My Son Is a Marine [Paperback]

Jo Anne Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2005

After enduring grueling weeks of boot camp, 18-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Aaron J. Allen threw his Class A cap into the air at graduation. He was ready to be deployed to the fiercest battle zone in Iraq, where terrorism has replaced conventional warfare and there is no clearly defined enemy.

Confronted by these conditions and the horrifying nightly news reports of fatalities, what can a mother do to protect her son from thousands of miles away? Jo Anne Allen chose to sustain herself and keep A.J. strong and safe using communication. In this timely book, she reminisces about A.J.'s childhood and the precious memories that are forever embedded in her heart. She uses her words to recreate the wonder of those times and replace the hugs and kisses of the past with stories full of love and faith.

Young Marines fighting for their lives alongside her son also find solace in Jo Anne's spiritual beliefs, nurturing hearts, and incredible peanut butter cookies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An inspirational saga that leaves you wanting more–more story and more of those homemade cookies." -- RT BOOKClub Magazine

"Jo Anne Allen takes the reader on an extraordinary journey of love, compassion, trust and faith." -- Lillian Cauldwell, host of the Lillian Cauldwell Show

"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition–send copies of Jo Anne Allen's book to the troops." -- Joe Franklin of Memory Lane (Bloomberg Radio)

From the Publisher

Echelon Press is pleased to announce that author JoAnne Allen has been awarded the "2006 Readers Choice Award" by the Military Writers Society of America!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Echelon Press (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590804473
• ISBN-13: 978-1590804476
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MWSA's Reader's Choice Award for 2006!, September 14, 2006

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Son Is a Marine (Paperback)

Moving, inspiring, compelling, mystical, spiritual and entertaining! Personally, it was one of the best reading experiences of the year for me. Author, and mother of an Iraq veteran, Jo Anne Allen writes from her heart and it shows in her memoir "My Son Is A Marine". It is a joy and a real pleasure to read something uplifting dealing with the Iraq War experience. Even though her book is filled with enough "Kleenex Moments" to make a great soap opera, she never loses her faith in life.

Her moving words about her son and his friends are touching and healing. This book would be good spiritual medicine for those with children in a war zone; or whose own lives have been challenged by having to carry some of life's burdens. Jo Ann is not some simple minded "Pollyanna" but a faithful and very much human being, who is trying to cope and deal with her life under some extraordinary circumstances.

I found myself rooting for her and her family throughout the pages of this book. It is one of those stories that you are glued to as soon as you begin and must continue reading through to the end. I read it the first morning I got the book--I could not put it down until I was done with it.

This is not your normal "I got a son in the war story" by any measurement. It is something very special. I believe it will help bring people back to their own spiritual roots. It will change lives and make people different in a very positive way.

This is the MWSA's winner of "The Reader's Choice Award" for 2006! I give this book our top rating of FIVE STARS! A must read book!!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down, impossible to forget!, December 6, 2006

By 

R. Ballister "author and naval officer" (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: My Son Is a Marine (Paperback)

Jo Anne Allen's MY SON IS A MARINE captures in riveting detail the author's personal struggle through every mother's nightmare; a child deployed to combat. Despite the sheer gravity of the situation, Jo Anne manages to fill her story with humor and an unshakeable faith while describing how she kept both her spirits and that of her deployed Marine high throughout his combat tour in Iraq. Through Allen's extraordinary writing talent, her children come alive to the reader, as well as her "other children" (AJ's friends, whom she practically adopts), and even the family dog is described in such simple yet warm detail that you expect her to come bounding into your room at any moment!

Allen draws her audience in early with a graphic account of a childhood near-death experience for her son AJ, and then another from his teenage years. Both of these events convince the reader that AJ must survive, because he has some higher purpose from God. Eventually it becomes clear that the purpose is going to Iraq, where AJ not only does his duty, but impacts the lives of so many of his fellow Marines as well.

My favorite part was all the little anecdotes relayed through the story, usually concerning AJ's childhood. They add such depth to the narrative flow of the book. And the stories of the Three Trees and the Cup Full of Sins are ones that I will carry around with me for a long time. This book is easy to read, easy to develop, hard to put down, and impossible to forget. It is a must read for parents of young deployed servicemembers, and also for anyone who has ever asked the Almighty "Why?"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book, February 23, 2007

By 

L. Korenek "A Marine Mom" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Son Is a Marine (Paperback)

From a Marine Mom's point of view....a wonderful book. I cried and laughed at times through the whole book. There wasn't a page that I didn't like. I thank Jo Anne Allen for writting her story to share with us. She is a brilliant writer and a wonderful Mom. God Bless you Jo Anne and AJ. -Lori

Ooorah!