How many people actually get the job they dream of as an 8-year-old? Not many, but Dan Emmett is one. As a third grader, he was so impacted by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that he knew he wanted to grow up and protect the President of the U.S. And that is what he did. As a Secret Service agent, he was part of the presidential detail for three presidents. It looks like a glamorous job – traveling the country and the world with the President – but his life was always on the line, ready to take a bullet for the man he helped protect. There was apprehension every time he left the safety of the White House with the President, never sure if this would be a time of trouble. The schedule was grueling with long hours at all times of the day and night. His life was not his own. And sometimes, the personality of the president was difficult to deal with. Emmett’s 21-year career as an agent was not all spent with a presidential detail. First, he had to survive the tough physical requirements of boot camp. Then, he spent a few years investigating check fraud. But when he finally achieved his goal of working to protect the president, he believed it was well worth the sacrifices he had made. Reading about Emmet’s many adventures while protecting the President is like reading an action novel – except this is real life for a Secret Service agent.
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K2 is the second tallest mountain on earth at 28,250 ft. While not quite as tall as the more famous Mt. Everest, K2 is a more dangerous climb. In 1938, mountaineer and medical student, Charlie Houston, led an expedition up the mountain looking for a route to the summit. They came close. In 1939 another attempt was made by a team led by Fritz Wiessner. This expedition turned tragic before reaching the summit. Then in 1953, fifteen years after his first expedition, Houston led another team, determined to reach the summit, all without the help of oxygen tanks that are used in these expeditions today. This book reads like an adventure novel, but it’s all true. Describing in detail the efforts of the climbing team and native Sherpas and porters to carry several tons of equipment and supplies up the mountain, establishing various camps along the route, will have your heart pounding. As the men push their bodies to the limit at high altitudes, you will find yourself gasping for breath. Short on supplies, breathlessness, injuries, falls, frostbite, 80 mph winds and blizzards will have you shouting at them – TURN BACK!!! The first president of the United States was a slave owner. Like most southern farms and estates in the 1700s, George and Martha Washington depended on over 200 slaves to run their estate, Mount Vernon. Ona Judge was born on the Mount Vernon estate in 1773. Because her mother was one of Martha Washington’s house slaves, Ona learned those same skills – helping care for Martha through dressmaking, assisting with Martha’s appearance, accompanying Martha on social visits, and just being available to Martha 24/7. When George and Martha moved to Philadelphia after he was elected president, Ona went with them. In Philadelphia, she was influenced by the Free Blacks she met, those who had been granted their freedom from slavery in a city that was on the forefront of the abolition of slavery. For many years, Ona served quietly and faithfully, but near the end of Washington’s presidency in 1796, Ona learned Martha was going to “give” Ona to her granddaughter as a “wedding present.” Not wanting to be a slave to the snotty Eliza Parke Custis, Ona decided this was her only chance to take matters into her own hands and carefully planned her escape. This is a fascinating story of a courageous young female slave who dared defy the first President of the United States. It started with a pen pal assignment when Caitlin was 12 years old, living in Pennsylvania. She had to pick a country, and unlike her classmates, she decided to pick a country she knew nothing about – Zimbabwe. Her letter went to 14-year-old Martin, because he was the top student in his class in Mutare, Zimbabwe. And so began a letter-writing relationship that lasted many years. Caitlin was from an American family that never had to do without education or food. Martin’s family on the other hand, didn’t always have the money it took to send him to school. Food was scarce and the Ganda’s home was just the opposite of Caitlin’s. When Martin finally shares the struggles of his family, explaining he has to wait until he earns money for a postage stamp before he can send a letter, Caitlin’s family jumps into motion providing money for food, rent and Martin’s education. Chapters alternate between the two teens’ perspectives, but the bond that forms between the two families is genuine and provides life-changing opportunities for a teen from Zimbabwe. Sachiko Yasui was six years old when an atomic bomb was dropped on her city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. It wasn’t until 50 years later that she could begin to share the “unspeakable seconds” of the bombing, the struggle to survive, the deaths of her siblings from radiation sickness, her own thyroid cancer and her survivor’s guilt. Complete with plenty of photos and historical information, anyone with an interest in WWII will find this a fascinating memoir. The Plot to Kill Hitler – Patricia McCormick – Nonfiction The Gestapo would be arriving at any minute. Young German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer had everything in order – papers hidden, but leaving a few notes on his desk for Hitler’s men to see. The men arrived as expected, Bonhoeffer calmly said good-by to his parents and followed the men down the stairs, leaving behind evidence in his own handwriting that he was indeed part of a conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. It was April 5, 1943 and Dietrich would never return home. In fact, it was discovered that Bonhoeffer was the first person to provide evidence to the Allies that Jews were being sent to concentration camps and executed. What makes a person stand up for what’s right when no one else will join you in your stand? This page-turning true story reads like a spy novel. As I visited a concentration camp memorial in Germany this summer, I thought about Bonhoeffer and wondered if I would have the courage to put my life on the line for what was right like he did. |
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