In the mail: American Heroes

Oliver North has a new book out just in time for Father’s Day, but I suspect that more than just dads will want to read the stories of heroism in the global war on terror that haven’t made headlines here in the US. North collects them in American Heroes, and has given Hot Air an exclusive look at one of the many heroes North profiles:

“The explosion of a carefully planted IED mangled Sgt Edwards below his body armor. The first person to him was U.S. Navy medical Corpsman Christopher Anderson. The man they called “Doc” Anderson immediately applied tourniquets to Edwards’ shattered limbs and started an IV to ward off shock.

As they raced for the LZZ to meet an inbound casualty-evacuation helicopter, Edwards looked up at the man who was checking his pulse and said, ‘take care of my babies, Doc.’

Anderson shouted back, ‘You’re going to take care of your babies. You’re going to be OK!’

Marine Sgt Gregory Edwards was on his third deployment to Iraq when new wounds sent him back to Walter Reed. In 2003 he had been part of the initial assault on Baghdad and saw the statue of Saddam Hussein toppled. He’d been wounded on his second deployment and spent time recovering at Bethesda and Walter Reed. When 1st Bn, 6th Marines, was slated for a third deployment, he insisted on going along.

This time, however Gregory Edwards’ road to recovery would never end. Though the doctors operated on him more than thirty times, they couldn’t save his shattered legs. When all the surgery was done, he had one stump above the knee, a stump below the other knee, and only one functioning hand.

‘I lost my legs for the people of Iraq, so their children will be able to run around, just like mine. If time was turned back, I’d do it all over again,” said Sgt Edwards, father of two.”

In celebration of Father’s Day, Col. North will provide autographed copies of American Heroes from his website through the end of this month. You can also order the book (sans autograph) through the Amazon link on this page, or at your local bookstore.

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