Don't Blow Yourself Up
The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Patrick Lawlor
-
By:
-
Homer Hickam
About this listen
From Homer Hickam, the author of the #1 bestselling Rocket Boys adapted into the beloved film October Sky, comes this astonishing memoir of high adventure, war, love, NASA, and his struggle for literary success.
Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys and the movie adaptation October Sky have become one of the most popular stories in the world, inspiring millions to pursue a better life. But what happened to Homer after he was a West Virginia rocket boy?
In his latest memoir, Homer recounts his life in college, where he built the world's biggest, baddest game cannon; how he fought through some of the worst battles in Vietnam, became a scuba instructor, discovered sunken U-boats, wrote the definitive account of a World War II naval battle, befriended Tom Clancy, made a desperate attempt to save the passengers of a sunken river boat, trained the first Japanese astronauts, taught David Letterman to scuba dive, helped to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, wrote his number one bestselling Rocket Boys, and was on set during the making of October Sky. Although told with humor and wit, Hickam does not shy away from the pain and hardship endured and the mistakes he made during the tumultuous decades since his life in the town he made famous—Coalwood, West Virginia.
©2021 Homer Hickam (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Dinosaur Hunter
- A Novel
- By: Homer Hickam
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life on the ranchlands of Montana comes with more than its share of trouble. The unique people who live and work on this untamed stretch of today's American West expect it---and some of them even enjoy it. One of them is Mike Wire, a former homicide detective who once worked the decadent hills and valleys of Hollywood.
-
-
Like Craig Johnson? You'll like this, a good story
- By Cheryl on 01-05-11
By: Homer Hickam
-
The Keeper's Son
- By: Homer Hickam
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the outer banks of the Carolinas in 1941, fishermen and a few lonely sailors constitute the human population. Dominating the rough yet beautiful landscape is the majestic Killakeet Lighthouse, run for generations by the Thurlow family. But Josh Thurlow, the lighthouse keeper's son, has forsworn his heritage to become the commander of a small Coast Guard patrol boat. Tortured by twenty years of guilt for losing his brother at sea, Josh still searches for him.
-
-
Good story, horrible narration!
- By Robert on 02-12-04
By: Homer Hickam
-
Crater
- A Helium-3 Novel, Book 1
- By: Homer Hickam
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mining colony on the moon. A deadly mission. And a secret bigger than two worlds. Sixteen-year-old Crater Trueblood loves his job as a Helium-3 miner. But when he saves a fellow miner, his life changes forever. Impressed by his heroism, the owner of the mine orders Crater to undertake a dangerous mission. Crater doesn't think he can do it, but he has no choice. He must go. With the help of Maria, the mine owner's frustrating but gorgeous granddaughter, and his gillie - a sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells - Crater must fight both human and subhuman enemies.
-
-
Excellent, Credible & Wholesome
- By Keren on 10-25-22
By: Homer Hickam
-
The Right Stuff
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis Quaid
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure: namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.
-
-
Righteous Book, Righteous Narrator, Righteous MEN!
- By Gillian on 02-08-18
By: Tom Wolfe
-
His Majesty's Airship
- The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tragic fate of the British airship R101—which went down in a spectacular fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later—has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty’s Airship, S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong.
-
-
O, The Humanity
- By Glenn G Poole II on 06-11-23
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Elixir
- A Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life
- By: Theresa Levitt
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries, scientists believed that living matter possessed a special quality—a spirit or essence—that differentiated it from nonliving matter. But by the nineteenth century, the scientific consensus was that the building blocks of one were identical to the building blocks of the other. Elixir tells the story of two young chemists who were not convinced, and how their work rewrote the boundary between life and nonlife.
-
-
Thrilling History of Organic Chemistry
- By Mark E. White on 06-13-23
By: Theresa Levitt
-
The Dinosaur Hunter
- A Novel
- By: Homer Hickam
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life on the ranchlands of Montana comes with more than its share of trouble. The unique people who live and work on this untamed stretch of today's American West expect it---and some of them even enjoy it. One of them is Mike Wire, a former homicide detective who once worked the decadent hills and valleys of Hollywood.
-
-
Like Craig Johnson? You'll like this, a good story
- By Cheryl on 01-05-11
By: Homer Hickam
-
The Keeper's Son
- By: Homer Hickam
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the outer banks of the Carolinas in 1941, fishermen and a few lonely sailors constitute the human population. Dominating the rough yet beautiful landscape is the majestic Killakeet Lighthouse, run for generations by the Thurlow family. But Josh Thurlow, the lighthouse keeper's son, has forsworn his heritage to become the commander of a small Coast Guard patrol boat. Tortured by twenty years of guilt for losing his brother at sea, Josh still searches for him.
-
-
Good story, horrible narration!
- By Robert on 02-12-04
By: Homer Hickam
-
Crater
- A Helium-3 Novel, Book 1
- By: Homer Hickam
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mining colony on the moon. A deadly mission. And a secret bigger than two worlds. Sixteen-year-old Crater Trueblood loves his job as a Helium-3 miner. But when he saves a fellow miner, his life changes forever. Impressed by his heroism, the owner of the mine orders Crater to undertake a dangerous mission. Crater doesn't think he can do it, but he has no choice. He must go. With the help of Maria, the mine owner's frustrating but gorgeous granddaughter, and his gillie - a sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells - Crater must fight both human and subhuman enemies.
-
-
Excellent, Credible & Wholesome
- By Keren on 10-25-22
By: Homer Hickam
-
The Right Stuff
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dennis Quaid
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure: namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers that made The Right Stuff a classic.
-
-
Righteous Book, Righteous Narrator, Righteous MEN!
- By Gillian on 02-08-18
By: Tom Wolfe
-
His Majesty's Airship
- The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tragic fate of the British airship R101—which went down in a spectacular fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later—has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty’s Airship, S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong.
-
-
O, The Humanity
- By Glenn G Poole II on 06-11-23
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Elixir
- A Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life
- By: Theresa Levitt
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries, scientists believed that living matter possessed a special quality—a spirit or essence—that differentiated it from nonliving matter. But by the nineteenth century, the scientific consensus was that the building blocks of one were identical to the building blocks of the other. Elixir tells the story of two young chemists who were not convinced, and how their work rewrote the boundary between life and nonlife.
-
-
Thrilling History of Organic Chemistry
- By Mark E. White on 06-13-23
By: Theresa Levitt
-
The Aviators
- Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gifted storyteller Winston Groom, the best-selling author of Forrest Gump, has written the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined aviation during the great age of flight: Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle. These cleverly interwoven tales of their heart-stopping adventures take us from the feats of World War I through the heroism of World War II and beyond, including daring military raids and survival at sea, and will appeal to fans of Unbroken, The Greatest Generation, and Flyboys.
-
-
Too much a hagiography
- By Joseph Valenzi on 09-08-15
By: Winston Groom
-
Rocket Men
- The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon
- By: Robert Kurson
- Narrated by: Ray Porter, Robert Kurson
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By August 1968, the American space program was in danger of failing in its two most important objectives: to land a man on the moon by President Kennedy's end-of-decade deadline and to triumph over the Soviets in space. With its back against the wall, NASA made an almost unimaginable leap: It would scrap its usual methodical approach and risk everything on a sudden launch, sending the first men in history to the moon - in just four months.
-
-
The Men Who Saved 1968
- By Gillian on 04-04-18
By: Robert Kurson
-
Apollo 13
- By: Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 1970, during the glory days of the Apollo space program, NASA sent Navy Captain Jim Lovell and two other astronauts on America's fifth mission to the moon. Only 55 hours into the flight of Apollo 13, disaster struck: a mysterious explosion rocked the ship, and soon its oxygen and power began draining away. Written with all the color and drama of the best fiction, Apollo 13 (previously published as Lost Moon) tells the full story of the moon shot that almost ended in catastrophe.
-
-
Great story but a terrible narrator
- By Nicci on 01-29-20
By: Jim Lovell, and others
-
The Wright Brothers
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright's Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why?
-
-
Disappointing
- By Sara on 07-10-16
By: David McCullough
-
Brave or Stupid
- By: Tracey Christiansen, Yanne Larsson, Calle Andersson
- Narrated by: Duncan Hood
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you read about someone sailing around the world, it’s usually a dotcom millionaire or a professional adventurer. Brave or Stupid? tells a very different story. It’s an everyman tale about a middle-aged, seasick electrician with no money who suddenly and for no reason decides to sail around the world. It’s the story of Yanne Larsson, a man with a dream born not out of a passion for sailing or a search for identity or the need for a challenge. This is the story of a simple handshake. One of the old-fashioned, ironclad ones.
-
-
wonderful!
- By Lulu1 on 03-01-24
By: Tracey Christiansen, and others
-
The Operator
- Firing the Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior
- By: Robert O'Neill
- Narrated by: Robert O'Neill
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stirringly evocative, thought provoking, and often jaw dropping, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's awe-inspiring 400-mission career that included his involvement in attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
-
-
One of the best
- By Tim on 04-28-17
By: Robert O'Neill
-
The Sea and Civilization
- A Maritime History of the World
- By: Lincoln Paine
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 29 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of maritime enterprise, revealing in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the world's waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human.
-
-
Comprehensive
- By Than on 12-29-19
By: Lincoln Paine
-
Adventures of a Mountain Man
- The Narrative of Zenas Leonard
- By: Zenas Leonard
- Narrated by: Clay Lomakayu
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An accurate and personal record from one of America's first breed of mountain men, giving a detailed description of many the lands he passed through and the habits and character of the various tribes encountered.
-
-
Recording issues
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-24
By: Zenas Leonard
-
Tutankhamun and the Tomb That Changed the World
- By: Bob Brier PhD
- Narrated by: Christopher Douyard
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is often thought that the story of Tutankhamun ended when the thousands of items discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon were transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and put on display. But there is far more to the story. Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World explores the 100 years of research on Tutankhamun that have taken place since the tomb's discovery, from the several objects in the tomb made of meteoritic iron that came from outer space to new evidence that shows that Tutankhamun may actually have been a warrior who went into battle.
-
-
Excellent book; performance stumbles
- By Sarah on 03-27-23
By: Bob Brier PhD
-
Alaska Challenge
- A Journey Through Uncharted Wilderness Leading to a New Life in a New Land
- By: Ruth Albee, Bill Albee, Lyman Anson
- Narrated by: Lyle Blaker
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having grown disillusioned with the miserable existence that is expected of young college students, the newlyweds Bill and Ruth Albee dream of heading to Alaska, on foot, by way of a vast blank space on the map that is modern day Western British Columbia. Like most most dreams, it dug into their body, mind, and soul until nothing could satisfy it until they had given it a try. So, in 1930, they started off, ignoring all warnings and leaving from Vancouver on foot up through western B.C.
-
-
An Epic Adventure in the North
- By Daniel on 07-02-21
By: Ruth Albee, and others
-
All Hands on Deck
- A Modern-Day High Seas Adventure to the Far Side of the World
- By: Will Sofrin
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 1990s, Patrick O’Brian’s beloved, massively bestselling historical novel series was destined for film. With director Peter Weir and stars Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany signed on for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, there was only one problem: The Rose, the replica eighteenth-century warship that filmmakers bought for the production, was in Newport, Rhode Island, two oceans and thousands of miles away from Hollywood. Enter a ragtag crew of thirty oddballs and tall-ship fanatics, including author Will Sofrin.
-
-
Bow-spirit? BOW-SPIRIT!?!
- By A reader on 06-18-23
By: Will Sofrin
-
Cryptonomicon
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 42 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the US Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detachment 2702 - commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe - is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. In the present, Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia....
-
-
Two thirds through and quit
- By Joshua on 06-20-16
By: Neal Stephenson
Related to this topic
-
You Don't Lose 'Til You Quit Trying
- Lessons on Adversity and Victory from a Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor Recipient
- By: Sammy Lee Davis, Caroline Lambert
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 18, 1967, Private First Class Davis' artillery unit was hit by a massive enemy offensive. At 21 years old, he resolved to face the onslaught and prepared to die. Soon he would have a perforated kidney, crushed ribs, a broken vertebra, his flesh ripped by beehive darts, a bullet in his thigh, and burns all over his body. Ignoring his injuries, he manned a two-ton Howitzer by himself, crossed a canal under heavy fire to rescue three wounded American soldiers, and kept fighting until the enemy retreated.
-
-
Creed to Live By
- By GroovyMonkey8 on 01-15-21
By: Sammy Lee Davis, and others
-
The Heart of Hell
- The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima
- By: Mitch Weiss
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Battle of Iwo Jima, a major event in the Pacific Theater of World War II - and one of the bloodiest in United States history - began on February 19, 1945. But what happened two days earlier has largely been a footnote - until now.... On February 17, Landing Craft Infantry 449 was among a dozen gunboats helping to prepare the area for their invasion two days later. US military leaders thought that they had weakened Japanese forces in the area.
-
-
Important History, but Not a Compelling Story
- By Craig on 07-30-16
By: Mitch Weiss
-
I'm Staying with My Boys
- The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC
- By: Jim Proser, Jerry Cutter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm Staying with My Boys is a firsthand look inside the life of one of the greatest heroes of the Greatest Generation. Sgt. John Basilone held off 3000 Japanese troops at Guadalcanal after his 15-member unit was reduced to three men. At Iwo Jima he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse, allowing his unit to capture an airfield. Minutes later he was killed by an enemy artillery round. He was the only Marine in World War II to have received the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, and a Purple Heart.
-
-
Devil Dogs!
- By Skip Drake on 10-25-18
By: Jim Proser, and others
-
Fighter Pilot
- The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
- By: Robin Olds, Christina Olds, Ed Rasimus
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A larger-than-life hero with a towering personality, Robin Olds was a graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army. In World War II, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—a double ace with twelve aerial victories. But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend.
-
-
Top Notch Audiobook
- By R. A. Frank on 10-08-10
By: Robin Olds, and others
-
Warrior Soul
- The Memoir of a Navy SEAL
- By: Chuck Pfarrer
- Narrated by: Chuck Pfarrer
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Since the first navy frogmen crawled onto the beaches of Normandy, no SEAL has ever surrendered," writes Chuck Pfarrer. "No SEAL has ever been captured, and not one teammate or body has ever been left in the field. This legacy of valor is unmatched in modern warfare." Warrior Soul is a book about the warrior spirit, and it takes the listener all over the world. Former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer recounts some of his most dangerous assignments.
-
-
An amazing story
- By JB on 10-22-13
By: Chuck Pfarrer
-
The Operator
- Firing the Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior
- By: Robert O'Neill
- Narrated by: Robert O'Neill
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stirringly evocative, thought provoking, and often jaw dropping, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's awe-inspiring 400-mission career that included his involvement in attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
-
-
One of the best
- By Tim on 04-28-17
By: Robert O'Neill
-
You Don't Lose 'Til You Quit Trying
- Lessons on Adversity and Victory from a Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor Recipient
- By: Sammy Lee Davis, Caroline Lambert
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 18, 1967, Private First Class Davis' artillery unit was hit by a massive enemy offensive. At 21 years old, he resolved to face the onslaught and prepared to die. Soon he would have a perforated kidney, crushed ribs, a broken vertebra, his flesh ripped by beehive darts, a bullet in his thigh, and burns all over his body. Ignoring his injuries, he manned a two-ton Howitzer by himself, crossed a canal under heavy fire to rescue three wounded American soldiers, and kept fighting until the enemy retreated.
-
-
Creed to Live By
- By GroovyMonkey8 on 01-15-21
By: Sammy Lee Davis, and others
-
The Heart of Hell
- The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima
- By: Mitch Weiss
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Battle of Iwo Jima, a major event in the Pacific Theater of World War II - and one of the bloodiest in United States history - began on February 19, 1945. But what happened two days earlier has largely been a footnote - until now.... On February 17, Landing Craft Infantry 449 was among a dozen gunboats helping to prepare the area for their invasion two days later. US military leaders thought that they had weakened Japanese forces in the area.
-
-
Important History, but Not a Compelling Story
- By Craig on 07-30-16
By: Mitch Weiss
-
I'm Staying with My Boys
- The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC
- By: Jim Proser, Jerry Cutter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm Staying with My Boys is a firsthand look inside the life of one of the greatest heroes of the Greatest Generation. Sgt. John Basilone held off 3000 Japanese troops at Guadalcanal after his 15-member unit was reduced to three men. At Iwo Jima he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse, allowing his unit to capture an airfield. Minutes later he was killed by an enemy artillery round. He was the only Marine in World War II to have received the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, and a Purple Heart.
-
-
Devil Dogs!
- By Skip Drake on 10-25-18
By: Jim Proser, and others
-
Fighter Pilot
- The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
- By: Robin Olds, Christina Olds, Ed Rasimus
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A larger-than-life hero with a towering personality, Robin Olds was a graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army. In World War II, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander by the age of 22—a double ace with twelve aerial victories. But it was in Vietnam where the man became a legend.
-
-
Top Notch Audiobook
- By R. A. Frank on 10-08-10
By: Robin Olds, and others
-
Warrior Soul
- The Memoir of a Navy SEAL
- By: Chuck Pfarrer
- Narrated by: Chuck Pfarrer
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Since the first navy frogmen crawled onto the beaches of Normandy, no SEAL has ever surrendered," writes Chuck Pfarrer. "No SEAL has ever been captured, and not one teammate or body has ever been left in the field. This legacy of valor is unmatched in modern warfare." Warrior Soul is a book about the warrior spirit, and it takes the listener all over the world. Former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer recounts some of his most dangerous assignments.
-
-
An amazing story
- By JB on 10-22-13
By: Chuck Pfarrer
-
The Operator
- Firing the Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior
- By: Robert O'Neill
- Narrated by: Robert O'Neill
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stirringly evocative, thought provoking, and often jaw dropping, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's awe-inspiring 400-mission career that included his involvement in attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
-
-
One of the best
- By Tim on 04-28-17
By: Robert O'Neill
-
No Ordinary Joes
- The Extraordinary True Story of Four Submariners in War and Love and Life
- By: Larry Colton
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Their names were Bob Palmer, Gordy Cox, Tim McCoy, and Chuck Vervalin, and in 1941, when they joined the Navy, they were not trying to prove their patriotism - they were just looking for a job that would provide "three hots and a cot". But on April 22, 1943, the war took a terrible turn for them. Their submarine, the USS Grenadier, was torpedoed. Listed as lost in action and given up for dead, all four had in fact miraculously escaped, only to be captured by the Japanese.
-
-
Prisoner of War Tale
- By Lynn on 03-20-11
By: Larry Colton
-
Things I'll Never Forget
- Memories of a Marine in Viet Nam
- By: James M. Dixon
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Things I’ll Never Forget is the story of a young high school graduate in 1965 who faces being drafted into the Army or volunteering for the Marine Corps. These are his memories of funny times, disgusting times and deadly times. The author kept a journal for an entire year; therefore many of the dates, times and places are accurate. The rest is based on memories that are forever tattooed on his brain. This is not a pro-war book, nor is it anti-war. It is the true story of what the Marine Corps was like in the late 1960’s.
-
-
Accurate Description
- By USMC VIETVET on 07-02-19
By: James M. Dixon
-
The Last Jump
- A Novel of World War II
- By: John E. Nevola
- Narrated by: Mike Ortego
- Length: 23 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Last Jump is a war story, a mystery, a love tale, and a tribute to the people who won World War II. Fact and fiction intermix seamlessly to unravel a secret passionately guarded by four aging soldiers. The reader is transported back in time to an imperfect America, with all is incredible virtues and vexing shortcomings struggling with racial and gender issues while fighting for its very survival. It was time when Americans stood shoulder to shoulder to free the world from tyranny.
-
-
Good Story, Too Preachy
- By Michael Brown on 09-15-17
By: John E. Nevola
-
SEAL Team Six
- Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper
- By: Howard E. Wasdin, Stephen Templin
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Navy sends their elite, they send the SEALs. When the SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team Six—a secret unit tasked with counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and counterinsurgency. In this dramatic, behind-the-scenes chronicle, Howard Wasdin takes listeners deep inside the world of Navy SEALs and Special Forces snipers, beginning with the grueling selection process of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL - the toughest and longest military training in the world.
-
-
A Woman's Review Perspective
- By Foodiewife on 05-30-11
By: Howard E. Wasdin, and others
-
Absolutely American
- Four Years at West Point
- By: David Lipsky
- Narrated by: David Lipsky
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As David Lipsky follows a future generation of army officers from their proving grounds to their barracks, he reveals the range of emotions and desires that propels these men and women forward. From the cadet who struggles with every facet of West Point life to those who are decidedly huah, Lipsky shows people facing challenges so daunting and responsibilities so heavy that their transformations are fascinating to watch.
-
-
He got it right.
- By Andrew on 05-15-04
By: David Lipsky
-
You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger
- By: Roger Hall
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a sharp eye and wry wit, Roger Hall recounts his experiences as an American Army officer assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. In his droll storytelling style, Hall describes his first parachute jump in support of the French resistance as a comedy of errors that terminated prematurely. Called one of the funniest and most perceptive works ever written about life in the OSS, the book includes a wealth of unforgettable personalities that Hall encountered over the years.
-
-
the story was awesome loved the speaker made it perfect
- By kelsey on 07-29-24
By: Roger Hall
-
Come Up and Get Me
- An Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger
- By: Joe Kittinger, Craig Ryan
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A few years after his release from a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, in 1973, Colonel Joseph Kittinger retired from the Air Force. Restless and unchallenged, he turned to ballooning, a lifelong passion as well as a constant diversion for his imagination during his imprisonment. His primary goal was a solitary circumnavigation of the globe, and in its pursuit he set several ballooning distance records, including the first solo crossing of the Atlantic in 1984. But the aeronautical feats that first made him an American hero had occurred a quarter of a century earlier....
-
-
A rewarding read
- By Andrew Braddick on 03-25-13
By: Joe Kittinger, and others
-
D-Days in the Pacific with the U.S. Coast Guard
- The Story of Lucky Thirteen
- By: Ken Wiley
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The images of soldiers and marines coming ashore on hostile shores are embedded in our collective memory of World War II. But what of the sailors who manned the landing craft, going back and forth under fire with nowhere to take cover, their craft the special targets of enemy gunners? In this book, Ken Wiley, a Coast Guardsman on an Attack Transport in the Pacific, relates the intricate, often nerve-wracking story of how the United States projected its power across 6,000 miles in the teeth of fanatical Japanese resistance.
-
-
Exceptional story depicting the US Coast Guard
- By Jay J. Powell on 03-21-19
By: Ken Wiley
-
Guts 'N Gunships
- What It Was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam
- By: Mark Garrison
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1967, Mark Garrison had dropped out of college at Southern Illinois University just before entering his third year. He had run out of money and had to work for a while. These were the days before the lottery and the draft soon came calling. In order to somewhat control his own future, he enlisted in the US Army's helicopter flight school program. Little did he know that this adventure would be the most profound experience of his life.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-25-16
By: Mark Garrison
-
Damn Few
- Making the Modern SEAL Warrior
- By: Rorke Denver
- Narrated by: Rorke Denver
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rorke Denver trains the men who become Navy SEALs - the most creative problem solvers on the modern battlefield, ideal warriors for the kinds of wars America is fighting now. With his years of action-packed mission experience and a top training role, Lieutenant Commander Denver understands exactly how tomorrow’s soldiers are recruited, sculpted, motivated, and deployed. Now, Denver takes you inside his personal story and the fascinating, demanding SEAL training program he now oversees.
-
-
powerful, relevant story
- By A. Hartwig on 04-10-13
By: Rorke Denver
-
Once They Were Eagles
- The Men of the Black Sheep Squadron
- By: Frank Walton
- Narrated by: David Randall Hunter
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marine Corps Fighter Squadron 214 was hastily organized in the field during World War II to meet the urgent need for another combat squadron in the South Pacific. The squadron, self-named the "Black Sheep", went on under the leadership of the swashbuckling "Pappy" Boyington to become the most famous in Marine Corps history. Now comes the true story of the Black Sheep Squadron and the men who wrote its record in the Pacific skies.
-
-
great insight at the leyendary squadron
- By Ernesto morales on 04-28-18
By: Frank Walton
-
Chickenhawk
- By: Robert Mason
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With more than half a million copies sold, Robert Mason's Chickenhawk is one of the best-selling books ever written about the Vietnam War. Fascinated with flying from a young age, Mason earned his private pilot's license even before graduating high school. He enlisted in the army in 1964 and endured an extremely challenging "weeding out" process in an effort to fly helicopters. Sent to Vietnam, he survived more than 1,000 air combat missions despite the violence and brutality exploding all around him.
-
-
Best
- By richard olson on 08-21-15
By: Robert Mason
What listeners say about Don't Blow Yourself Up
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Janna Daniels
- 04-30-23
Grateful for this book
I am thrilled to have come across this memoir and getting to know more about Homer the man . His stories from his boyhood on have been the stories of my dad, minus NASA and scuba diving 😜. I feel like I know my dad better because of Homer. Thank you for the double gift.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason
- 05-19-22
Excellent book!
Homer is like a real life Forest Gump, minus the slow part. I was entertained the entire book. I already read October Sky, and will look for more of his work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Keren
- 06-24-22
Captivating getting to know Homer the man after reading all about Sonny the boy.
Great story that ties up all the dangling threads from his other books. Homer’s story telling is so fun. Once again I found myself in a world that was familiar. Having grown up in Huntsville, I had knowledge of almost all the people, places and activities described. I am planning to write him a letter and tell him some of my stories from a coal mining town, to Aqua Space and to the PCTC at Marshal Space Flight Center. Hope he laughs. His life is an inspiration and would be attainable by anyone who shoots for the stars and with perseverance, combined with intellect, competence and a cheerful attitude, is able to at least get significant altitude in life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jerry T
- 08-28-24
The bar was set high with Rocket Boys
Very good follow up to Rocket Boys, but I didn't find it to be quite as good. And I found the narrator voice to be annoying. I would still recommend it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!