Return With Honor book report

The book I read is an autobiography, Return With Honor, By Captain Scott O'Grady with

Jeff Coplan.  Jeff Coplan is a prominent writer for the New York Time Magazine.  He is

also the author of Gold Buckle.

This young captains life began in Long Beach California in 1967.Scott O'Grady

has two siblings a brother and a sister, Paul and Stacy.  His Father was a doctor at Long

Beach Community Hospital and also a certified pilot.  His mother was a house wife

which is one of the hardest jobs of all.  His family was very patriotic.

 Scott was an average student throughout his years in school.  Even though he was

average he had a very strong will to succeed.  Being that his father was successful in his

career he had very high expectations for his three children, but also spent time

entertaining them often times by taking them for rides in his Cessna 150, which is a small

two seater plane. This is how Scott's life as a pilot  began when he was six years old, The

first day he went with his dad he was presented with a certificate that read, " this is to

certify that Scott O'Grady has navigated the air ways and flown up to Santa Catalina's

unique Airport in the sky, which overlooks the ocean from an altitude of 1602 feet."  By

the time he was in the eighth grade he became fixated on the idea he was going to be a

pilot In high school he was a kicker on the Long Beach Gators, which was his high school

football  team. He began as a second string player but a good friend, who was a

professional kicker, helped him to improve. This along with his strong will led him to

become an all star kicker. In the fall of his senior year he slaved to boost his grades.  He

applied for admission to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  Even though his

grades were good his Sat scores were low and he was rejected.  He was disappointed but

his goal was still to become a fighter pilot.  So he enrolled in an aeronautical engineering

program at the University of Washington in Seattle.  He then switched his major to

accounting then to business then to forestry.  He joined a fraternity and was in the ROTC

program.  He took a short break from school then went back to live with his dad in

Seattle.  His dad's friend knew of a good school, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

in Florida.  Scott applied and was accepted for the fall term but the Florida campus was

full so it was suggested that he go to the satellite campus in Prescott Arizona.  The school

and the location were depressing so he put a lot of time into the ROTC program and

became the vice commander of more then a hundred cadets.  He graduated after

accumulating high credentials.  He was then accepted into the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot

Program at Shepherd Air Force Base in Texas from which he graduated and was now a

US Air Force pilot. 

After several years and much traveling around the world the Air Force stationed

him in Aviano Italy in 1992.  In 1995  he was briefed to enforce a no fly zone in Bosnia.

At that point he was shot out of the sky.  His plane was mangled, but he managed to

survive the crash by ejecting out of the plane.  After he landed he had to escape Bosnian

storm troopers that were on the constant lookout for him.  He had little water and no

food.  He survived off of eating ants and foliage that he found.  After five days of being

constantly persued he finally made radio contact with NATO who sent a rescue team to

save Scott O'Grady.     

The thing that impressed me most about Captain Scott O'Grady is the fact that

even when he was enduring the hardest parts of his life he never gave up.  For example

when he applied for the Air Force Academy in Colorado and was rejected he still persued

a college education.

I chose to read about Scott O'Grady because he impressed me with his

determination to live and to gain world wide recognition for his heroic conflict.  I think

he is a very courageous person and represents his country well.

Scott made a large contribution to the country when he choose to go to the Air

Force and enforce world peace.  The next contribution he made was the ability to restore

hope in other troops who were fighting in Bosnia at the time.

            I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks that can't over come small

obstacles in life.  This book shows that anyone can overcome anything if they are strong

willed and put their mind to it. 

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