A Month of Literary Gratitude, Day 21 - Final Salute: The Story of Unfinished Lives, by Jim Sheeler

Monday, November 21, 2016

Jim Sheeler won a Pulitzer Prize for the material contained in this book, and he damn well earned it.





Rocky Mountain News reporter Jim Sheeler and photographer Todd Heisler spent a year with the Marines stationed at Aurora's Buckley Air Force Base who have found themselves called upon to notify families of the deaths of their sons in Iraq. In each case in this story, the families agreed to let Sheeler and Heisler chronicle their loss and grief. They wanted people to know their sons, the men and women who brought them home, and the bond of traditions more than 200 years old that unite them.


Final Salute is an amazing book. This narrative is profoundly moving. I have performed aspects of this duty, and yet I still found myself choking up as the author describes the heartache and devastation left by the loss of my brothers-in-arms.

Most people in this country will never know the grief associated with losing a child, spouse or parent in the service of our country. But if you can understand the process, and realize what the families and the service members are going through as a result of this sacrifice, you begin to address the isolation associated with the life of a professional soldier, sailor, airman or Marine. And we could all use a little more of that kind of understanding.


NOTE: You can find the accompanying photographs for this book here.

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