{"id":48477,"date":"2018-06-21T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T15:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/21\/seal-strength-girl-power-and-more-military-times-2018-summer-reading-guide\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:07:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:07:05","slug":"seal-strength-girl-power-and-more-military-times-2018-summer-reading-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/2018\/06\/21\/seal-strength-girl-power-and-more-military-times-2018-summer-reading-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"SEAL strength, girl power and more: Military Times 2018 Summer Reading Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A wounded SEAL\u2019s shame becomes a salvation. A fired Marine officer says the numbers point to a Corps problem. And an Army veteran\u2019s first novel works well at war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a roundup of 15 reviews presented in order of reading value and satisfaction. You\u2019ll see books about the heavy cruiser Indianapolis, weapons that can\u2019t weep, the Unknown Soldier\u2019s pallbearers, what it\u2019s like to be shot by the Taliban, surviving capture in Syria, and a Marine veteran\u2019s third thriller. (Prices are from the publishers; you may find better deals online.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus: A heads-up about 26 other new titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NONFICTION<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Touching the Dragon: And Other Techniques for Surviving Life\u2019s Wars<\/b> by James Hatch and Christian D\u2019Andrea, Knopf, 336 pages, $29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just when you think you cannot bear to read another memoir by another SEAL, an irresistible one \u2014 a book<\/a>, not a SEAL\u2014 surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former senior chief and dog handler likes \u201csmashing Stigma\u201d and thinks \u201crah-rah books about the Navy\u2019s Action Man crews sometimes cheat the reader of something: The dark places, the brokenness.\u201d He dives into both in engaging ways \u2014 anecdotal and antidotal \u2014that make you smile and might inspire you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He decries \u201cthe video-game-ification of war.\u201d He and his co-author take you on the real \u201cSpeeding Train\u201d of special operations, including a team effort to find the missing soldier Bowe Bergdahl<\/a> in Afghanistan. (\u201cWe were close.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is severely injured, is embarrassed when he screams in pain, and during recovery languishes in a \u201ccoffin of condemnation\u201d that is part of his \u201cregimen of feeling sorry for myself.\u201d You\u2019ll get these points on their first mention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201cshame that stays a secret will kill you,\u201d and he confronts his truth. By using cognitive behavioral therapy, he \u201ckeeps at bay\u201d the dragon of discontent that torments him, and he discovers that trauma is universal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife is combat. For most of us.\u201d Including dogs. He\u2019s especially fond of \u201chair missile\u201d Spike, who dies after \u201cI failed to protect him,\u201d and he founds Spikes K9 Fund<\/a>. Unfortunately, several pages about the nonprofit\u2019s work interrupt the narrative flow and might work better as an epilogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His human heroes include the fellow SEAL he calls Fly Fisherman, a guy who shows \u201cdisproportionate commitment\u201d to Hatch\u2019s health, and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was shot in the leg. Gabby was shot in the head\u201d and is \u201ca machine of positivity and strength. She was the anti-me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines are Trained<\/b> by Kate Germano with Kelly Kennedy, Prometheus, 288 pages, $18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retired lieutenant colonel validates her \u201cwholehearted Marine-ness\u201d<\/a> and indicts her Corps\u2019 reluctance to make all recruits meet similar standards, mainly because her commanders (Germano names names) \u201cwanted women to serve only in support roles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her role as commander of female training at Parris Island, \u201cI was showing that [women] could\u201d meet Corps expectations in \u201cmarksmanship, physical fitness, and leadership\u201d \u2014 while the Corps \u201cput together a study to show that they could not. This is why I was fired\u201d in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\t