Battle Ready

December 24, 2012
After humbly eschewing the “haunting label” of “hero,” Donald, with the help of Navy vet Mactavish (The New Dad’s Survival Guide), recounts his struggle to break free from an impoverished youth by joining the Marines and then the elite Navy SEALs, in whose service he fought and saved lives as a medic in Afghanistan. That experience left him with PTSD and an enduring desire to help veterans. Like most soldiers, he writes best about soldiering (the book is based on journals originally intended as part of his post-combat therapy), delivering a superb description of the infamously brutal weeding-out ordeal of SEAL training, the nuts-and-bolts duties of a medic, and the battle actions that won him the Navy Cross but claimed the lives of more than one close friend. Attempts to exorcise his personal demons back on the home front are less successful, but the suffering they point to is palpable. A few military memoirs—like Anthony Swofford’s Jarhead—gloriously break the bonds of their genre; Donald’s has no such ambition, but this is an admirable addition to the flourishing phenomenon of SEALs sharing their stories in print. Its audience will welcome the familiar macho elements no less than the original, often horrific medical details. 16-page color photo insert.

This candid memoir by a Navy SEAL medic is given a vigorous reading by Fred Berman. Beginning with his rough childhood and adolescence, Donald pulls no punches in describing his loving but dysfunctional home environment and how joining the Marines gave him a place to belong. Later, he transferred to the Navy to become a medic, and from there he underwent SEAL training. He recounts combat operations, for which he was highly decorated, and describes how he dealt with the PTSD that nearly destroyed him and his family. Berman has a quick, sometimes staccato delivery but is always understandable. His use of different voices for the dialogue is believable and effective. Most important, his overall performance winsomely conveys the author's humility. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine