One of the Few: A Marine Fighter Pilot's Reconnaissance of the Christian Worldview by Jason B. Ladd

I opened an e mail one day that stated the following:

Sharon,
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BOOK MAY BE SUITABLE FOR LICENTIOUS BOOK-PURCHASING FREELANCE MUSICIANS. 

Please let me know if you would be interested in receiving a copy and providing a review on Amazon and Goodreads.

How could I refuse a request like that?  Besides, being a Military Brat, not to mention living in Texas, a state that probably produces more Marines than all the other states combined, these sort of stories always hold a place in my heart. (My husband has just informed me that California produces the most marines, then Virginia; Texas is third but I don't believe it.)

Because I know that burgeoning authors are trying to sell their product, I went ahead and bought Jason's book for $2.99 on Kindle.

The following review is entirely my own opinion and I wish Jason professional success.

The downside of reading a Kindle is that I do not know how to turn back to specific pages to get my quotes or incidents correct; therefore this is going to be a generalized overview of the book with the intention of giving the reader as informed a review as possible.



One of the Few is a non fiction account of Ladd's  spiritual journey from growing up nonreligious, developing questions as to whether there is an afterlife and finally embracing Christianity.

Jason grew up in a Military family, met his wife in high school while stationed in Japan and became a Marine.  He eventually got accepted into flight school and became a Marine fighter pilot.

That right there is the stuff adventure stories are made of.  Anyone in the material world is thinking: "Hoo yah! Captain America in the flesh!"

Ladd was deployed to Iraq and there are plenty of good stories here that rival anything Marvel's comics come up with, the more so because it's true.  

However, Ladd wasn't satisfied with adventure and valor.  There was something else he yearned for and felt was missing in his life.  Risking life and limb brought the subject of death up more than once and Ladd began to wonder just what happened when a person died.

"'What do you think happens when we die?' Karry asked.

'I don't know.  Nothing?  Blackness?'"(From the book)

Why are any of us alive?  I remember once I called a fighter pilot a "flight jock" to his face as a joke.  His expression told me that he didn't think that term was appropriate or funny.  Probably because he was a family man (I taught his son piano) and a church goer.  I feel certain that Jason Ladd wouldn't appreciate the term either. (And I've never called anyone that again.)

Because "flight jock" has connotations that someone is "macho" and "permiscuous" and not a deep thinker.  Jason Ladd's book shows that he is none of the first two traits and all of the last trait.

Each chapter begins with a quote from a secular thinker as well as a Christian thinker.  The comparisons are challenging and interesting.  Here are a few quotations:

"I've begun worshiping the sun for a number of reasons.  First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun."  George Carlin

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see by it, but because by it I see everything else."  C.S. Lewis

"We are survival machines-robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes."  Richard Dawkins

"It is the very act of self-sacrfice that demonstrates that there is something more noble than mere survival."  Ravi Zacharias

Ladd describes the training he receives to become a Marine and eventually a fighter pilot.  He sees many parallels between his earthly experiences with spiritual truths.  He lists a number but I will only list a couple:  

After challenging his Sergeant to a pugil stick match, he makes the comparison that we cannot pound people who oppose our world view but must "display a life of love and service to everyone you wish to reach."

He goes on to describe getting bloody boots because he focused only on his toes and not on his heels.  He makes the analogy that "some worldviews focus only on the possibilities ahead and fail to address the damage they may leave behind."  And when, during training, one is walking through the woods half asleep we sometimes need to "be jolted awake in order to ask important questions."

A lot of what Jason Ladd discovers I had already arrived at so some of his conclusions were not new to me, like discovering that our present social climate does not respect the Christian world view.  This can be a challenge when you are used to being respected every time you walk into a building wearing that flight suit.  Ladd proves, however, that authentic faith overrides any concern over society's opinion.

Ladd has obviously read the Bible in depth, judging from his  references to it and one chapter is devoted to the need to read the Bible over and over again.  He compares it to flight training:  "Study tactics, fly by the book, and repeat.  Read, fly, repeat.  Read the Bible, live by the Book, and repeat.  Read, live, repeat."

"...(Man's) origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms..."  Bertrand Russell

"A human being is a collection of atoms in the same way that Shakespeare's plays are collections of words, or Beethoven's symphonies are collections of notes."  Dinesh D'Souza

If you are interested in Military culture and how one man came to faith in Christ inside of that culture;  if you like to read modern war stories and how a fighter pilot comes to reconcile his worldly mission with his spiritual one, this is an excellent book and one I highly recommend reading.

 
Jason B. Ladd is an award-winning author, US Marine, and Iraq War veteran. Ladd served on active duty with the Marines for fourteen years and has flown as an instructor pilot in both the F/A-18 and the F-16 fighter jets. He is the founder of Boone Shepherd, LLC and creator of IndieListers.com, the largest live online database of book promotions results built by authors. He and his wife, Karry, are the parents of five children.

His book One of the Few was awarded as Finalist in the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.  (From Amazon)

The following are links for further information on Jason and his books:

www.OneoftheFewBook.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016X0HL84/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26253930-one-of-the-few

Once an Arafat Man by Tass Saada with Dean Merrill

I reviewed a number of books about the American military.  Here's a story about a man from the "other side".

Tass Saada was an angry youth. A displaced Palestinian living in Qatar, he wondered when the Arab countries were going to make good on their promise. The promise that if the Palestinian families left Palestine, they would soon be able to return. After they defeated their enemies, Israel, that is. Well, the defeat never happened.

Tired of waiting Tass ran away from home to Palestine where he trained to become a member of Arafat's Fatah. By the age of seventeen he was carrying a high-powered Simonov rifle, was an elite PLO sniper and chauffeur for Arafat.

Once an Arafat Man is the incredible true story of how a young man filled with hate came to know the One who only had love for him.

After a couple of years, his father tricked him into returning to Qatar and confiscated his passport. He could only receive it back if he went abroad to get an education. Tass chose America. Even though he hated Americans because of their alliance with Israel, his defiant attitude made him go somewhere his father didn't want him to go.

He decided to marry an American girl for the sole purpose of obtaining a green card then leave her and America for good after he received his college degree.

When his American fiancee brought him to a priest for premarital counseling the priest asked point blank, “How do you know he's not just marrying you for a green card?”

The girl huffed, “I know him. He would never do that do me!”

In fact that was his plan. But things didn't go as planned. When his family found out that he married an American they disowned him. “How could you do this?” They shouted. “You are engaged to a girl here already! You have brought shame on her. You have brought shame on us!”

Even though it was not Tass' plan, it was God's plan. By staying in America he became a successful business man obsessed with success. The success did not ease the hatred or emptiness in him. Finally, a businessman whom he had become good friends with shared how he had become a Christian. What happened to Tass is what is reportedly happening to many Muslims world wide. He started having dreams about Jesus Christ.
 When he finally prayed to receive Jesus in to his life he came off of his knees a new man.

He began reading the Bible and was surprised to discover that it had more to say about the Arab people than the Koran.

I had run into some fascinating information about my people, the Palestinians. Our ancestor, I knew, was Ishmael-the firstborn son of Abram. Ishmael's mother was Hagar...

I had heard of at least some Christians who called Ishmael everything from a bastard to a brat, and had even nastier things to say about his mother. But that is not what I read in the actual Bible.

When tensions arose during Hagar's pregnancy, so much so that that she fled into the desert, she was not left to fend for herself. No less than “the angel of the Lord” came to her aid.

The angel instructed her to go back home and then promised:

“I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

I leaned back in my chair and thought of all the people who trace back to this woman-not just us Palestinians, but all the Arabs. What a massive population we had become, just as the divine messenger had predicted.!”

“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.

When I read those words, I (realized) we Arabs were not cursed by God after all! The one God, the only true and living God, is the God of the Ishamelites, too.

I was feeling prouder of my heritage all the time, thanks to what I saw here in the Old Testament. The Christian book (actually the Jewish-Christian book ) was building up my self-esteem as an Arab! (Chapter 11 pg 115-117)

Now instead of being obsessed with success and material wealth. Tass' heart broke for his people who were so filled with hate, living in a darkness they could not free themselves of. He and his wife eventually settled in the Gaza strip where they started up schools and house churches for the poverty and war stricken Muslim families that live there.

I think I had always been brought up, as a Christian, to see Ishmael's birth as an act of disobedience to God. Perhaps it was, but I also remember God telling Abraham that Ishmael and his descendants would be blessed, (Genesis 17:20). It's time to remember that long before there was a Muhammed, there was a people blessed by God. A people that Islam has taken hostage. Let's pray for these people to understand who their true Creator is and His plan for their salvation.

I bought this book

Kindle store: $9.99

Other links:

Hope for Ishmael web site

Watch Tass Saada on youtube

Once an Arafat Man facebook club

Other book reviews on war:

Seal of God

Father of Money: Buying Peace in Baghdad

Two books on Navy Seals

Hope in Hungman: a Story of the Korean War