ANGLICO: "Super Grunts" of 1st ANGLICO were deployed to all four tactical zones of Vietnam in small mobile fire control teams, providing support to U.S. Army and allied elements. This organization was the last tactical unit to stand down from the war and gained distinction as the only Marines in-country reporting directly to MACV. Working closely with Korean Marines, recounting several actions involving these legendary warriors from the Land of the Morning Calm, this little known but highly effective unit had an impact on the war far greater than their small numbers. Field radio operators and naval gunfire spotters composed the tactical membership of this unit. Both professions were cross trained in each competence, and each in turn was further qualified as tactical air controllers. An airborne capable platoon was established, mandating many ANGLICOs attend jump school and undertake other specialty training in the event they are called on to enter combat by unconventional means. Not being able to predict who they may be called on to support, training was pushed to the level of the most elite forces in the free world. BLUE DRAGONS: Most men of the Blue Dragon Brigade came of age during a war that raged fierce on their own homeland little more than a decade earlier. During a short lived occupation by North Korea, the people of the south endured extremely harsh treatment by would be conquerors. Events of recent history still burned in their hearts and haunted their dreams. They were mostly all children at the time leaving scarcely a man untouched by personal tragedy that could only be forged in a crucible of terror. Many were orphaned and all shared a thirst to settle a score that only those who drink deep from the same cup of dread can truly understand.

The U.S. Marine Corps' Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies--usually referred to as ANGLICOs--are the unsung heroes of the U.S. military. Small squads of these marines are inserted deep behind enemy lines to identify targets and direct fire from aircraft, ground artillery, and naval guns. They are among the best of the best, and their radio call sign "Lightning" is recognized throughout the military as the gold standard of qualification and capability.

This comprehensive survey profiles one of history's greatest fighting forces, on land, sea, and air. The United States Marine Corps: A Chronology, 1775 to the Present touches upon all aspects of the Continental and U.S. Marine Corps since their inception. All major battles in all major wars are covered, along with innumerable smaller clashes and deployments abroad. The evolution of amphibious doctrine, so essential to Marine Corps activity in the 20th and 21st centuries, is likewise covered in detail, along with the rise of Marine Corps aviation. Through a diary of daily occurrences proffered in the context of greater historical events, this chronology captures the entire sweep of U.S. Marine Corps history. It follows the Corps from the American Revolution to the halls of Montezuma and the shores of Tripoli, through World Wars I and II, and up to Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan. Entries delineate battlefield events, but also significant political and administrative changes that have affected the Marines. Notable events in the careers of generals and other individuals are included as well.

In the vast universe, 100 races coexisted. A mutated blood spirit allowed Mu Qing to rise up from earth to fight against the bug clan. The purple bamboo forest attracted millions of thunder tribulations, and the black Kun Peng flapped its wings, crushing countless powerhouses. There was only one Imperial Lord in the starry sky!

Note: This eBook file contains many richly detailed full-color images and makes use of unconventional page layouts. Because of this, readers will be required to zoom in on each page to read the text and see the finer detail of the artwork. [It has not been optimized for devices that display only in black and white.] From the National Book Award finalist Lauren Redniss, author of Radioactive, comes a dazzling fusion of storytelling, visual art, and reportage that grapples with weather in all its dimensions: its danger and its beauty, why it happens and what it means. WINNER OF THE PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, KIRKUS REVIEWS, AND SHELF AWARENESS Weather is the very air we breathe—it shapes our daily lives and alters the course of history. In Thunder & Lightning, Lauren Redniss tells the story of weather and humankind through the ages. This wide-ranging work roams from the driest desert on earth to a frigid island in the Arctic, from the Biblical flood to the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Redniss visits the headquarters of the National Weather Service, recounts top-secret rainmaking operations during the Vietnam War, and examines the economic impact of disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Drawing on extensive research and countless interviews, she examines our own day and age, from our most personal decisions—Do I need an umbrella today?—to the awesome challenges we face with global climate change. Redniss produced each element of Thunder & Lightning: the text, the artwork, the covers, and every page in between. She created many of the images using the antiquated printmaking technique copper plate photogravure etching. She even designed the book’s typeface. The result is a book unlike any other: a spellbinding combination of storytelling, art, and science. Praise for Thunder & Lightning “[An] aesthetically charged and deeply researched account . . . a wild rainstorm of a book, pelting the reader with ideas and inspiration.”—Nature “A gorgeous and illuminating illustrated study of weather in all its tempestuous variety . . . Redniss’s combo of fact, folklore, and vibrant etched copperplate prints enthralls.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Eerily beautiful . . . Contains plenty of scientific explanation (including more than a few nods toward global warming), but also far-flung personal stories that illuminate the beauty, wonder and chaos inherent in the elements.”—The New York Times “Magical . . . Redniss has . . . shown us how human beings live with nature—fighting, coexisting, taming, predicting via leech barometer and radar and intuition.”—The New York Times Book Review “[A] twenty-first-century genius . . . The reader willing to put herself fully in Redniss’s hands will be rewarded with a delicious feeling of being enveloped by a phenomenon that eclipses the chiming trivialities of daily life.”—Elle “Redniss is one of the most creative science writers of our time—her combination of beautiful artwork, reporting, and poetic prose brings science to life in ways that words alone simply cannot.”—Rebecca Skloot “Redniss combines her own dual punch of expressive art and impressive erudition to give an entirely new take on all that happens above our heads.”—Adam Gopnik “A strange and wonderful thing, the work of a first-class mind that refuses to submit to any categories or precedent.”—Dave Eggers