Customer Reviews

Patriot Dreams : The Murder of Colonel Rich Higgins

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a story about a courageous woman torn mercilessly between her love for her hostage husband and her love and duty to her country. Above all, this is a love story and tragedy of epic proportions...involving not one American hero, but two. In her unrelenting efforts to free her husband from the bonds of terrorists, Robin Higgins went through the Halls of Power, confronting presidents and kings, winding through mazes of red tape, promises, and stone walls. At the same time, as a Marine Corps officer, loyal to her leaders and her country, she had to conduct herself with dignity and grace. Never once did she waver--even in the maddening days following the brutal murder of Colonel "Rich" Higgins. This book is her story...and his...and in gripping detail, Robin recounts this Patriot story. The reader will find it quite difficult to finish this book without anger at the feeble efforts to free the colonel, and without being in awe of the courage of Robin Higgins--a true patriot and heroine.

Robin Higgins is the living, breathing image of courage, honor and dignity. Her almost unbelievable story will enlighten, enrage and make you so mad, you will want to spit, scream and shriek at the United Nations and our U.S. government. Don't deprive yourself. Read it

Pulled in different directions by her love for her husband, her religion, her duty as a Marine, and her loyalty to her country, Robin Higgins could have been torn apart; but she's too strong for that. Instead, she became a hero, in the truest sense of the word.

I've known many Marines whose chests were festooned with medals for bravery under fire. The Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart are medals awarded to Marines who served "above and beyond the call of duty." We call them heroes. All Robin Higgins got for her service was a broken heart, but she is the bravest Marine I have ever known.

Her story is a love story; of a love tested in the cruelest way. Yet, through it all her love remains strong and true; for the man of her dreams and the country she served. Shes pulls few punches in describing her in-action on the part of her country's government. She fought a futile battle to save her husband.

Robin Higgins reveals with great tenderness a love that continues to this day. Rich Higgins may have died, but the love of this brave woman for him lives on in the pages of "Patriot Dreams." It's a love meant for sharing. Share her dreams.

Colonel Fred Peck, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired

It is a book about Marines. Its setting is in a scenario of tragedy for our nation, for its corps of Marines, for two of those in the ranks of the Corps, and for a man and woman bonded to each other not only through the ties of marriage, but equally strong, through the mystical ties that bind those who are Marines to each other, and to our Corps.

I knew Col Rich Higgins, and I know LtCol Robin Higgins. I lived through some of the times recounted by Robin in this book; and I was privileged, certainly by tenure of office, but also by the bonds of the Corps, to walk behind Col Higgins as he came home to Andrews Air Force Base on 30 December 1991.

On another occasion of the same era, equally sad, as he viewed the flag-draped caskets of Marines killed in the terrorist bombing of a Marine barracks in the same country in which Rich Higgins would be taken, the Marine Commandant of that moment, General P.X. Kelley, voiced the question, "Lord, where do we get such men?" Rich and Robin Higgins were profound evidence, a decade later, that from wherever that might be, the lines still ran true.

Even in the sadness and frustrations in the loss of Rich Higgins, there was given a strength to the American character, on his part, but more especially, on the part of a devoted wife and friend, and also a fellow Marine, Robin. And there comes to each of us privileged to call ourselves "Marine" beside them, a great sense of pride in what they were, are, and will always be to America, and to its Corps of United States Marines.

Let me be clear: by guts and loyalty, I mean Robin Higgins. I do *not* mean the leaders who, incredibly, abandoned her husband in his captivity.

_Patriot Dreams_ is LTC Robin Higgins' story of the way she kept two oaths that she never imagined would be brought into conflict: her duty to her husband and her oath as an officer. What stands out about the book is the composure with which she writes about the topic, which gives voice to her determined but very mature and dignified efforts to obtain her husband's (an unarmed UN peacekeeper) release from brutal captivity. It's very likely to push the reader's buttons, not by design but by the nature of the topic, but you'll very likely come away with great respect for Robin Higgins. I did.

Worth reading for anyone wishing to pay respect to two fine Colonels of Marines, for starters. It would also appeal to those who enjoy reading about true commitment in marriage. One other group, in my view, should give it a read: those who still maintain that women should be barred from combat military roles. I'm not taking a position on that topic here, but I do encourage this: if you feel that way, then read Robin Higgins' book, and then ask yourself if you'd want to be the one to tell her--and others of her calibre--she wasn't up to combat leadership, or for that matter if we can afford to exclude her brand of guts and loyalty from leadership in battle.

I remember reading about the murder of Col. Higgens and thinking at the time how awful and what risks the military took when they served in foreign countries. And, not to mention, how unappreciated they are. And, those who served or serve, can't depend on the support of those who sent them if something goes wrong. Patriot Dreams is a must read book. In fact, if the active military of all the services had any sense, they would jump all over Patriot Dreams for the families and make it standard reading; unfortunately, those in charge rarely see the obvious. Military families sacrifice in enormous ways and I often wonder why they choose to do it. And, Colonel Higgens is an example of what happens when a military man leaves for work in the morning and does not return. Soldiers, wives and families understand this but few in the civilian populace do. This is a wonderful book. Colonel Higgens himself is quite the inspiration. Then Lieutenant Higgins served in Vietnam in 1968 with C Company, 1st Battalion, 3d Marines as a rifle platoon platoon leader. This was a hard time in Vietnam and fighting was fierce as this was the year of the infamous TET offensive. Colonel Higgens was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat 'V' for heroism. It probably should have been much higher. I give him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Captain Higgins returned to Vietnam in 1972 as an Infantry Battalion Advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Corps and then as a rifle company commander with B Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. By anyone's standards, Rich Higgens is a hero. Equally as important is the incredible devotion that his wife Robin had to him, both in life and in death. She did as a minimum double duty as a wife and fellow Marine. Wow! Semper Fi! This is a book that tells about it, the bureaucracy, the stupidity of government bureaurcrats, and the feelings of abandonment of good men. Every Vietnam vet can empathize with her. Many who gave their all to the country, to include their families, have experienced the feelings created by the government of having been used up and then tossed aside. Don't miss this reading and if you know someone in the military, get Patriot Dreams to them.

This very powerful book is a tribute to the memory of Rich Higgins. I was one of the "bubba group" identified in the book and was proud to be so. During the time Rich was held hostage, I wore many hats -- as a spokeswoman for the Rich's family, as a fellow military officer and as Robin's friend. I came to know him through the eyes of his fellow Marines as well as the eyes of the author.

Rich Higgins was a man of courage and honor. He led by example and his troops learned by his example what a genuine warrior is. They loved him. And they still grieve his loss.

The tragedy of the book is that it had to be written at all. Robin's account of the support from many at the highest levels of government is heartwarming. Her criticism of bureaucrats who repeatedly turned their backs on efforts to bring Rich home alive is true, well deserved and chills the soul.

The book is also a love story. Robin loved Rich more than life itself and never wavered in her fight to bring him home. Rich and Robin were fellow Marines, friends and mates. The words included in the book that she wrote to Rich in her journal reach deep inside the soul of one who feared the worst for her husband, yet still dared to hope he was alive.

When Rich's remains were finally dumped on a lonely street in Beirut, she sent a fax to me where I was stationed in Korea, saying only "I can only see one set of footprints in the sand now." That's when I knew Robin's hope had died.

I know Rich is proud of her...for she sought the truth about what happened to him. And she continued the fight to bring him home to the country he for which he lived and died.

In a world where good role models are few and far between, Robin Higgins sets an extraordinary example. Because of her dual roles as wife and fellow Marine, Robin Higgins' story provides a unique insight into the psyche of both a desperate hostage family and a soldier trained to save one of her own. I was constantly amazed at the delicate mental and emotional balancing act she successfully kept up for the entire time her husband was held captive.

Robin's powerful and insightful recounting of her husband's story is extremely timely, as Col. Rich Higgins' fate in Lebanon holds lessons for the peacekeepers now in Iraq. Like the U.N. weapons inspection team in Iraq today, Rich's team sought to enforce peace in a land where war is a way of life. And like lead inspector and fellow Marine, Scott Ritter, who was recently accused by Iraq of spying, Rich was distrusted because he was an effective leader.

It was an honor and a pleasure to serve as editor of this book.

"Patriot Dreams" is the most gripping true story I have ever read, and I am a voracious reader. From the opening page, you will vicariously enter the inner world of Robin Higgins, and experience the tragic death of a true American hero.

Rich Higgins was a Marine lieutenant-colonel who saw himself as a peacekeeper and a protector of the nation he loved. His duties in Lebanon required him to be unarmed, and he accepted those conditions as part of the job.

Unfortunately, the Hezbollah did not respect his show of good faith. What happened to Rich and his ever-faithful wife, Robin, will give you the deepest understanding of the contemporary Middle East and the ineffectiveness of our government in protecting its citizens in that area.

"Patriot Dreams" is written with an understated passion that sweeps the reader along; I was unable to put the book down until I finished the last word.

Robin Higgins is an extraordinarly powerful writer. Her work combines the best features of a novel with a strong dose of reality therapy. You will be both wiser and better informed as a result of this read.

The author was a student at North Shore High School when I taught there, and I can, without qualification, vouch for her good character and loyalty. When she introduced me to her husband, Rich Higgins in 1982, he was a major, and she was a captain. You would, as I did, recognize that he was a product of the best of our culture--strong but humane, highly intelligent without conceit, loyal without fanaticism.

Rich Higgins will be mourned, but he must never be forgotten.

Continuously absorbing, suspenseful, dramatic -- Robin Higgins' personal account of coping with her husband's captivity as a hostage in Lebanon is history and mystery, diary and analysis. Told as a narrative, the story of her staying on the job as a pentagon press spokesman -- good soldiering as a Marine Corps officer -- of her trying to win her husband's release, of her sending telepathic messages of comfort to her beloved is compelling and educational. A gripping read, a wonderful book.