Amy Waters Yarsinske, a former intelligence officer and Pulitzer Prize–nominated author, breaks the incredible true story of Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher, the first American pilot shot down during the Gulf War, found alive in Iraqi custody eleven years after the US government left him for dead. On January 16, 1991, Speicher participated in the initial air strike of the Persian Gulf War. Moments after an attack by an Iraqi MIG-25, Speicher’s plane vanished over the Baghdad desert. The next day, Secretary of State Dick Cheney and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell told the American public that Speicher was the first casualty of the Gulf War. He was listed as KIA/BNR. Tracking this explosive story for the past eight years, Yarsinske interviewed top government and military officials, diplomats, pilots, informers, and Iraqi defectors to write a stunning true account of the denials and cover-ups that obscured an essential fact: Speicher actually survived.
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"This book hit close to home with me since LCDR Speicher was my hubby's boss when we lived in Jacksonville,FL. I knew the family so I found this account at times disturbing and very sad. "
— Lee (4 out of 5 stars)
“If Lt. Commander Speicher, shot down during the Gulf War and first listed as killed in action, is indeed alive-as Yarsinske's painstaking, Pulitzer Prize–nominated research seems to indicate-it could cause many Americans to look at President Bush's plans for Iraq with new eyes. Her presentation of material from top government and military officials, diplomats, pilots, informers and Iraqi defectors make the book even more authentic.”
— Publishers Weekly“Terence Aselford sounds like he could be one of Speicher's military colleagues. With an even pace, he communicates the author's conviction that Speicher may still be alive and that the military should have a thorough and transparent investigation in order to live up to the military dictum that no one will be left behind.”
— AudioFile“There is enough evidence to bring this whole situation into question. [the United States should] ‘pursue every avenue’ we can to find out what happened…That’s an American tradition.”
— Sen. John McCain" This book brings up many good questions. "
— Greg, 7/14/2012" This book hit close to home with me since LCDR Speicher was my hubby's boss when we lived in Jacksonville,FL. I knew the family so I found this account at times disturbing and very sad. "
— Lee, 4/6/2011" Very informative, but often very confusing with all the military slang used. "
— Becky, 6/20/2010" read 07.20.07 <br/>Very interesting story of a pilot shot down in Iraq and never recovered. He is believed to have lived for some time. He has never been found. "
— colleen, 11/10/2007George Guidall, winner of more than eighty AudioFile Earphones Awards, has won three of the prestigious Audie Award for Excellence in Audiobook Narration. In 2014 the Audio Publishers Association presented him with the Special Achievement Award for lifetime achievement/ During his thirty-year recording career he has recorded over 1,700 audiobooks, won multiple awards, been a mentor to many narrators, and shown by example the potential of fine storytelling. His forty-year acting career includes starring roles on Broadway, an Obie Award for best performance off Broadway, and frequent television appearances.