March 15, 2021
A widow seeks answers regarding the death of her Green Beret husband in Niger in 2017. When Black met her husband, Bryan, in 2002, she had no idea that the man who looked "like a tough guy with a bad attitude" would become the "love of my life." Though both were in relationships already, their friendship quickly turned romantic. They married in 2005, and by 2008, they had two young sons. To support his family, Bryan enlisted in the military and trained for the Green Berets, a grueling process that "takes more than desire; it requires full mental and physical commitment." He then earned Ranger credentials and deployed to Niger in 2016 and again in 2017. In early October that year, the author learned the devastating news that her husband had been killed in an ambush. Though she believed the military would conduct "an extensive investigation" and share details of their findings with the families of the victims, her attitude changed dramatically after Bryan's funeral. In the difficult months that followed, stories emerged in the media from "anonymous officials" that Bryan's team captain, Mike Perozeni, had "mischaracterized the mission to avoid getting proper approvals." Black believed otherwise, not only because she had spoken to Perozeni, but because of the frustratingly incomplete information she received from the military investigation. After interviewing the survivors of the mission, the author discovered that commanding officers above Perozeni had not only ignored his assessments of the mission, but had forced Bryan's team "into a dangerous situation with woefully inadequate support." Although the narrative pace suffers at times from too much detail and some meandering, Black's story is important for what it reveals about corruption at the highest levels of the military and how that corruption can result in the needless sacrifice of soldiers' lives. Not without flaws but a courageous and heartfelt military memoir from the perspective of a soldier's family.
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May 1, 2021
With this debut, Black details the death of her husband and coming to terms with the fact that her life would never be the same afterward. She begins by recounting the shattering moment when chaplains notified her that her Green Beret husband, Bryan Black, had died fighting the Islamic State in Niger. Questions of the mission's operational legitimacy were under a gag order; when the gag order was lifted, Michelle began interviewing survivors and piecing together the last moments of her husband's life. Black's narrative hauntingly encapsulates her grief, which did not end after Bryan's funeral or after the condolences stopped; she writes that her paralyzing grief was refocused into purpose. Her book's detailed research, based on new reporting and military memos, is one of the most complete accounts of the events of that fateful day. This research adds context, though a bibliography would have also been helpful. Black stirringly argues, "When we use the word sacrifice, we often imagine one act. Really, sacrifice is a way of life." VERDICT A Gold Star family's faltering path towards normalcy in the wake of loss is documented alongside a failed military operation. Though the book loses a little momentum towards the end, Black's recollections on grief are especially poignant.--Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH
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Starred review from April 15, 2021
In late 2017, Donald Trump made a condolence call to the wife of an American soldier who had been killed in an ambush in Niger. Reportedly, Trump told the grieving widow that her husband ""knew what he had signed up for."" The resulting media storm took weeks to subside, and drew attention away from the more compelling story: What actually happened that day? This honest and heartfelt account of the search for truth from Black, widow of another soldier who died in the ambush, shares shattering experiences of being notified about her husband's death, getting herself and her two young sons through his funeral, and, after meeting other men from her husband's unit, being told conflicting stories. An ISIS propaganda video of the ambush, aired on CBS News, sparked renewed media interest, cover-ups, and assignations of blame, leading Black to conduct her own investigation by interviewing the surviving members of the ambush. What ensues is a heartbreaking minute-by minute-composite of miscommunication, deception, bravery, and heroism, an account that deviates sharply from official versions. By the end of the book, Black admits that she is no longer capable of outrage, and just feels sadness. A compelling, heartrending story of ultimate sacrifice.
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