MWSA Review

In My Friends & Heroes, Allen F. Hooker has put his heart and soul into sharing many stories from veteran friends and heroes. This book is a compilation of stories written from interviews of many veterans, organized around war actions and other themes such as medics, accidents, conversations with God, and overcoming adversity. Mr. Hooker put a lot of thought and time into creating this well-written compilation of stories that might have been lost without his efforts. He has done a fine job of recording what he calls “living history” while these precious veterans are still here for us to learn their stories. He encourages each and every one of us with this suggestion: “If you see someone with a hat, showing a military patch, or in uniform, ask them about it! Start a conversation with them. A history lesson may follow that will keep you spellbound.” Thank you, Mr. Hooker, for your dedication to this project, and for sharing it with us.

Reviewed by: Joyce Gilmour (2011)

Author's Synopsis

Imagine... It's Thursday, December 4, 1941. You've just started a welding job at a secret facility inside a mountain on Oahu. As you leave the tunnel entrance on the seventh, you see Japanese torpedo planes, followed by bombers, fly by about level with you. They are diving down to attack US warships at Pearl Harbor. You are a reporter in a Blackhawk helicopter flying toward Mogadishu, Somalia. Smoke is observed from another downed helicopter, so the pilot and crew drop you off and proceed to assist the other aircraft. This same helicopter you exited is shot down--with no survivors--just a short time later. Helping others as a corpsman in Korea, you are under intense enemy fire while attending to wounded comrades. For your effort you are awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by president Dwight D. Eisenhower. My Friends & Heroes: One Veteran's Quest to Share America's Living History relates the true stories of men and women who have served our country in times of crisis. Weaving together a fabric of living history, the result of many one-on-one interviews, author Allen F. Hooker seeks to honor and record these heroes' tales, representing the millions of others to whom Americans owe a debt of gratitude.