Jerry Borrowman

Rudi Wobbe

Three Against Hitler

Invisible Heroes of World War II documents ten fascinating true stories of a diverse group of soldiers and noncombatants from all over the world, including African Americans, women, and Native Americans, who fought with the Allies during World War II. These heroes made significant contributions in the war effort, and sometimes gave their lives for freedom and liberty, often without much recognition or fanfare. Some were frontline soldiers who were captured by the enemy and endured horrific conditions as POWs, others were ordinary citizens who fought in the French Resistance and provided vital operations to undermine Nazi occupation, while others were engineers, workers in industry, or war correspondents and photographers. All served with valor and distinction as part of the massive Allied forces who fought to free the world from tyranny and oppression.

Extraordinary Wartime Stories of Ordinary People

Invisible Heroes of World War II

Based on survivor accounts, this gripping novel opens days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and details three years of sea battles that spanned between Hawaii and the shores of Okinawa with the crew of one of the most decorated ships of the Pacific War. Onboard the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City, Lieutenant Commander Justin Collier was 230 miles west of Pearl Harbor accompanying the USS Enterprise on a secret mission when Japan attacked the United States. Upon his return to Honolulu, the gravity of the war begins to change him, as does every subsequent mission, including a rare beach landing with an Army infantry division. He fears his wounds of war, both physical and mental, will be incurable. Meanwhile, on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, hundreds of wounded men lay scattered in cots and stretchers in and around the naval hospital, and volunteer nurse Heidi Collier feels overwhelmed by the number of casualties. She had watched the bombing by Japanese planes as she huddled with her two children in front of their home, hoping that her husband aboard the USS Salt Lake City was safe wherever he was. In her prayers, she feels he is still alive. Lieutenant Riley Bracken feels the sudden g-force of his catapult-launched observation floatplane with each harrowing mission. Alerting the USS Salt Lake City of enemy ships gives him purpose, which is why no one can know about his recent bouts of vertigo. He can't risk losing what he loves most. Fifteen-year-old Al Jowdy lied about his age in order to join the Navy. Whatever he believed Navy life would be was shot out of the water--twice--when his ships were torpedoed. Now aboard the Salt Lake City, he fears his luck may have run out. An Ocean of Courage and Fear reveals the harrowing, never-before-told events that surrounded the crew of the USS Salt Lake City as they endure all the major action in the Pacific War.

An Ocean of Courage and Fear

Joseph Banks

Miracles of the 49th Combat Mission

A Distant Prayer

The struggle to combat the Nazis during World War II encompassed front lines far beyond conventional battlefields. In a panoramic and compelling account, author Jerry Borrowman shares seven largely untold stories of people who undertook extraordinary efforts to defeat the Third Reich at enormous personal risk. Some were soldiers like the Ghost Army, an eclectic group of former artists, actors, and engineers who engaged in top-secret tactical deceptions by staging ingenious decoy armies. Using inflatable tanks, radio transmissions, and sound effects, they were able to trick the Germans throughout the course of the war, often working close to the front lines of the fiercest fighting. Some were ordinary citizens like William Sebold, a German immigrant and US citizen, who could have been a deadly foe, but instead chose the Allied cause. When he was coerced by the Gestapo into becoming a spy in America, he instead approached the FBI and offered to become a double agent. His efforts successfully helped bring down a dangerous German spy network that was dedicated to stealing industrial and wartime secrets and sabotaging America on home soil. These dramatic and inspiring personal stories shed light on some of the darkest days of World War II and one of the most perilous times in human history. As the Nazis swept through Europe, citizens around the world faced an individual and national complex moral question: How do you respond to the tyranny and bloodthirsty madness of the Nazis? These are stories of ordinary men and women who would not surrender or compromise. They resisted and fought with total commitment for freedom and democracy despite the personal cost.

Inspiring Stories of Resisting Hitler and Defending Freedom

Why We Fought

When war takes two young men far from the peaceful streets of Pocatello, Idaho, an intense friendship develops on the battlefront. These friends find there can be life after tragedy and that sometimes the one we need most desperately to forgive is ourself.

A World War I Novel

'Til the Boys Come Home

Compassionate Soldierilluminates some of the most fascinating and yet largely unknown stories of men and women whose humanity led them to perform courageous acts of mercy and compassion amid the chaos and carnage of war. Arranged by war from the American Revolution to the Iraq War and global in perspective, it features extraordinary stories of grace under fire from valiant soldiers and noncombatants who rose above the inhumanity of lethal conflict and chose compassion, even knowing their actions could put their lives and liberty at risk. Included in this collection are the stories of Richard Kirkland, a Confederate soldier during the Civil War who disobeyed orders and brought blankets and water to the wounded from both North and South during the Battle of Fredericksburg; Patrick Ferguson, a British soldier during the American Revolution who had the chance to kill George Washington, but refused to shoot a man in the back; and Oswald Boelcke, a German WWI flying ace who was one of the most influential tacticians of early air combat, but was known for making sure the airmen he shot down made it to the ground alive. These inspirational stories illustrate that even in the midst of unspeakable horrors of war, acts of kindness, mercy, compassion, and humanity can prevail and, in doing so, expand our conventional thinking of honor and battlefield glory."

Remarkable True Stories of Mercy, Heroism, and Honor from the Battlefield

Compassionate Soldier

John W. Rockwell

When Orrin Porter Rockwell died of a heart attack in 1878, his name was as well known as Brigham Young's.Cowboys sang songs about him, and newspapers had frequently printed scandalous accounts about the malicious Mormon “destroying angel.” But to many, Rockwell was a guardian angel, and it could be easily said he saved far more lives than he took. It seems history tells two contrasting narratives about one of the West's most controversial men. Yes, at times Porter Rockwell could act violently, yet he was overly generous to those in need. At least two dozen people died at his hand, yet in every instance, he was exonerated. As the ninth person baptized into the restored Church, Porter was central to the early growth of the Church, even though he was never called to positions of leadership.He was called a saint and a sinner, a lawman and a criminal, a hero and a villain. Indians feared him, saying he was impossible to kill, but some people traveled hundreds of miles to try. Although his death by natural causes likely disappointed the many outlaws seeking his life, it also fulfilled a prophecy given by Joseph Smith that no bullet or blade would ever harm Porter Rockwell.A friend of Joseph Smith's since childhood and later his bodyguard, Porter saved the life of the Prophet more than once. Porter also served as a bodyguard to Brigham Young and helped guide the first pioneers across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. He became a legend as a frontiersman, a marksman, and a man of iron nerve.And though many outsiders characterized Porter Rockwell as a notorious, vengeful murderer, those who knew him saw him as a protector, a miraculous healer, and a loyal friend.

Jerry Borrowman

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