A Soldier's Promise: The Heroic True Story of an American Soldier and an Iraqi Boy
Written by First Sgt. Daniel Hendrex and Wes Smith
Narrated by Lee Sellars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, First Sergeant Daniel Hendrex was dispatched along with his unit, Dragon Company, to Husaybah, a small town bordering Syria in the Sunni-dominated Al Anbar Province in Iraq. Their mission was to plug the bottleneck at the border checkpoint, where foreign fighters and weapons smugglers were filtering through daily to join the increasingly menacing insurgency growing rapidly in the region. It was at this checkpoint, amid relentless attacks, that Daniel and his men found the most effective ally of the war effort in the most unlikely of sources.
In December 2003 a skinny Iraqi kid about fourteen years old approached one of the soldiers at the border and said simply, “Arrest me.” Jamil, as he was called, claimed to have valuable information about the insurgency, but First Sergeant Hendrex was skeptical—especially when the boy announced that the man he wanted to turn in was his own father. The story that unfolds is one of heartbreaking tragedy, remarkable courage, and unprecedented resiliency, as this child of the insurgency takes it upon himself to fight back with the help of the US Army...and loses everything in the process—his country, his home, and his family.
But through the power of his own conviction and his finely honed survival skills, Jamil (who was quickly nicknamed Steve-O by the soldiers of Dragon Company) sought refuge with the US military in exchange for information. He risked everything he knew for a chance at freedom—a choice few men, let alone children, have to make in their lifetimes. And after Steve-O helped save countless lives, First Sergeant Hendrex made it his personal mission to repay his debt and get the boy to safety.
A Soldier’s Promise is an incredible story of sacrifice and courage by an Iraqi boy and the US soldiers who protected him from certain death by bringing him to the United States. It’s an astonishing tale of two countries and two very different kinds of people joining together against terror and tyranny, and of the young man who, against all odds, gave Dragon Company what they desperately needed—hope.
First Sgt. Daniel Hendrex
First Sergeant Daniel Hendrex joined the Army in 1990 and has served in Operation Desert Storm (Iraq), Operation Desert Shield (Kuwait), Continue Hope (Mogadishu, Somalia), Intrinsic Action (Kuwait), Joint Forge (Bosnia), Joint Guardian (Kosovo/Macedonia), Noble Eagle (Toole, Utah), and Iraqi Freedom I and III. He currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his wife, Christina, and daughter, Sydney, and continues to work in the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Carson.
Related to A Soldier's Promise
Related audiobooks
Last Team Out of Kabul: Surrounded by the Taliban Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SCOUTS OUT!: A Kiowa Warrior Pilot’s Perspective of War in Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lightning Sky Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 143rd in Iraq: Training the Iraqi Police, In Spite of It All Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The B-52 Overture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bounty Hunter 4/3: From the Bronx to Marine Scout Sniper Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Heroes: In the Fight Against Radical Islam Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage through Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5‘Young Man - You'll Never Die' Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Staying Alive: A collection of true stories from depth to desert and beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heroes Among Us: Firsthand Accounts of Combat from America's Most Decorated Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Audio Bundle: No One Left Behind & No Room For Error Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No One Left Behind: The Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Back in the Fight: The Explosive Memoir of a Special Operator Who Never Gave Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Came Calling, But I Wasn't Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sniper: American Single-Shot Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Relentless: A Gold Star Father's Pursuit of Truth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParadise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Wars: One Hero's Fight on Two Fronts--Abroad and Within Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Foxtrot in Kandahar: A Memoir of a CIA Officer in Afghanistan at the Inception of America's Longest War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sirens: How to Pee Standing Up—An Alarming Memoir of Combat and Coming Back Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Assimilation: A Ranger's Return From War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Formation: One Woman’s Rise Through the Ranks of the U.S. Air Force Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taliban Safari: One Day in the Surkhagan Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Military Biographies For You
1776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scars and Stripes: An Unapologetically American Story of Fighting the Taliban, UFC Warriors, and Myself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unbroken Bonds of Battle: A Modern Warriors Book of Heroism, Patriotism, and Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Killing School: Inside the World's Deadliest Sniper Program Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seven Pillars of Wisdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SEAL of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary: Can't Hurt Me - Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lives of the Twelve Caesars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things I'll Never Forget: Memories of a Marine in Viet Nam Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wives: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alexander the Great Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Soldier's Promise
10 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A touching story-although some of the story may be stretching the truth a bit (according to soldiers who witnessed the events).