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Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives | 
 enlarge | Author: Jim Sheeler
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $12.45
You Save: $13.50 (52%)
New (33) from $12.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 2292
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 159420165X
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.704437
EAN: 9781594201653
ASIN: 159420165X
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: This Book is Brand New
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Product Description
Based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning story, Jim Sheelers unprecedented look at the way our country honors its dead; Final Salute Is a stunning tribute to the brave troops who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and to the families who continue to mourn them
They are the troops that nobody wants to see, carrying a message that no military family ever wants to hear. It begins with a knock at the door. The curtains pull away. They come to the door. And they know. They always know, said Major Steve Beck.
Since the start of the war in Iraq, marines like Major Beck found themselves thrown into a different kind of mission: casualty notification. It is a job Major Beck never asked for and one for which he received no training. They are given no set rules, only impersonal guidelines.
Marines are trained to kill, to break down doors, but casualty notification is a mission without weapons. For Beck, the mission meant learning each dead marines name and nickname, touching the toys they grew up with and reading the letters they wrote home. He held grieving mothers in long embraces, absorbing their muffled cries into the dark blue shoulder of his uniform. He stitched himself into the fabric of their lives, in the simple hope that his compassion might help alleviate at least the smallest piece of their pain. Sometimes he returned home to his own family unable to keep from crying in the dark.
In Final Salute, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Jim Sheeler weaves together the stories of the fallen and of the broken homes they have left behind. It is also the story of Major Steve Beck and his unflagging efforts to help heal the wounds of those left grieving. Above all, it is a moving tribute to our troops, putting faces to the mostly anonymous names of our courageous heroes, and to the brave families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Final Salute is the achingly beautiful, devastatingly honest story of the true toll of war. After the knock on the door, the story has only begun.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
You need to read this book. July 26, 2008
I don't care who you are. Don't care if you support the war, or you don't. Don't care if you "support the troops" whatever that might mean (like me!). This book is about the reality of our soldiers not coming back. And the heart-rending, noble efforts of the military to honor them. If you can read this book without crying, you're a robot. If you can read this book without wanting to reach out, you're heartless. (I recommend Operation Gratitude, you can find many local groups doing the same.)
Jim Sheeler, you're a hero. Just like all the ones you showed us in this book.
"GARDENS OF STONE...RE-VISITED" July 25, 2008
"FINAL SALUTE" A Story of Unfinished Lives by Jim Sheeler is perhaps, the most emotionally moving book I have read in my entire 61 years! It is a true modern day version of the old movie: "Gardens of Stone."
Sheeler's literary style and understanding of real life drama will eviscerate you while it drains your soul, all... in one dynamic swoop of the pen.
It is "easy reading", but...a difficult book to "keep reading." It is also, impossible to put down! You can not read this book without stopping to wipe the tear drops off the pages, or to blow your nose. It is a book every American (including those in the White House) "should" read, and a book that every student..."be required" to read!
Here in 280 pages lies the humbling stark reality of life, war, and death as it touches into American families directly involved in the Iraqi war.
This book is a masterpiece of literature, human drama, and spirit.
YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK..."IF," YOU DARE!!!
moving July 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a moving book about the soldiers who have died during the Iraq war and the families that they left behind. Sheeler's writing is excellent and he engages the reader from the first page. The book brings you closer to the families who have lost a son/husband/father and helps to tell their story. It also tells the story of the men who had to deliver the casualty notifications to each of the families following the fateful knock at the front door. This book stays with you long after you put it down and you can't help but be inspired by the courage described within its pages.
A Great American Hero July 16, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book may be the single best I've ever read on the bond created among the youg men who fight for the United States.
Weather you are for or against our going into Iraq you will be so moved by Mr. Sheeler's fine portrayal of Marine Major Steven Beck, (now a Lt. Colonel).
Advising next of kin of the death of their warrior son (or occasionally daughter) is the most difficult assignment.
The word "closure" just does not apply since we all need to never forget those that have died for us.
Mr. Sheeler, who is young and probably a liberal, manages to accurately portray the entire process of the duties of the Marines as they "never leave their fellow Marine," until final interrment.
Great job!
A human face on war July 12, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Please, please take the time to read this beautiful tribute to the fallen and their families and friends. We see the photos of soldiers and sailors on the evening news broadcasts every night. We momentarily feel bad and then life again intrudes along with the next TV program. This book should be required reading for every American...but especially for those in the Pentagon, the White House and Congress who send our military in harms way. These are not just numbers...these are people...sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers who are sorely missed. I was so impressed with Col. Beck. Why isn't he being asked to teach others how to do this so difficult job??? A beautiful book but you will have to read it in stages..it's too hard otherwise.
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