The Wide Range of the Memoir 3

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. This sad story of Luttrell beings when he becomes a Navy Seal and becomes part of Seal Team 5 and has to go on mission red wing. The original mission was to take down a man in Afghanistan that was part of the Taliban. They where told that they would only have to fight about 10 men between the four of them to take him down. There ended being 200 against 4 and some 20 others who flew choppers for backup. They all died expect for Luttrell. Luttrell really learns to deal with his grief throughout this book and the conflict and pressure that the media put on him and his dead comrades after the battle. It truly is a story of how to be brave in times of dark and how to stay true to yourself and beliefs even when the world has seem to have gone mad.

“Eternal Father, faithful friend, Be quick to answer those we send In brotherhood and urgent trust, On hidden missions dangerous, O hear us when we cry to Thee, For SEALs in air, on land, and sea.” 
― Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (goodreads.com)

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugrad. This book is truly frighting and quite hard to read by the sounds of those who have. At the age of 11, Jaycee was kidnapped by a sex offender one day while she was walking to her bus stop. This man and  his wife, held Jaycee captive for 18 years, telling her that she could tell her own true name and that even when they went out in public she had to hide her identity. Jaycee lived in horrible conditions and gave birth to two girls in her 18 years kidnapped. When the man that kidnapped her was arrested for drugs, she was finally found and had the chance to tell her true name for the first time in 18 years and be free. A true story of how to just deal with the idea of never being free again, how remain oneself when one is forced to change, and how to keep faith that better times will come and that we will all be found wherever we are. Dugrad wrote the book as a rebellion against the man that kept her.

“We live in a world where we rarely speak out and when someone does, often nobody is there to listen.” 
― Jaycee Dugard, A Stolen Life (goodreads.com)

The Other Side of Heaven by John H. Groberg. The story of a young Mormon missionary who is sent to teach his religion in Tonga on the tiny island of Niuatoputapu, Groberg learns much of the difference in life in such a small place that has seems to have nothing. Groberg struggles to go into a new culture. He has much trouble learning the language, learning how to live without first world comforts (even though he grew up in depression) and just how different the ways of thinking are on the small island. Even so Groberg learns much and this novel just rings true how we need to look through the eyes of other sometimes, even those we find below us, and how if we do we will see a new light. It is now a popular film.

“There is a connection between heaven and earth. Finding that connection gives meaning to everything, including death. Missing it makes everything meaningless, including life. 
” 
― John H. Groberg, The Other Side of Heaven (goodreads.com)