In October of 1989, the State of Texas set Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Broomstick Murderer, free on parole. By choosing to murder again, McDuff became the architect of an extraordinarily intolerant atmosphere in Texas. The spasm of prison construction and parole reforms—collectively called the “McDuff Rules”—resulted from an enormous display of anger vented towards a system that allowed McDuff to kill, and kill again. Bad Boy from Rosebud is a chilling account of the life of one of the most heartless and brutal serial killers in American history. Gary M. Lavergne goes beyond horror into an analysis of the unbelievable subculture in which McDuff lived. Equally compelling are the lives of remarkable law enforcement officers determined to bring McDuff to justice, and their seven-year search for his victims. “Texas still feels the pain inflicted by Kenneth Allen McDuff, despite the relentless efforts of law enforcement officials to solve his crimes and bind up its wounds. Bad Boy from Rosebud is an impeccably researched, compellingly detailed account of the crimes and the long search for justice. Gary Lavergne takes us directly to the scenes of the crimes, deep inside the mind of a killer, and in the process learns not only …

Voudou (an older spelling of voodoo)—a pantheistic belief system developed in West Africa and transported to the Americas during the diaspora of the slave trade—is the generic term for a number of similar African religions which mutated in the Americas, including santeria, candomble, macumbe, obeah, Shango Baptist, etc. Since its violent introduction in the Caribbean islands, it has been the least understood and most feared religion of the New World—suppressed, out-lawed or ridiculed from Haiti to Hattiesburg. Yet with the exception of Zora Neale Hurston's accounts more than a half-century ago and a smattering of lurid, often racist paperbacks, studies of this potent West African theology have focused almost exclusively on Haiti, Cuba and the Caribbean basin. American Voudou turns our gaze back to American shores, principally towards the South, the most important and enduring stronghold of the voudou faith in America and site of its historic yet rarely recounted war with Christianity. This chronicle of Davis' determined search for the true legacy of voudou in America reveals a spirit-world from New Orleans to Miami which will shatter long-held stereotypes about the religion and its role in our culture. The real-life dramas of the practitioners, true believers and skeptics of …

“Heartwarming tales of rescued creatures are presented in this collection of vignettes from a large wildlife rehabilitation center.”—Booklist. “Her brief stories are often touching, such as when she describes a young raccoon, rescued from a fire, self-medicating its burned paws with aloe vera plants; or two crab-eating macaques, confined inside a research facility for eighteen years, experiencing the outdoors for the first time.”—Natural History. “This book deserves a spot on every library shelf along with such nonfiction animal story classics as Adamson’s Born Free, North’s Rascal, and the work of Jane Goodall.”—Appraisal: Science Books for Young People

Interview with William H. Haugh, a Army WWII veteran from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Haugh discusses growing up in Wrightsville, getting his own farm, the wartime economy, being drafted into the Army, becoming a machine gunner in the 35th Infantry Division, arrival in Metz and advancing to the Battle of the Bulge, artillery, experiences in combat, the Rhineland Campaign, the Ruhr Valley, being wounded, the German surrender and the Army of Occupation, reflections on combat, and returning to civilian life.

Interview with General John Roberts, a Air Force WWII veteran from Arkansas, who served for over twenty years with General Roger Ramey of Denton, Texas. Roberts discusses Ramey's background and his own, Army Air Corps pilot training, the start of the war and assignment under Ramey, changing commands and transition to the B-29, Curtis LeMay, the atomic bomb, postwar work, Ramey's health and death, his relationships with various figures, Douglas MacArthur and Harry Truman, the racial integration of the Air Force, and the Roswell UFO incident. Some additional biographical information about Ramey is provided by Colonel Terry Garland.

Interview with John R. Leber, a Army Air Corps WWII veteran from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, who flew with the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron in the China-Burma-India Theater. Leber discusses enlisting in the Air Corps, training as an aircraft mechanic and becoming a crew chief, the C-46 and the C-47, deployment to India, flying over the Himalayas, living conditions, and continued service postwar. In appendix are handwritten letters of Leber from his time overseas.

Interview with Allen Stafford, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran from Kiowa County, Oklahoma, who served with the 124th Cavalry Regiment. Stafford discusses his early life, working in Texas oil fields, enlisting and training, deployment to the China-Burma-India Theater and reorganization as an infantry unit, combat operations with the Japanese around the Burma Road, and returning to the United States.

Interview with Army veteran Archie Gantt. The interview includes Gantt's personal experiences about the European Theater during World War II, boyhood in central Texas, basic training, shipping to England, combat on the Siegfried Line, and the Battle of the Bulge. Additionally, Gantt talks about leadership problems, combat living conditions, Officer Candidate School and commissioning, and his postwar war service in Europe.

Interview with Mervin Garver. The interview includes Garver's personal experiences about education and childhood during the Great Depression, being a defense worker at Riverside Foundry, blackouts and air raid wardens, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's visits to Wrightsville by train. Garver also talks about his draft classification as 4-F due to psychoneurosis, his personal feelings about being classified as 4-F, local reactions to his 4-F status, the production of hand grenade and radar cores at Riverside Foundry, the financial and patriotic incentives to increase war production, the purchase of war bonds and stamps, employment of women and wartime shortages, rationing of food and gasoline, the "Victory Bus," effects of WW II on his personal finances and on the postwar lives of Wrightsville's citizens, the transition from wartime to peacetime production at Riverside Foundry, and his memories of post-World War II Memorial Day celebrations.

Interview with Warren D. Crumbling, Army veteran, special agent, and member of the White House Security Detail for President Lyndon B. Johnson. The interview includes Crumbling's personal experiences about education and employment before entering the military, basic training, various assignments, and being appointed to the White House Security Detail at President Lyndon B. Johnson's LBJ Ranch. Additionally, Crumbling talks about relations between the military and civilian law enforcement authorities in San Antonio during World War II, his marriage, his fourth enlistment and assignment to Kobe, Japan, various stateside assignments, his retirement from the Army, President and Mrs. Johnson, and his retirement from the Secret Service.

Interview with Eugene L. Crumling, bartender and former professional ballplayer. The interview includes Crumling's personal experiences about being a professional baseball player in the U.S. during World War II. Crumling talks about his semi-pro baseball career in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the origin of his nickname, signing his first professional contract, life in the minor leagues during wartime, his draft classification as 4-F, his employment in defense-related work during the off-seasons, contrasts between life in the minors and life in the majors, individual Cardinals players, his first game and his first, and only, hit in the majors, the remainder of his minor league career, and his personal thoughts about the reserve clause, player strikes, modern-day salaries, and expansion.

Interview with business executive and Army Air Forces veteran William E. Cooper. The interview includes Cooper's personal experiences about being a B-29 pilot in the Pacific Theater, pre-flight and flight training, various assignments, and dropping supplies by parachute to prisoners-of-war. Cooper also talks about living on Guam, mechanical weaknesses of the B-29, his descriptions of Nagasaki and Hiroshima from the air after the dropping of the atomic bombs, his disappointment with not being able to fly combat missions, postwar duty as a test pilot on Guam, and his postwar civilian activities.

Interview with Army Air Forces veteran Leslie W. Bray, Jr. The interview includes Bray's personal experiences about the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, youth during the Great Depression, flight training, being designated as the commander of the 16th Combat Cargo Squadron, stationing at Sylhet, India as part of his assignment to the CBI Theater, supplying the British 14th Army in Burma, flying difficulties due to weather conditions, various transfers, and flying "The Hump." Bray also talks about his early aspirations to become an aviator, initial failures to pass the Air Forces physical examination, his assignment to Troop Carrier Command, flying C-47s with the 1st Troop Carrier Group, his appointment as assistant group operations officer for the 10th Troop Carrier Group, Air Force School of Applied Tactics, the training of replacement units at various Air Force installations, the deactivation of the 16th Combat Cargo Squadron, and his postwar Air Force career and retirement as a general officer.

Interview with engineer and Army Air Forces veteran Shuford M. Alexander, Jr. The interview includes Alexander's personal experiences about being a fighter pilot in Italy during World War II, basic training, flight training, various assignments and transfers, Operation STRANGLE, being shot down by flak over Piacenza, and being rescued by Italian partisans. Additionally, Alexander talks about his link-up with a British A-4 Mission and his attempt to reach Allied lines, his betrayal by a German agent and his subsequent capture, escaping and continuing his search for Allied lines, his observations and opinions about the partisans, a second encounter with a British A-4 Mission, the Martani family in the village of Tosca, his group's trek through mountain snow to reach Allied lines, meeting with British paratroopers and with African-American soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Division, and his reunion with his squadron in Pisa. The interview includes an appendix with a narrative by Alexander.

Interview with E. Benjamin Dunn, a Army WWII veteran and POW from Gorham, Illinois, who was captured by the Japanese on Java with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion.") Dunn discusses training in the Army, transfer to 2-131 and deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and being captured, experiences in internment in Batavia and later Changi Prison Camp in Singapore, building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway, and liberation.

Interview with Navy veteran James Driver. The interview includes Driver's personal experiences about being a dive-bomber and fighter pilot during the Pacific Theater during World War II, various phases of training, dive-bomber training, having convoy escort duty off New Hebrides, the neutralization of Rabaul, transferring to fighter planes, flying combat air patrol off the carrier USS Hancock, providing cover for the Marine landings on Okinawa, combat against kamikazes, engagements against enemy fighters and kamikazes on the last day of the war, locating and dropping supplies to prisoner-of-war camps in Japan, and returning to the States. The interview includes an appendix with a letter written by Driver.

Interview with Army Air Forces veteran Wilbur H. Ford. The interview includes Ford's personal experiences about being a B-17 pilot in the European Theater during World War II, training, transferring to the Army Air Force from the Army, flight training, B-17 transition training, and crew training. Ford also talks about his assignment to the 401st Bomb Group, enemy flak, the highlights of his nine missions over Germany, battle damage to his plane, the Dresden raid, returning to the States, and transition training in B-29s for transfer to the Pacific Theater.

Interview with business executive and Army Air Forces veteran Robert H. Flatley. The interview includes Flatley's personal experiences about being a P-38 pilot in the Pacific Theater during the World War II, basic training, flight training, P-38 training, various assignments and missions, and the destruction of forty-seven locomotives. Flatley also talks about various missions to targets in the Philippines, activities between combat missions, postwar military activities in the Philippines, and postwar adjustments to civilian life.

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Book providing.a biographical account of Frank M. Brandstetter, documenting his life and work as a hotelier, corporate executive, and U. S. Army intelligence officer. The text is based on Brandstetter's own recollections and corroborated with source documents and other published accounts. Index starts on page 367.

Transcript of an interview with James G. Turner, Marine Corps veteran (Regimental Headquarters Company, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division), concerning his experiences on Saipan in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Turner discusses his decision to join the Marine Corps, December 7, 1942; boot camp, Parris Island; formation of the 4th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, 1943; preparations on Maui for the invasion of Saipan; the amphibious landings on Saipan, June 15, 1945; his duties with the Motor Transport Section and Headquarters Company; return to Maui.

Transcript of an interview with Roy D. Much, Army veteran (987th Field Artillery Battalion), concerning his experiences in the European Theater during World War II. Much discusses his pre-war education and employment; basic training in the artillery, Camp Bowie, Brownwood, Texas, 1942; and general comments about his experiences at Normandy, Saint-Lô, liberation of Paris, Huertgen Forest, Remagen Bridge, Battle of the Bulge, and the liberation of Czechoslovakia.

Interview with James N. Hall, a Army Air Force WWII veteran from Burkburnett, Texas. Hall discusses joining the Air Force from college, basic training, classification, flight training, the P-47, fighter tactics, deplyoment to Le Culot Airfield in Belgium, his first mission, briefings and intelligence, Air Support Parties, close air support, flak, bomber escort, air-to-air encounters, casualties, logistics, German civilians, crash landings, V-E Day, and return to civilian life.

Interview with Howard L. Patton, a Army WWII veteran from Flora, Illinois. Patton discusses his family background, commissioning into the Army through ROTC, training with anti-air artillery, his marriage, deployment to New Guinea, the assault on Wakde Island, the battle of Leyte, operations at Zamboanga, and the end of the war.