THE INVASION IS OVER. THEY ARE ALREADY AMONGST US. Benjamin Carter Mason died last night. Maybe he threw himself off a bridge into Los Angeles Harbor, or maybe he burned to death in a house fire in San Pedro; it doesn’t really matter. Today, Mason’s starting a new life. He’s back in boot camp, training for the only war left that matters a damn. For years, their spies have been coming to Earth, learning our weaknesses. Our governments knew, but they did nothing—the prospect was too awful, the costs too high—and now, the horrifying and utterly inhuman Cray are laying waste to our cities. The human race is a heartbeat away from extinction. That is, unless Mason, and the other men and women of Task Force OMBRA, can do anything about it. This is a time for heroes. For killers. For Grunts.

A New York Times / National Bestseller "America's funniest science writer" (Washington Post) Mary Roach explores the science of keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war. Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries—panic, exhaustion, heat, noise—and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper. She visits a repurposed movie studio where amputee actors help prepare Marine Corps medics for the shock and gore of combat wounds. At Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, in east Africa, we learn how diarrhea can be a threat to national security. Roach samples caffeinated meat, sniffs an archival sample of a World War II stink bomb, and stays up all night with the crew tending the missiles on the nuclear submarine USS Tennessee. She answers questions not found in any other book on the military: Why is DARPA interested in ducks? How is a wedding gown like a bomb suit? Why are shrimp more dangerous to sailors than sharks? Take a tour of duty with Roach, and you’ll never see our nation’s defenders in the same way again.

Benjamin Carter Mason died last night. Maybe he threw himself off a bridge into Los Angeles Harbor, or maybe he burned to death in a house fire in San Pedro; it doesn't really matter. Today, Mason's starting a new life. He's back in boot camp, training for the only war left that matters a damn. For years, their spies have been coming to Earth, mapping our cities, learning our weaknesses, leaving tragedy in their wake. Our governments knew, but they did nothing - the prospect was too awful, the costs too high - and now, the horrifying and utterly alien Cray are invading, laying waste to our cities. The human race is a heartbeat away from extinction. That is, unless Mason, and the other men and women of Task Force OMBRA, can do anything about it. This is a time for heroes. For killers. For Grunts.

Fifty years after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing US forces to defend South Vietnam, this incredible book arrives with a one-stop visual tour of every item of gear employed by American infantrymen in the long years of battle that followed. With over 2,000 photos accompanied by insightful text (did we know that the US buildup was so sudden that initial divisions had to be issued black leather footwear instead of tropical boots?) this work digs into every nook and cranny of the infantry's experience "in-country." M-16s, Claymores, M-60s, grenades and knives and knives are naturally examined in full color. But so is every variety of clothing, rations, helmets, hats and caps, as well as medals, patches and insignia. This remarkable collection does not stop there, however, as it also examines the soldiers' pastimes, from music to magazines (not just Life or Time but Mad, Playboy and the periodical Grunt) as well as the brands of beers, cigarettes and other leisure elements. Rare photos of soldiers themselves in Nam spot the narrative, as well as glimpses of what was going on back in the States meantime, including protests. Carefully compiled and lavishly illustrated, this unique book provides a visceral tour down memory lane for every soldier who served in Vietnam. It is also a revealing guide to those in the general public who may have wondered exactly what our troops felt, handled and experienced during that tumultuous American war in remote Southeast Asia.

Enjoy some of the lessons the author's family learned from their yellow lab, Grunt, and remember to Live Like Grunt.