Customer Reviews

No One Left Behind: The Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book tells the story of missing airman Scott Speicher. The author believes that the pilot is alive in Iraqi captivity, and in her own way she takes us behind closed doors.

What happened to Speicher? Based on facts obtained in her own studies, she gives us her opinion about what happened and is still going on. She indicates that certain US officials are as much to blame as Saddam Hussein for Speicher's plight, and that is frightening.

At the same time it is interesting to learn how Speicher's family and friends reacted to his disapearance. It is touching to read fragments from Scott's last letter to his wife; the letter he had left behind in case something should happen to him. At the same time his friends' desciptions of him as a 'good man' really make you wish that he's alive and soon will be able to come home to a better life.

I find the last chapter especially shocking. It made me lie awake and think long after I should have been asleep.

If you only read one book this year, make it this one. This book speaks to a critical situation that we can still affect. LCDR Mike "Spike" Speicher, now promoted to Captain in the US Navy with his status as Missing In Action, was flying an F-18 Hornet Strike Fighter on the first night of Desert Storm. Despite system failures with his aircraft he took the battle to the enemy. He was forced to eject from his aircraft during an aerial engagement and started the longest mission of that conflict. There is little doubt he is still alive and fighting on as prisoner of war.

This is a well written, researched, and organized book. It reads easily with a deep level of technical detail, excellent military depiction, and deep human concepts. It covers the entire spectrum of his experience and the supporting events around his current situation. This is an impressive book worthy of the read.

This book will haunt you. No matter what your position on the military or the Gulf War - you will be moved by this book. If you seek to right wrongs, this book will propel you to do more once you finish it. The errors and failures of those in command and control need to be known and fixed. This book will leave you angry, sad, and hopefully resolved to find the truth and bring about the proper resolution of this faithful American warrior's plight.

This is a masterfully crafted story of the bittersweet story of a Navy pilot lost in the first Gulf War only to become a hot-button story in the second Gulf War action. Today, the American military reports Special Forces assets inside Iraq to help locate this pilot, brought back to the living largely through the work of this author and her meticulous research of his case. The book is brilliantly written narrative nonfiction.

January 16, 1991 is one of those days that will live in infamy. Unfortunately, it is one of the most tragic days because our government turned their backs on one of their own.

When you read this story, it will tear at your heart when you see the bad decisions that were made along the way - including bad mistakes by some good people. It is truly an American Tragedy.

Yarsinske does a FABULOUS job in covering all perspectives in this story. She is a hallmark writer in the fact that she takes an objective viewpoint in merely searching for the truth and not reciting the "party-lines" of any particular viewpoint.

This book speaks the truth - good, bad, cold, hard, ugly truth - and is definitely a must read.

All the conspiracy mumbo jumbo within this book was proven a hoax on August 2, 2009 when Speicher's bones were found a click from the crash site. Knowledgeability and credibility forever lost. She is not a POW MIA expert, as her only resources are unclassified innuendo and poverty stricken Iraqis.

Am I too crude? Consider the false hope fiction this story could have drummed up - in family members or friends.

Now ask yourself the question, who is the bad one for not checking sources, delving far into conjecture and speculation?

I think all military active and veterans should read this book. Its a shame that the Navy didnt do more to look for Speicher when he went down. AS a Gulf war veteran, this book means alot to me and his name should be kept out there in the public arena until we know what happened to him and what the government failed to do for him. I thought what his wife did was shameless as well. I highly recommend this book. Yarsinske does not speculate, its based on facts, nothing but facts.

The book is an investigation about the fate of a US Navy pilot name Scott Speicher. He was the very first pilot to be shot down over Iraq On January 17, 1991 (the day Operation Desert Storm began). He was the only one shot down that night. He was presumed dead. But two years later the discovery of the wreckage and lots of evidence (the ejection seat and canopy found far away from the crash site) proved that he survived the crash. Plus more shocking evidence that he may be held captive. If that is true. Then Scott Speicher may or still be the Longest held American POW in American History beating Vietnam Veteran Jim Thompson's record (he was held for 9 years in Vietnam)

As this book shows, this is truly a great tragedy that could have been easily avoided

(see "Glory Denied" another great but sad book for more info on Thompson's experience).

Amy Waters Yarsinske must first be commended for her six-part series in The Virginian-Pilot that lead to the reclassification of Michael Scott Speicher, the Persian Gulf War's first casualty, as "Missing-Captured." Those articles eventually formed the basis for the astonishing "No One Left Behind," a chronicle of a military tragedy and an unbroken chain of mistakes.

"No One Left Behind" works on many levels. The beginning of the book is a detailed look at the opening stages of the first Persian Gulf War. The middle of the book deals with the fascinating forensics that went into investigating and re-constructing what really happened to Capt. Speicher when he was shot down. The final portion of the book dives into the murky world of military intelligence.

Mrs. Yarsinske has crafted a very detailed account of every false step in the Speicher mystery, which makes for an engaging story as readers associate with the people who fought the military bureaucracy and continued investigating the Speicher mystery.

This story's achillies heel lies in its deviation from the accepted facts regarding the mystery. Mrs. Yarsinske tries so hard to establish an element of coverup and conspiracy that some of her unconventional theories end up clashing with each other. For instance, she actually tells two different versions of her "friendly fire" theory in the opening chapters, and eventually refutes one of them during the middle third.

Overall, "No One Left Behind" is a gripping and detailed story about an aviator left behind enemy lines, and still a book that reads as if its a novel. It's a commendable piece of journalism, but readers should balance the author's account with alternate press accounts of what really happened to Capt. Michael Scott Speicher on January 16, 1991.

I bought this and thought it would be a great convenience. I started listening and tried to turn up the volume so I could hear it, then I realized that not only was the narrator getting louder but the STATIC WAS GETTING LOUDER AND LOUDER! The sound quality was so bad that turning up the volume just made it worse. They must be recorded at 8 or 16 kbps, if you don't know--that's really bad.

$50 or more for this cheaply made, plastic mp3 player with the cheapest, flimsy headphones that they could get. Don't do it, don't buy these. You will regret it. Don't waste your money. Use your own mp3 discs and mp3 player. At least you'll be able to understand what's going on.

Would the United States knowingly leave one of their own behind during the First Gulf Conflict? Amy Waters Yarsinke, the author, seems to think yes, they would.

We start with the facts; Michael Scott Speicher was flying a plave that was shot down over Iraq during the early stages of the Gulf War Conflict. After that, we are presented with evidence (from Iraqis )backing up the theory that he was killed and a whole slew of evidence he survived and, indeed, was still alive in the late 1990's.

Perhaps now that Saddam Hussein's regime has fallen and Abu Graib prison in in the hands of the Allies, Warsinke's claims may not be so readily believable however there is strong circumstancial evidence that Speicher survived the crash and fell into the hands of the Iraqis.

An interesting book firmly pushing the 'He's alive' theory. Maybe he is.