Terror to Triumph, by Chris Whittemore
Review By Moon Mullins
Summary: A great new book from Page Publishing by Chris Whittemore that covers the behind the scenes training, passage of rites for Marine Scout Snipers before, during, and after deployments. Chris provides a great ride-along for those of us that did not deploy to Iraq. Thanks Chris for your dedication to mission and focus on our national military objectives.
This book can be broken down into multiple pieces. Chris’ deployments to Ramadi in 2005 and later again to Fallujah in 2007, his multiple missions as the main door gunner riding in a chopper, and the most important piece, returning home to put together your life after living thru the hell that was Iraq. For those not familiar with Ramadi and Fallujah in Iraq, it’s a living nightmare. Each unit is setup in their own compound providing internal support to ensure they pull 24/7 security on their own compound but also providing their services to the war effort. Whether it is silently moving through the streets of Ramadi or Fallujah or dodging improvised explosive devices (IEDs), countering enemy snipers, the chaos of everyday life, you count your blessings and look forward to exfil and the day you get on that freedom bird back home.
As Chris describes the scenes in Ramadi and Fallujah you can almost feel it and smell it yourself. The heat, the stench from something always burning or open sewers. A Marine’s life deployed is not something for the weak. It is for survivors and that’s the attitude you hear from Chris as well. He sees death and destruction every day. His fellow Marines dying around him. The medevacs, the firefights, the patrols, the unknown that is behind every door or building you take down. You cant take your foot off the gas or it will get blown off by an IED! You must stay alert, even when you have down time. When you are deployed you better believe there is always someone gunning for you. Always somebody on that roof, behind that door, in that ditch, and carrying a gun. The best thing you can do is beat them to the punch and be the best gunner you can. Chris was an elite sniper and gunner. That’s why they chose him to be a door gunner, right! Sniper to door gunner? Yes that’s a no brainer decision.
Chris redeployment back home was not easy. Its never easy for someone like Chris who has seen his fellow Marines fall right beside him, drank from the same cup as his fellow warriors, medevac’d the injured and dying, providing cover for them. Signing on the dotted line your end game goal is to come back home alive, somehow, some way. The way a warrior thinks, “if I can make it through this hell and get home Im pretty sure I can rebuild my brain for peacetime. Im pretty damn sure I can suppress these dark images and nightmares. I have to!” SFMF. SF my brother!
A truly heart wrenching personal and professional story from a highly trained Marine scout sniper and door gunner deployed downrange to take care on the mission and bring the fight to the enemy. Chris is the epitome of what we all want our modern-day Marines to be like: Tough, No Nonsense, and Focused. An excellent read. Here is a link to the book online at the publisher‘s site and Amazon, http://www.pagepublishing.com/books/?book=terror-to-triumph and
https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Triumph-Chris-Whittemore/dp/1662413580/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KHP2ZNCIPKOB&keywords=terror+to+triumph&qid=1646668897&s=books&sprefix=terror+to+triumph%2Cstripbooks%2C91&sr=1-1
Ratings:
Overall: 5 stars
Readability: 5 stars
Believability: 5 stars
Accuracy: 5 stars
Relevance and Hardcore: 5 stars
