This book is the history of the highly trained officers and men who went by the cover name Beach Jumpers. Their top-secret mission was to create and sustain the illusion that a military landing was imminent at Beach A when in fact U.S. allied troops would hit the beaches 100 miles away at Beach X. During World War II, their tactics were extremely successful in Sicily, Salerno, Southern France, and the Philippines. Beach Jumpers later served ashore and afloat in Vietnam. Their descendants, called Fleet Tactical Deception Groups, continue their important, highly classified work today. This...

The history of the Scouts & Raiders of World War II is the story of the original ancestors of today's elite SEAL teams. As the Navy's first special warfare commandos these highly trained and skilled officer/enlisted boat crews conducted pre-assault recons of landing beaches, hydrographic recons, marked assault beaches, and guided in assault waves from 36-foot Scout boats, rubber boats, and kayaks at North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Southern France, and Normandy, earning numerous decorations for heroism, including 8 Navy Crosses. In the Mediterranean, S&Rs trained elite units such as...

In the 1850s, American entrepreneur Perry M. Collins envisioned a world connected by an overland telegraph line. Western Union shared his vision, and, with Russia and England willing to be partners in the venture, it seemed possible to complete the massive undertaking. This is the story of how Collins helped to deploy a telegraph army to British Columbia, modern day Alaska, and Siberia. Supported by a telegraph navy, these men surveyed, explored, and operated in dangerous--sometimes even life-threatening-- environments to build the line from 1865 to 1867, only to have their attempts made...