A true perspective, very well done..
347471
Recollections of a Boy Marine opens a window of insight to the enormous sacrifice our servicemen make to ensure our freedom.

This is a fluid read, concurrently evoking in the reader emotions of being happy and proud for those who finally make it safely home, sadness and grief for those who don't, anxiety from the stressful situations our soldiers endured, and anger concerning the politics in Washington that result in the real endangerment of our military personnel out there doing the dirty work.  This book takes you right there- I felt as though I was on the battleground myself, alongside this Marine. Authentic photos emphasize this true reality.

As a refreshing touch and final conclusion, Dr. Ciliberti offers a creative, workable proposal for world peace. This is an excellent book and a very worthwhile read!
1897983
Very well done!  Shows what one person can do in the face of major opposition.
2681921
We liked the movie, the main character was believable, a bit "dark", many people can definitely relate to everything hitting him at once, very serious issues. The faith in Jesus question  was real and relatable, remembering too, this is based on a true story. It was handled with facts, without the preachy tone I don't mind but others do. Amazing turn around that although may have been seen in other movies, this one is real life, true events. If you do not read any additional information on the movie, (my husband & I didn't) a nice, "Wow, you are kidding me!)moment happens at the end when showing pictures of the real people their update next to the actor that portrayed them.
527329
I can not say I loved it because it was a true story of what these people actually went through.  It did show me though that we can survive if we really want to.  This family had faith, courage and discipline to do what they did.  There is much to be learned from this movie...It showed me how cruel the 'powers that be' can be to any particular group they choose.  Who knows who will be next but there will be a next ...never doubt it...just look around & see what is happening in our world.
4724077
Awesome book, to the point and very insightful.
3637569
Superb.  I do understand the other viewers noting stereotypes about senior military officers characters, etc.  However, I consider the time and point of view switching needed to see all sides and get nuanced character development of most of those minor characters a waste.  This is about the Sam Bitka, the protagonist.  The real development is how he evolves over the space of a few weeks of real time from uncertainty and self doubt about ability to command that is evident to his crew to, well uncertainty and self doubt that is not evident to his crew.  True courage is not grace under pressure, true courage comes through the self discovery that is messy, sometimes ugly, but results in doing what needs to get done.
  This book superbly captures how it feels to be in a critical and dangerous situation in a military unit - on a military ship in the midst of conflict - and how people develop and show the inner truth of who they are as military officers in a short period of adversity.  As a former Navy pilot who has been there (no spoilers about what I discovered about myself, this is about Frank's character) - Frank got it here.  Thank you and more please.
3203741
For those of us who watched the horror from afar, it's important to have this real perspective. The authors did a very good job of respectfully giving the accounts in a way that really have us "being there". The other book I've read that does this is the one about Rockaway Beach - a community perspective about 9-11 and the crash of American Airlines Flight #587. It's called Braving the Waves.  These books give me the feeling that if I could do anything after 9-11, it is to become more involved in my community both at home and at work.
4458356
Perspective. If this book does anything at all, it is that: offer yourself perspective. Tim shows in, "It's Impossible..." that taking a step back and looking at the different challenges and opportunities in front of us, we should take advantage of whatever is available to us, and always move forward. This book does a wonderful job extrapolating from Tim's own life experiences, and drawing from them, bigger life lessons. Tim offers a summation of these takeaways with each step along his journey, allowing myself and other readers to take with ourselves his lessons, lest we not forget in our own daily lives. I hope to take these lessons with myself; I hope to take advantage of so much of what was offered to me, to forgive more, to work harder, and to grab any and all opportunities that I can. Thank you for your message, Tim.
4663311
Very well done, I recommend it to those interested in the subject
500407
Having grown up within a dysfunctional family, I completely relate to the situations that Mr. Vance has experienced.
 I've managed to make it out alive. I am one lucky bastard.
You do not need to have experienced what I have, to appreciate this book. It may, however, change your opinion and perceptions of poor people. It gives a clear perspective of sometimes difficult, and often toxic, relationships within some families.

Thank you Mr. Vance for your efforts and thoughtful insight!
2953035
Not everyone will have the developed capacity to fully appreciate what is being shared in this series. It can be too powerful for those not ready for it. Season one displays the awkwardness of Amy's attempts to integrate and express her newly discovered insights about life, it's deeper
meanings/ it's higher operating principals of honesty and integrity and an individuals responsibility to apply these qualities in a world that often scoffs and  laughs at them because they have fallen so far that they have unwittingly become ''the walking dead'', so much so, that they are unable to admit it to themselves and others because the truth often hurts before it heals and liberates. This production is an excellent mirror of the old world paradigm colliding with the new one and the difficulties involved when the two meet head on.

Thanks to Mr. White and Ms. Dern in particular for having the courage to put this series and the message it contains forward for all to view and perhaps themselves become 'enlightened' as a result. Thanks to all others responsible for assisting in it's production and getting it onto the screen. Excellent job on an excellent show!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
3259758
Everyone tends to see things from their own point of view. We base are decisions on our own experiences and choices.

What if government representatives were chosen one each from all walks of life?  How would they react to each other?  What would they think of those chosen with them?

Jame K. Burk does a very good job in exploring this issue in a medieval setting.  The prejudices, assumptions, and concerns unfold as a group of twelve people are forced to cooperate for the betterment of their country. They all know it is a privilege. They all feel the pressure.  They all have their own points of view. It is the blending together of all these aspects that shows what the human spirit can achieve if it truly wants to. An excellent book.
1869752
Very well done and the acting supberb..Love the mix of reality and annimation.. Everyone should see this, young and old alike.
1302135
This movie was awesome.  I found no flaw, and I couldn't stop watching.  You become fully invested in this story.  And it opened my eyes to something new.  I did 2 years, drafted in the Marine Corps in the '60's, and still this movie taught me something.  Something more than the stress syndrome working on these 3.  No, I as a kid 19 years old, just an empty head, but I saw at the end of this movie when these 3 are back in uniform and assembling to fly back over to a war zone, and we see them too in that large group of others at the departure point, all of them going back.  And that long, long line of them crossing the tarmac headed to board the plane, and you realize that these people, every one of them.... ALL of them have stories similar in effect and complexity, of hopes and even desperations, as what we just saw in this story.  And here they all are, trudging back out to a military plane, and back over the sea.

We tend to think of the people opting to go off to the army and other branches of service, as if they were going off to serve overseas as starry-eyed kids, out on their own and eager to experience life and all that it might bring.  But that's superficial; that barely grazes the surface of those people.  When viewed in light of the 3 soldiers whom we just followed in this story, a simple story of 30 days leave but so full in meaning, that we sense there are unknown stories of great depth in all of that group of returning men and women0; there is a very real underlying mishmash of complex things going on inside each of them, which has brought them to this point...  variations of the same hopes and dreams and plans made and plans dissolved that we just witnessed. We see them all now gathering, waiting in line to board a military transport.  That really hit home with some impact.  They go for reasons none of us can know, and those reasons may include a sense of feeling trapped into it, difficulties with family situations and relationships in trouble, and so here then is at least ONE option, an almost a desperate one, that many or maybe all of them are making.  Each of these men and women hold a story of their own, that has led them now to make that walk across the tarmac to a waiting plane, the result of how many desperate choices?
4016218
Good, fine read about relationship issues we all face as human beings. Family issues being the toughest of them all...

Told from the perspective of the young makes the story meaningful, sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting, always poignant...

It is easier to recognize and come to grips with our issues and opportunities in the young than within ourselves.

Age and experience have given us too much baggage.  It has clouded our vision and our perspective.  We can learn from youth.
3234481
Colonel Mansoor's excellent work fills a vital need in the continuing perspective of US interests in the Middle East and southwest Asia. In fact, as times shrink, this foreign policy reality is rapidly spreading to all overseas operations.

While the military has learned this, the stripped suit and NSC and White House still have not done so.

American political leadership appears frozen in time, while the world goes on at ever increasing velocity, dealing with things as they are rather than how we would prefer to find them. Colonel Mansoor and other senior field commanders must deal with the real world and Baghdad at Sunrise is an excellent account of going about doing so.

From my experience there are three books which, together, complete the perspective on what has gone right, what has gone wrong--and why--and where we are headed in the unsymmetrical warfare linked statecraft arena: "Cobra II" (Gordon and Trainor) bluntly reveals the failures of the Department of Defense (Rumsfeld), creating, by default, much of the reason we are still engaged in combat in IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, and PAKISTAN; "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" (Chandrasekaran) provides inside views of the civilian failures following after "Cobra II," and now "Baghdad at Sunrise" provides military perspective of the "Imperial Life. . ." time frame.

What is apparent as one considers these three works is the utter failure in application and practice of the so-called Country Team concept of US Strategy. I suggest that this is the result of too many civilian novices who are long on opinions and short on experience, and who usually spend little time on the ground.

It appears that the field military commanders in IRAQ (hopefully not in AFGHANISTAN, but I doubt it) are continually frustrated trying to determine which US Country Team is in command:  State, President, DOD (not the same thing as military), USAID (and mutations), or CIA (and mutations). The highly motivated and dedicated enemies confronting us in the field do not have to contend with such nonsense.

Well done, Dr. Mansoor, and appreciation to the Kagans for this needful perspective. Please keep it up.

Louis T Dechert, US Army Special Forces, Retired
4028276
I Found the reading Extremely Insightful, Full of Looking at the Art world in the Facts of the Master's! Listening to Paul, Going almost around the entire world, to see Feel in-person the Different works of Art. How can anyone in this life, if you are serious have insight to your own Abilities with out Seeing, Feeling what was met for you if not by seeing those before us?  Last, I found the Struggles of Real Life that he Suffered Even to the point of the honesty was very welcome. seeing feeling all the trials more over his learning process, was in fact showed in me, that sometimes something else is at hand. Plus what is in our Sole's The love, from all sides! Opened my eye's into what has to be, even for the Masters! Very hard yet in the long run, So Filling! All I am able to say is Thank you!