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Despite the help of the Pest, some amazing inventions, and his best friend, Shoie, Alvin still wonders whether even he can solve the Huntley mystery.
Discover never-before-told details of POW underground operations during the Vietnam War told through one airman's inspiring story of true love, honor, and courage. Air Force pilot Captain Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was shot down over Vietnam on April 4, 1965 and taken to the infamous Hoa Lo prison--nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton." For the next eight years, Smitty and hundreds of other American POWs--including John McCain and George "Bud" Day--suffered torture, solitary confinement, and unimaginable abuse. It was there that Smitty covertly taught many other POWs the Tap Code--an old, long-unused method of communication from World War II. Using the code, they could softly tap messages of encouragement to lonely neighbors and pass along resistance policies from their leaders. The code quickly became a lifeline during their internment. It helped the prisoners boost morale, stay unified, communicate the chain of command, and prevail over a brutal enemy. Meanwhile, back home in the United States, Harris's wife, Louise, raised their three children alone, unsure of her husband's fate for seven long years. One of the first POW wives of the Vietnam War, she became a role model for other military wives by advocating for herself and her children in her husband's absence. Told through both Smitty's and Louise's voices, Tap Code shares the riveting true story of: Ingenuity under pressure Strength and dignity in the face of a frightening enemy The hope, faith, and resolve necessary to endure even the darkest circumstances Praise for Tap Code: "Tap Code is an incredible story about two American heroes. Col. "Smitty" Harris and his wife, Louise, epitomize the definition of commitment--to God, to country, and to family. This tale of extreme perseverance will restore your faith in the human spirit." --Brigadier General John Nichols, USAF "The incomprehensibly long ordeal of the Harris family is agonizing. Their love, faith, loyalty, and courage epitomize all that is good about America." --Lt. Col. Orson Swindle, USMC (ret.), POW, Hanoi, 11/11/1966 to 3/4/1973
The breaking of the Enigma machine is one of the most heroic stories of the Second World War and highlights the crucial work of the codebreakers of Bletchley Park, which prevented Britain's certain defeat in 1941. But there was another German cipher machine, used by Hitler himself to convey messages to his top generals in the field. A machine more complex and secure than Enigma. A machine that could never be broken. For sixty years, no one knew about Lorenz or 'Tunny', or the determined group of men who finally broke the code and thus changed the course of the war. Many of them went to their deaths without anyone knowing of their achievements. Here, for the first time, senior codebreaker Captain Jerry Roberts tells the complete story of this extraordinary feat of intellect and of his struggle to get his wartime colleagues the recognition they deserve. The work carried out at Bletchley Park during the war to partially automate the process of breaking Lorenz, which had previously been done entirely by hand, was groundbreaking and is recognised as having kick-started the modern computer age.
Alvin Fernald’s “Magnificent Brain” has a life of its own. In fact, somehow or other it has come up with the winning grand prize recipe in a candy-making contest—and no one, including Alvin, can figure out quite how it happened. Now, as guests of the Kitchenmate Appliance Company, Alvin, his friend Shoie, and his sister Daphne (“The Pest”) take off for a whirlwind tour of Europe. Having just come to the edge of flunking a class in economics (Magnificent Brain, where were you?), Alvin is about to be given a practical—and perilous—lesson in international trade. Mystery, ingenuity—and, well bicycles—hilariously collide in this next book about Alvin by the former editor of Popular Mechanics Magazine, Clifford B. Hicks.
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Alvin, Shoie, and Daphne help a professor figure out a coded message in hopes of finding a copy of the Gettysburg Address written by Abraham Lincoln himself, and hidden by Caleb, a former slave who later lived in the White House.
A critically acclaimed author of adult nonfiction delivers a searing YA debut about American POWs during the Vietnam War--an extraordinary narrative of human resilience and endurance.
