Andris Kursietis has been a researcher of military history for fifty years, using resources that span the globe. His latest book, "The Emperor's Aviators" pro-vides listings of the commanders of the main staff and field commands of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy aviation branches from their inception in 1915 until the end of World War II in 1945. The book also includes biographical in-formation on Japan's aviator generals and admirals.

For his previous work on the Hungarian military, the Hungarian Knightly Order of Vitéz in 1997 awarded Kursietis its Cross of Merit. He is also the re-cipient of the Silver Medal of Merit from the World Federation of Hungarian Veterans, as well as the Silver and Bronze Service Crosses and the 2014-2018 Cross from the International Hungarian Military History Preservation Society.

Outside of his researching and writing, Kursietis serves as the Chairman, Presi-dent and CEO of the Latvian Welfare Association in the USA (Daugavas Vanagi ASV). He is the recipient of the organization's highest award, the Gold Badge.