Charlie Mike: A True Story of War and Finding the Way Home
By: Joe Klein / Narrated By: Holter Graham
Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
BeYONd Admirable! Really, Veterans are just the best…
I dunno where you’d put me; I’m fairly certain military veterans would find me loathsome and anti-America since I’m a tad left of center. Does being opposed to an invasion of another country that had NOTHING to do with 9/11 mean I’m despicable? I found it awfully disheartening when one of the heroes of Charlie Mike sees protestors and decries the Anti-America sentiment of them; no, dude! It was all about Bush wanting to top his Poppa, and Cheney wanting Halliburton to get their hands on oil fields. THAT’S what the protests were…
I’m sooooo pro-Veterans! How can I NOT be what with Vietnam Veterans at the top of my list of all that was noble and inspiring to me as a young child. So YES! I LOVE Veterans Day; and I do so love stories of the bonds made during service, the utter trust amongst comrades in arms. I am horrified by what Veterans go through when they get back to the country. I also feel pretty peeved and fed up when I check reviews prior to my own and find them blasting LEFTIST LIBERALS who veritably spit at returning servicemen and servicewomen. Good cow, y’all: They’re the ones who’d like to question WHY we send our men and women into combat, and they’re the ones who would fund programs and medical care for returning men and women.
Soapbox? You bet. Now onto the wonderful Charlie Mike (Which stands for Continue Mission) wherein leftist liberals are denigrated and only good Republican presidents get a nod. Yup, you see why I might be deemed loathsome.
ANYHOO! This true account opens where returned from Iraq veteran Jake Wood is at odds and ends, just a tad, when the Haiti earthquake hits his TV screen. He’s stunned by the devastation and feels immediately compelled to lend a hand. After reaching out to other veterans and friends, he and a few comrades head to Haiti and do not find the chaos that the media’s been broadcasting (And by the way? The book has people blasting the Lying Media) but instead find a gracious people surviving who very much appreciate all Wood and his group can do. Wood finds that he and his friends are practically perfectly matched to deal with the scenario: Fantastic logistical skills and reasoning, creativity in thinking outside the box, great discipline, and boy oh boy, can they handle the adrenaline that comes from being in Crisis Mode, or what?! And what do they choose to call themselves but Team Rubicon.
Also featured is Eric Greitens who starts up The Mission Continues which also is a gathering of comrades to deal with crises. He grows throughout the narrative, and danged if he doesn’t do just fine. The others, however, do well with each crisis but come back to the States, post-adrenaline rush and continue with their PTSD and injuries.
Charlie Mike will have you rootin’ your brains out for these guys and completely and unutterably devastated as you hear of them as they navigate life back in a civilian world, a country that does NOT understand them or their needs. The Veterans Administration is a dePLOrable entity, and yes Obama’s administration did NOT do right by those returning from the wars any better than the Bush Administration did. It’s absolutely heartrending what practically all (But esPECially one, Clay Hunt!) had to go through. Wood himself managed to only delay his PTSD until tragedy hit home, at which point he suffered his own extreme trials and tribulations.
So many disasters tagged, so many many MANY veterans who chucked schooling, jobs, relationships to the side to go off and help. And as surveys showed, practically all of the veterans sought to continue to be of service, whether it was through helping communities through disasters and rebuilding, or in training service animals; name it, and they wanted to do it.
I did think, however, as one of the girlfriends did: Disasters were a form of medication; the real problems still existed and would rear ugly heads once each vet was back home and having to be alone with him/herself. She, by the way, was Wood’s girlfriend, and one of the few loved ones who was in it for the long haul, god love her!
Holter Graham did an awesome job with the narration, p’raps a might bit over-emotional at times, but I think that worked in the story’s favor. These were some struggling individuals who had HELL to deal with, juggling PTSD and TBI and friends and family who just couldn’t be the support that was required in some cases 24/7. Even Moms who lost their sons and adopted the sons’ comrades, Moms who had firsthand knowledge of how grief and guilt coexist, couldn’t be all the support a veteran required. Things go really really BAD several times here in this story, so I felt Graham gave exactly the proper emotion necessary. If he emoted, oh gosh was it warranted. My heart broke quite a bit here, and gotta hand it to Joe Klein’s writing and Holter Graham’s narration.
This is SUCH a grand Listen for Veterans Day 2021 when our Forever Wars have ended but the men and women who fought them, who have suffered losses from them, and who reeeeally need to know what all they sacrificed means is on the forefront of the national conversation.
I dunno what I can tell them; and who knows, p’raps they’d spit in m’ own face for my political leanings. But gosh-danged it all: I still think they are the Best! Don’t just Thank Someone for their Service; offer them mighty salutes, and hug the beJESus outta their Moms. These men and women gave and continue to give; they deserve the very best…
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