"The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education" by Craig M. Mullaney

As I turn on the TV after reading Eric's bedtime stories from a Children's Bible and a condensed version of "Robin Hood" what catches my attention is "Saving Private Ryan." This reminded me that I am reading a new memoir by a new author, Craig M. Mullaney who has crafted quite the page-turner in "The Unforgiving Minute".

Mullaney describes his upbringing in a blue-collar family and then attending and graduating from West Point. I am at the point in the book where he has graduated and is attending Ranger School between West Point and going to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. The book then moves onto Oxford and Afghanistan where Mullaney sees combat in the War on Terror and finally moves into a third faze where he is a veteran whose brother is going into the armed forces in his brother's footsteps.

I guess what has intrigued me so much about this book is that it has so far received a five star rating by Amazon.com through 41 reviews. Also Mullaney's book has received critical acclaim from General Petraeus on the one hand and General Wesley Clark on the other hand. Now that's saying something; from George W. Bush's man in Iraq to a former Democratic Presidential Candidate says to me that this book speaks a truth that transcends the bickering and bitterness that has consumed too much of our country. And now that I am 100 pages into the book it is not only a balm for the ills of our nation but also a fantastic and compelling story of one young man's commitment to this nation and her values.

If you have the time, please, please consider reading Craig M. Mullaney's masterful memoir of duty and sacrifice. It may just restore your sense of what it means to love this country and more importantly to serve something larger than your own self interest.