Across the Green Grass Fields PDF Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Tordotcom
ISBN: 1250213606
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A young girl discovers a portal to a land filled with centaurs and unicorns in Seanan McGuire's Across the Green Grass Fields, a standalone tale in the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series. “Welcome to the Hooflands. We’re happy to have you, even if you being here means something’s coming.” Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late. When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to "Be Sure" before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines—a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes. But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem... A standalone Wayward Children story containing all-new characters, and a great jumping-on point for new readers. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Food Not Lawns

Food Not Lawns PDF Author: H. C. Flores
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 193339207X
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Combines practical wisdom on ecological design and community-building with a fresh, green perspective on an age-old subject. Activist and urban gardener Heather Flores shares her nine-step permaculture design to help farmsteaders and city dwellers alike build fertile soil, promote biodiversity, and increase natural habitat in their own "paradise gardens." This joyful lifestyle manual inspires readers to apply the principles of the paradise garden--simplicity, resourcefulness, creativity, mindfulness, and community--to all aspects of life. Plant "guerrilla gardens" in barren intersections and medians; organize community meals; start a street theater troupe or host a local art swap; free your kitchen from refrigeration and enjoy truly fresh, nourishing foods from your own plot of land; work with children to create garden play spaces. Flores cares passionately about the damaged state of our environment and our throwaway society. Here, she shows us how to reclaim the earth, one garden at a time.--From publisher description.

Welcome to FOB Haiku

Welcome to FOB Haiku PDF Author: Randy Brown
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780996931700
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
"Sherpatude no. 26: 'Humor is a combat multiplier ...' Has your war become workaday? Does life on the Forward Operating Base (FOB) now seem commonplace? Armed with deadpan snark and poker-faced patriotism -- and rooted in the coffee-black soil and plain-spoken voice of the American Midwest -- journalist-turned-poet Randy Brown reveals behind-the-scenes stories of U.S. soldier-citizenship. From Boot Camp to Bagram, Afghanistan. And back home again." --