Home of the Brave: Honoring the Unsung Heroes in the War on Terror is a book of tributes to a selection of U.S. military heroes who have fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Assembled by Caspar Weinberger (Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration), and penned by speechwriter Wynton C. Hall, this is a celebration of the heroism of our troops in the field ... the sort of stories that in previous generations would have been on the front page of the newspaper, or made into laudatory movies.It's a damning realization that most of these men and women's stories are unknown. The Mass Media had become so solidly anti-American since Viet Nam that the ONLY news that gets reported is that which makes us look bad. Weinberger wanted to make a stand against that, and put together this volume.... after years of watching and reading coverage of the War on Terror, many citizens, including us, have been awestruck by the lack of balance and objectivity exercised by many American reporters an new executives. The dearth of hopeful or heroic stories reported has given viewers a lopsided perspective. It seems that many in the media are wiling to highlight only the actions of service members who can be portrayed as either victims or villains.
The tales of 19 members of our armed services are related here, recipients of the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Medal, and even the Medal of Honor. Some of these heroes gave their lives in their actions, some are still (at the time of writing, 2006) serving, and some have re-joined civilian life. One of these is a woman, the first female GI ever awarded the Silver Star for active combat. Another, a Mexican immigrant, joined the Marines the day he received his green card and went on to make the ultimate sacrifice, mortally wounded, he covered an enemy grenade with his body to save his squad.
These stories are told from a boots-on-the-ground standpoint, as though you were walking patrol with these soldiers. Weinberger (and Hall) do a masterful job of putting the reader in the action, while putting the action within the context of the struggle.
For anybody who is not part of the "blame America first" cabal, Home of the Brave will be encouraging reading, if frequently emotional. I am, frankly, amazed that I found a pristine copy of this topical hardcover book at the dollar store, as it's only been out 3 years, and it's theme and subjects are timeless. It appears to still be in print, but the new/used vendors over on Amazon are offering "very good" copies for as little as 1¢ (plus shipping). If you are sick and tired of the "treason media" and their zombie leftists drones, this will be a ray of sunshine in your life ... I highly recommend it!
