Blaze of Light: The Inspiring True Story of Green Beret Medic Gary Beikirch, Medal of Honor Recipient

Thank you Sgt. Beikirch for your openness and honesty.Marcus Brotherton is a master with words. He mines the depths of a person's soul, mind, heart, and spirit so that a reader can identify with the life of another. In this case the person is Sgt. Gary Beikirch. This book helped me understand the duty of soldiers and inevitably the duty of a man and eventually the duty of a Christian. I was struck with Sgt Beikirch's decision to a) join the army, b) choose the Green Berets, and c) become a medic so he could help people. (A course he eventually walked and continues to walk). You will be amazed at Sgt. Beikirch's journey through war, battle, hurt, darkness, healing, more darkness, more healing and victory. His devotion to his training and assignments is humbling and inspiring. You will cry, think, and maybe...be changed. Please read the Prologue and then the Notes. The Notes reveal what is involved for Marcus Brotherton to write this book AND many others.On a side note...Deo deserves an equal honor and Janet will be rewarded in Heaven. And, who could live in a cave?

I finished this book a few days ago and I still catch myself thinking about Gary's story. I can say with confidence this well-written book will leave a lasting impression on me for quite some time.The way the writer was able to weave Gary's quality of character into the beginning of his story and then carry it throughout the book was masterful. Gary's inner-resilience was obviously within him from the start and crucial to who he was as a soldier inside of the horrific events of the war. As I turned each page I became more and more absorbed into his story and forgot I was reading a book. What a great collaboration between Marcus Brotherton and Gary Beikirch!The way the writer, Marcus Brotherton, intertwined the realities of the Vietnam War and the rawness of Gary's experiences was seamless. I cried. I laughed. I was encouraged to look at my own sense of endurance in powering through life's battles. My favorite quote from the book:"With Lolly's help, Gary found the support , love, and guidance needed to enter the caves of his life, to explore, to hurt, to heal, and once again to live. The change didn't happen overnight, but it definitely did happen."I highly recommend this book! It's important to read accounts of people who have this type of tenacity, perseverance and bravery and to honor these legacies they've endowed to the history of our country.One last note: I often buy the audible book as well as the hardcover when reading a story like this. The audible book was amazing! The narrator read Gary's story so well that I felt I was in a movie watching the story come to life!

American Professor of literature Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) finds that all myths share similar structures and that the hero’s journey was a metaphor for the transformation that heroes in all times and places share- a journey that Campbell describes as follows:“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man”(24)Gary Beikirch’s book is a prime example of the “Hero’s Journey.” From the very beginning, his name Gary - “Spear- loyal warrior” puts a prophetic legend in place (Brotherton 8). Indeed, many little “breadcrumbs” lead the reader on Beikirch’s spiritual journey in terms of events and people who come in and out of his life, carefully building this mythic structure leading to a climatic point. This point is not the battle at Dak Seang, the sacrificial lamb in this story. No, the religious epiphany circles back to the motto “To really live, you must almost die. To those who fight for it, life has a meaning the protected will never know (Brotherton 57). For those seeking a truly deep, complex book that examines the very essence of humanity and what a life with purpose means, this book will help guide them on the path to self-discovery. It is truly a journey of “light.”Brotherton, Marcus. Blaze of Light: Courage for Battle, Faith for Crisis. Waterbrook, 2020.Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton UP, 1968.

Stories of Valor are particularly interesting to me...stories of those who overcame great odds to survive - before, during and after his war - Gary is an inspiration, and despite what he might say, it is the story of a True Hero. To me, his is a story of sheer determination, not just to survive, but to do what he intended to do...to accomplish his mission and save those he sought to protect. Viet Nam was such a scattered battlefield. Fighting in rice paddies, on rivers, mountains and triple canopy jungles, seldom holding the ground on which a battle was fought, only to come back and fight for it again. However, Special Forces held the ground they fought on and protected it and the people that lived there, with small groups of Americans and local forces...this was Gary's War. Living in the II Corps mountains and jungles was different - you were among the local population and made friends, became attached to these Montagnards who depended on Gary's skill as a Medic and looked to him for protection from diseases and injuries as well as from a determined enemy. Gary did all that he could do, and then went above that. Thank You Gary, not just for your Service, but for your dedication.