Summary: American Soldier E-Book

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• Herausgeber: Political Book Summaries
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 24

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The must-read summary of General Tommy Franks and Malcolm McConnell's book: "American Soldier".

This complete summary of "American Soldier" by Franks and McConnell presents a biography that recounts the career of General Tommy Franks. The riveting tale retraces his life from his small-town child to his roles in the Vietnam and Afghan wars, and describes how he led the operations of the war on terror following 9/11 to success using covert diplomacy, double-agents and international collaboration.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand the secrets of American operations during the Afghan war
• Expand your knowledge on American military politics and bureaucracy

To learn more, read "American Soldier" and discover the compelling story of General Tommy Franks's experiences in the war on terror in Afghanistan.

Leseprobe

Book Presentation: American Soldier by General Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell

Book Abstract

This autobiographical work recounts General Tommy Franks’ career from his boyhood in Oklahoma and Texas to his retirement from the Army in 2003. The larger part of American Soldier deals with Franks’ term as general of CENTCOM, a joint military command with an area of responsibility that stretches from Kenya to Kazakhstan and includes the two post-9/11 hotspots, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Franks is sharply critical of a media conglomerate that he feels was unreasonable in its expectations for the invasion of Iraq and a public which failed to understand the sacrifices necessary for the war. He gives a penetrating and generally positive assessment of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush, and shows little patience with strategic analysts who have opined in the mass media that U.S. strategy in the Persian Gulf has failed.

About the Author

General Tommy Franks retired from the U.S. Army as a four-star general and CINCCENT (Commander in Chief, Central Command), in which post he planned and directed the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. Malcolm McConnell has co-authored numerous books on U.S. history.

Summary of American Soldier (General Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell)

Planting Seeds

Tommy Franks grew up in the small Southwest towns of Wynnewood and Stratford, Oklahoma and Midland, Texas. He always had great admiration for his father, who served in the Army Air Corps as a mechanic in World War II. His father’s technical and mechanical skill and the role of his mother’s familial devotion played huge role’s in Franks’ upbringing.

When Franks’ family moved to Midland, Texas, he met relatives, rich and poor, and became aware of racial prejudice for the first time when he realized his mother and father ignorantly used derogatory terms for blacks. Franks’ work on construction projects with his uncle exposed him to black and Hispanic children for the first time, an experience he credits with helping rid him of those prejudices.

Interestingly, First Lady Laura Bush was only one year behind Franks at Robert E. Lee High School in Midland.

“Make ‘em a Hand”

In August, 1963, Franks entered the University of Texas. He joined Delta Upsilon fraternity and in due course began an academic career that was, by Franks’ own admission, utterly without distinction. His nascent fascination with girls and cars and the added opportunities allowed by living away from home effectively ruined his grades and his study habits. By the end of his freshman year, Franks was receiving D’s and F’s in all of his courses and was placed on academic probation.