Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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Filed in the following archives
“The curtains pull away. They come to the door.
And they know. They always know.” — Major Steve Beck.
Since the start of the war in Iraq, service members from all branches of the military have found themselves thrown into a mission they never trained for, a mission without weapons.
Casualty notification.
In Final Salute, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jim Sheeler takes us into the mind of a casualty notification officer who embarks on the most important mission of his life, and the page-turning journey of the families he and his comrades touch along the way.
In Final Salute, Jim Sheeler chronicles the painful process through which the United States Marine Corps assists families who have lost members on foreign battlefields. The book’s sincerity and simplicity are integral to its strength. Through the story of each individual life lost and a final and tragic homecoming, readers are given a glimpse into the meaning of sacrifice and a rare opportunity to mourn the loss of fellow Americans sent in harm’s way.
