Military

American Prisoner of War Camps in Colorado describes the experiences of prisoners of war in the state, such as the story of two POWs who escaped from a camp in Trinidad. Was it treason, or were the three Japanese enemy alien sisters seduced by the German POWs who used their map? Stories of other escapes are detailed, such as two men who were shot to death as they tried to flee. All fifty-one prisoner of war camps and hospitals in Colorado during World War II are described, along with the names and burial locations of the seventeen German, Japanese, and Italian POWs who died in Colorado. These experiences are well documented through interviews with former prisoners and guards, translators, and civilians who worked with the prisoners of war. They are further documented by visitation reports from the Vatican Secret Archives, the prisoner of war files at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and by many books and articles published after the war by former prisoners, guards, and scholars.

The generally humane treatment of the prisoners, led by the Geneva Convention of 1929, as well as the friendship formed between the prisoners and their guards and the farmers whose land they worked, was essential to the development of our current positive relationships with the countries of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Established during World War II, Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) has supported the defense of the United States for nearly eight decades. Originally a heavy bomber training base, Great Falls Army Air Base was a nexus of fascinating war stories, from Women Airforce Service Pilots ferrying fighter aircraft to Soviet pilots transferring the same aircraft to the Eastern Front during the closing days of World War II. After the war, Great Falls AFB was selected to train pilots for the Berlin Airlift.

Nuclear deterrence took center stage in the early Cold War years, with Malmstrom AFB providing air defense, command and control, and aerial refueling over the Northern Tier. Reflecting unmatched excellence, Malmstrom AFB was selected to operate the first wing of Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles in 1961. This legacy of being the first has earned the wing the nickname "Wing One," with a storied history to follow. The men and women of Malmstrom AFB continue to work grueling jobs in often difficult conditions, but still maintain the pride and excellence in service that defined their predecessors' successes.

American Prisoner of War Camps in Arizona and Nevada describes the impact of the large number of prisoners of war on the populations of Arizona and Nevada, as well as the impact of the people of Arizona and Nevada on those imprisoned there. Providing detail on the care and employment of prisoners of war according to the Geneva Convention of 1929, the lives of POWs in these states are illustrated, along with the details of camp locations in Arizona and Nevada and the deaths and burials that occurred among them. Some prisoner names are included, as well as references to source materials at various repositories. Historical photographs serve to provide depth to the story.

Weak maritime nations have always sought to augment the strength of their coastal defenses and navies by the use of "diabolical" contrivances for destroying an invader's ships.

The history of the adoption of the torpedo as a recognized implement of warfare is not unlike that of gunpowder or of exploding shells. Each in its turn was met by the cry, "Inhuman, barbarous, unchivalrous."

During the American Civil War, the Confederate Navy employed submerged mines, called torpedoes, and explosive charges mounted on a long pole referred to as the "spar torpedo" which was bumped into the hull of an enemy vessel exploding on contact. These weapons enjoyed great success during the conflict.

In July 1869, the Secretary of the Navy announced the establishment of the Naval Torpedo Station on Goat Island in the harbor of Newport, Rhode Island, for development of a more sophisticated and deadlier self-propelled torpedo. From its founding until the end of the Second World War, the Naval Torpedo Station has been the Navy's principal center for the design of torpedoes.

Newport continues as the home of the U.S. Navy's most important laboratory for research and development of modern weapons' systems.

Abandoned Coastal Defenses of Alabama is a down-and-dirty guided tour through Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, the retired guardians of Alabama's Gulf Coast. For nearly 200 years, these hauntingly beautiful Third System forts have stood stubbornly between the Yellowhammer State and a sometimes hostile world beyond.

Pairing stunning original photography and vibrant prose, urban explorer Thomas Kenning recounts a blow-by-blow history of Forts Morgan and Gaines. His sensitive camera work documents the grandeur and decline wrought by the passage of time, as well as the lasting damage sustained during the pitched Battle of Mobile Bay--one of the most iconic battles in U.S. naval history.

Threatened by a rising sea, disintegrating under the weight of centuries, Forts Morgan and Gaines have been named "one of the nation's ten most endangered battle sites" by the American Battlefield Trust. Abandoned Coastal Defenses of Alabama offers an arresting snapshot of this waning moment in American history--documentary evidence of a rich past slipping inexorably into ruin.

"For well over a century, San Diego has been at the forefront of air and space innovation, development, and exploration. From the first flights by John J. Montgomery in 1883 to today's cutting-edge drone technology, San Diego has played a vital role in aviation and space technology. Today, there are over forty aerospace companies in the San Diego area, producing highly sophisticated aircraft and aircraft components for the world's aviation community.

This book documents the people and events that made San Diego's aviation heritage so unique and critically important through carefully selected photographic records, most of which are from the San Diego Air & Space Museum's archival collections. San Diego Aviation Through Time looks not only at the past, but also explores how aviation has shaped the region in the present day. Since 1961, the San Diego Air & Space Museum has been dedicated to the preservation of America's aviation heritage and to the spirit of adventure that first led us into the air and then to the outer reaches of space."

Jutting out into Boston Harbor is the Nahant peninsula, the smallest township in Massachusetts. Despite its size, it was selected to house the most powerful seacoast weaponry ever conceived by military engineers, capable of destroying enemy warcraft far at sea, and the most advanced electronic devices employed in modern warfare to detect and locate enemy aircraft, surface ships, and submarines.