Lucky Enough (Audio)

 Author's Summary

In August, 1965, Marine Corporal Eddie Beesley stepped on a landmine near Chu Lai in Vietnam. The resulting explosion changes his life forever. Lucky Enough is the inspiring story of how Eddie dealt with the most terrible moment of his life. 

MWSA Review

MWSA 2010 Silver Medal for Audio Book

MWSA June 2010 Book of the Month

The audio book Lucky Enough by Cpl. Eddie R. Beesley is a book that should be heard by everyone that wants to listen to a memoir of a very courageous person, who served his country well, but also who was brave enough to tell the story of just how the Viet Nam War affected him, in more ways than the obvious physical loss. If you have the opportunity to read this book or listen to the audio version consider yourself  "lucky enough" to have read a book that just may change your thinking about a time in history when there wasn't the troop support that there is in today's world.  
 
Cpl. Eddie R. Beesley is a hero in my book. The fact that he and his wife, Connie, did the narration for the CD makes it that much more special, in my opinion. Mr. Beesley shares about his life from his early days, how he ventured into the Marine Corps, and life beyond.  He takes his listeners through his life, but intersperses the narration with chapters telling the story about his visit to The Wall in Washington, D.C, which took place thirty years after the day that changed his life forever. Those of us who haven't served and/or sacrificed for our country can only know through a hero's story such as Lucky Enough the strength that it takes for a Viet Nam Veteran to face The Wall. It is a reminder to us about how many men and women have suffered so much.  
 
Mr. Beesley's journey is one of many hills and valleys and readers will travel with him all along the way. He is a Marine through and through and the comparison of who he is today to the young man who enlisted in the USMC at age seventeen reveals a lot about his inner strength.  Be sure to have your Kleenex close at hand when you are listening/reading. It is a touching book about a man who wouldn't let the loss of his legs keep him from moving forward. One would think that was enough to be able to overcome, but other struggles faced Eddie Beesley. Listen along and ask yourself where your inner strength comes from and learn from a man who is a true hero.

Reviewed by: Joyce Gilmour (2010)