'Final Salute' a must read

Remembering the brave and the stories of men who choose to be soldiers for our country is sensitively told in this must-read book, "The Final Salute."

A Pulitzer Prize book for any season it is written by Jim Sheeler, a young Colorado journalist for The Rocky Mountain News. It is a moving tribute to our servicemen. A story needing to be told that beyond the statistics of their death on the six o'clock news and the local newspaper.

From the Marines knocking on their families door bringing the news of the serviceman's death, the unfolding personal stories of the aftermath keeps you engrossed throughout the book. The reality of their death and the effects on their surviving families tearfully is questioned, wondering if their death in the lraq War was worth it.

Each family tells of every day that goes by they hope for not a Marine Knock on their door. The challenge of young families keeping the light burning in their homes for their children who try to understand what the meaning is of war.

One learns through this dramatic account seen through the words of Major Beck and the passionate writing by Sheeter, the touching emotion that makes one realize and inspires us more as to what it takes on the emotions of those servicemen and their families that live in the act of service day by day, year after year for freedom of our country. It is a must read.

Susan Duffy

Batavia