Happy Memorial Day, ya’ll! I hope you’re able to get some good quality time in with your family this weekend. At the same time, don’t forget what this day means. Our military, first responders, and homeland defenders get a lot of disrespect, because our country has forgotten what was sacrificed so that we can live in the decadent era we now do. Read their stories, or watch them on bodycam. You’ll realize that pretty much all of them are doing incredible, courageous things everyday, and that the over-hyped flack they’re receiving is usually the result of outright lies or misrepresenations of the actions of a select few.
I am very grateful to live in this country and enjoy the liberties we have here. The world would be so, so different without the intrepid, innovating Land of Freedom and the incredible people who have fought to defend it every step of the way. The United States was built to be a place where Christians could worship freely, regardless of denomination. A place where families could enjoy the American Dream of owning a plot of land, tending it, and raising a big family. A place where people with a big idea could launch an industry, achieve a world first, or climb to the top through a system that honored grit, hard work, and honesty.
It isn’t that anymore. But it was built on those things, and we still enjoy the aftermath. I’m sitting in an air-conditioned home, writing on a laptop. I’m wearing blue jeans and a smartwatch, and when I’m done here, I’m going to go watch my nightly Jeopardy in the comfort of a big, sprawling American couch. I’m surrounded by the luxuries that we’re able to afford because in a capitalistic society, one’s wages belong to them and can be used freely. I’m surrounded by luxuries that this country invented or improved. I’m a young woman who’s able to pursue a career path and enjoy a lot of freedom, instead of a young woman who walks around with her head covered and her marriage arranged for her. I’m a young woman who works at a desk, instead of under a scorching sun in a rice paddy or cassava field.
I don’t have to fear that roving gangs or cartels might waylay me on my commute and drag me off into slavery. Why? Because we have cops. When my mom’s car got hit, I didn’t have to run a mile to find the nearest country doctor, praying that Mom wouldn’t get some horrible infection and die. Why? Because we have firemen and EMTs who race to a scene within minutes. I don’t have to fear that the neighboring nation will decide to march across the border at any minute and start burning cities. Why? Because we have the military.
No matter what liberals say about our military and first responders, you have to bet all of them would be very happy if the cops showed up as they were being mugged, or if firefighters showed up as their house was burning down. And much as they seem to hate this country, its values, and its legal citizens, and at times seem to want an invasion, they would not be happy if somebody started bombarding us with missiles and drone strikes and we were helpless to adequately retaliate.
But I’ve gone on enough about this topic. The point is, before you judge, before you just start parroting whatever the current sentiment is on our servicemembers and first responders, read their stories. And when we hear just how much they endured, surely it can inspire us to be a little stronger, a little tougher, as we face our own comparably smaller battles and fight for our own treasured values.
I’ll warn everyone right now, all of these books are a 16+ rating. Most of them are rather intense, and they’re not exactly fun reads, but they are worthwhile ones. No matter if you check out one, all, or none of them, I hope you’re able to reflect on the heroism this country was built on. Men gave up their lives, women gave up their men, friends lost their friends. Those who returned were not unscarred either. Seeing the atrocities of war – and even the atrocities of the battlefield that city streets can be – leave things permanently altered in your mind. Freedom is never free. May we understand that, acknowledge it, and live in gratitude to those who bled and died for this country.
Behind the Badge and Unbroken Bonds of Battle
First responders run toward things the rest of us run away from.
What makes a person want to become a first responder? As in his bestselling book Unbroken Bonds of Battle, retired Marine Johnny Joey Jones didn’t have to look further than his closest family and friends to find frontline defenders—some he’s known since childhood, some he served with, and others have become friends and mentors. In this book, you will meet:
- A game warden whose “miracle K-9” helped him save 22 lives in search and rescue missions
- A firefighter who chose the job over a lucrative family career
- A police officer who died placing his squad car between civilians and a drunk driver going the wrong way on the highway—and his sister, who responded by becoming a deputy
- A border patrol medic working to save lives in the desert heat
- A SWAT sniper describing how to handle a high-speed chase
One thing all these people have in common: none of them wants to be called a hero.
Their inspiring and unique stories are almost always overlooked when it comes to patriotic recognition of service and sacrifice. With vivid storytelling, Jones brings to life dramatic rescues, heart-wrenching losses, and awe-inspiring acts of courage. He delves deep into what drives these brave men and women, offering an intimate look at their personal and professional lives.
Behind the Badge will leave you moved, inspired, and reminded of the true meaning of heroism—because these first responders are hometown heroes at heart.
Life only really starts when we start serving others.
For many people, military service isn’t simply a job. It’s a ticket out of a lonely society and into a family of enduring bonds.
In over a decade of working with veterans, Johnny Joey Jones has discovered the power of battle-forged friendships. Suffering a life-changing injury while deployed in Afghanistan, he faced a daunting recovery. But coming home would have been much harder without the support of his brothers and sisters in arms.
In Unbroken Bonds of Battle, Joey tells the stories of those very warriors, who for years have supported and inspired him on the battlefield and off. Through unfiltered and authentic conversations with American heroes in every branch of service, Joey tackles the big questions about life, loss, and, of course, hunting.
Powerful life lessons are woven throughout these personal oral histories. Also included is a scrapbook of beautiful candid photographs from the lives of these modern warriors.
A gorgeous patriotic keepsake, Unbroken Bonds of Battle reminds us of the costs paid by those who defend our freedom through unvarnished, inspiring tales of friendship. (Amazon blurbs, both of them.)
(Neither of these books are clean, language-wise, and there can be some disturbing descriptions of the high cost of freedom. Loss of life, horrible injury, the darkest sides of humanity, PTSD, and suicide are openly discussed and described.)
Duty is Ours, Results are God’s
In Duty is Ours, Results are Gods, Captain Randall Ran Jansen tells of his tough and demanding, yet adventurous and exciting nine years in the US Marine Corps. He discusses principles to follow and life lessons to be learned, along with interesting and sometimes funny stories. (Amazon Blurb)(We disagree on evolution — I believe in a literal six-day Creation, as evidenced by the meaning behind the Hebrew word for ‘day’ used as well as the faults in the methods by which evolutionists supposedly ‘date’ things. Other than that, very honest and inspiring. Some potentially alarming descriptions of injuries.)
Unbroken (Young Adult Version)
On a May afternoon in 1943, an American military plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary sagas of the Second World War.
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. As a boy, he had been a clever delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and stealing. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a supreme talent that carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when war came, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.
Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a sinking raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would respond to desperation with ingenuity, suffering with hope and humor, brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would hang on the fraying wire of his will.
Featuring more than one hundred photographs plus an exclusive interview with Zamperini, this breathtaking odyssey—also captured on film by director Angelina Jolie—is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the ability to endure against the unlikeliest of odds. (Amazon Blurb) (I can only recommend the YA version as it’s the only one I’ve read, and even toned down for a younger audience it was still an emotionally tough read. Tough, but good. Language, descriptions of torture and Japanese prison camps, PTSD.)
G.I. Joe and Lillie
Dive into this heartwarming, true story revealing the love, sacrifice, and devotion of one soldier and his wife who lived through World War 2. The patriotism, bravery, and faith-filled commitment of G.I. Joe and Lillie is an inspiration to every American. Oak Ridge Boys tenor, Joe Bonsall, poignantly shares his parents’ triumphs and tragedies in this unforgettable biography. (MasterBooks Blurb) (Sweet and clean, minus a word or two and descriptions of PTSD. But heavy subjects, dealing with the lifetime and marriage of a couple after both serving in WWII.)
The War Magician
When England went to war against Hitler in 1939, it mobilized its entire military and industrial resources. But there was no place in that vast army for legendary stage magician Jasper Maskelyne, whose family was renowned for creating modern theatrical illusions. Maskelyne was determined to fight the Nazis using his only weapon: he intended to apply the techniques of popular magic to the battlefield. Initially ignored and ridiculed by the staid military leadership, he eventually cajoled his way into the Camouflage Section and was sent to the western desert, where he created a new type of warfare.
With his small group of artists, the Magic Gang, Maskelyne designed and developed ingenious weapons, then tricked the Desert Fox, General Rommel, and his fabled Afrika Korps into believing there were tanks and battleships where there were none, concealed the Suez Canal, and even successfully “moved” Alexandria harbor.
But it required all his skills to pull off perhaps the largest and most complex magic trick in history. As General Bernard Montgomery told Maskelyne on the eve of the Battle of El Alamein, “The entire war will turn on what happens here. What I am about to ask you to do is impossible. It can’t be done, but it must be done. I hope you’ve brought your magic wand with you.”
This is the fact-based story of the illusion that won the war in the desert. (Amazon Blurb) (Language, mention of a male and female officer found together unclothed, indirect allusion to Jasper and his wife having intercourse on their last night together, a character burns to death and Jasper deals with PTSD afterwards, Jasper and another character nearly die of heatstroke, some coarse jokes. But an absolutely fascinating story that reveals a whole new side to war.)
Reach for the Sky
Douglas Bader was a legend in his lifetime. After losing both legs in an air crash in 1931 and being dismissed as a cripple by the Royal Air Force, he fought his way back into the cockpit of a Spitfire to become one of the great heroes of the Battle of Britain. This inspiring biography of the famous World War II fighter pilot, first published in 1954, has a following of faithful readers who come back to the book time and again to re-read, share with their children and pass along to friends. Not many books have made such an impact on people’s lives.
Bader’s story is so extraordinary that no one would dare invent it, and Brickhill succeeds in matching the excitement of Bader’s war deeds with the triumph of his greater battle over a severe handicap. Told he would never walk without a cane, Bader learned to dance, swim, golf, and play tennis. Told he would never fly again, he became not only one of the RAF’s top combat pilots but a squadron leader and innovator of fighter tactics that helped win the Battle of Britain. Among the thrilling incidents chronicled in the book are Bader’s first successful encounter with an enemy plane, his own shoot down, and his succession of escapes from German prisons. (Language, some coarse remarks, life in a Nazi prison camp. But it’s a crazy story because the guy lost both legs, and still became an ace pilot and escaped prison, forging ahead in life with remarkable resilience.)
Beyond the Call
This is the inspiring true story of Captain Robert Trimble, who laid his life on the line to rescue hundreds of World War II POWs, including women and children, on the Eastern Front.
Near the end of World War II, thousands of Allied ex-prisoners of war were abandoned to wander the war-torn Eastern Front. With no food, shelter, or supplies, the POWs were an army of dying men. As the Red Army advanced across Poland, the Nazi prison camps were liberated. In defiance of humanity, the freed Allied prisoners were discarded without aid. The Soviets viewed POWs as cowards, and regarded all refugees as potential spies or partisans.
The United States repeatedly offered to help, but were refused. With relations between the Allies strained, a plan was conceived for an undercover rescue mission. In total secrecy, the OSS chose an obscure American air force detachment stationed at a Ukrainian airfield. The man they picked to undertake it was veteran 8th Air Force bomber pilot Captain Robert Trimble.
With little covert training, Trimble took the mission. He would survive by wit, courage, and determination. This is the compelling, true story of an American hero who risked everything to bring his fellow soldiers home to safety and freedom. (Amazon Blurb) (I grabbed this because I’m interested in CIA/OSS history. Like the other stories above, it’s not clean. There’s language, mention and allustion to rape, descriptions of PTSD, some alarming stories of the way Nazis and Russians killed people, and all the heavy themes that come with a war story. But it was really cool to see how the postwar relationships were betwee Russia and the other Allies, and see how they’d soon deteriorate into the Cold War.)
I always like a well-told war story. There’s just something inspiring about seeing how everyday soldiers in every part of the world, every part of the army, forged on and did the right thing even when it was tough. I love learning about the tactical and mental side of being a first responder. Tales of brothership are heartwarming and completely underrated in our culture that is just saturated with tired romance plots. And of course, there’s nothing like a war story to remind you how good you’ve got it.
Men fought and died for your freedom. There’s something deep and hard-hitting about that if you dwell on it. It makes you rethink your reactions to hard things in life. My own great-grandfather wrote a book about his experiences in the Pacific theater. It was absolutely one of the most gutting and yet awe-inspiring things I have ever read. (Sadly, there are only two copies that I know of and you can’t buy it anywhere, so I’m unable to share it here. But the guy had a knack for down-to-earth storytelling.)
“Dear Lord,
Lest I continue,
My complacent way,
Help me to remember that somewhere,
Somehow out there,
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war, I must answer,
Am I worth dying for?”
~ Donald Patton, All the Gallant Men
(All the Gallant Men is also worth reading, but be prepared for some pretty horrifying descriptions of men being burned alive or blown to bits inside the U.S.S. Arizona. Patton survived being abord that ship during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and then plunged straight back into WWII for more. To hear his granddaughter tell the story somewhat less viscerally, check this Mike Rowe podcast episode out.)
Are we worth dying for? Are we honoring the sacrifice made by so many generations before us? Can this next generation that we are part of live a life worthy of the blood of noble men?
I sure hope so.
Cheers, and God bless.
Photo by yours truly, from a vacation to Kentucky, where apparently everyone proudly flies honking big flags.
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