First published 2014
Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran examine how contemporary American military service members have become distant figures to most civilians. The Starbucks CEO and Washington Post journalist present detailed accounts of battlefield heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan. They profile an Army sergeant who braves enemy fire repeatedly to rescue wounded soldiers. They tell of two Marines who gave their lives stopping a truck bomb that would have killed thirty-three fellow service members. A sixty-year-old Navy doctor joins up to honor his son who died in combat. The authors also track veterans after they come home. Former soldiers help communities recover from natural disasters. An ex-infantry officer leaves a Pentagon position to teach in struggling urban schools. A retired general works to develop better care for troops with brain injuries. Military spouses support other families facing severe combat wounds. These individual stories reveal the debt America owes to its defenders and the leadership they bring to civilian life.
Genres: non-fiction, biography-memoir, military-history, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, heroism
Setting: Iraq, Afghanistan
Period: Contemporary
224 pages · Hardcover · Knopf