Missing Max: Finding Hope After My Marine Son's Death

 Author's Summary

Missing Max is a compelling story of one mother's journey as she recalls the extraordinary events surrounding the death of her Marine son, Corporal Max W. Donahue.  On August 4, 2010, Max lost both legs and his right arm after being hit by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device), and later succumbed to his wounds on August 7.  Julie takes us with her as she first gets word of Max's injuries received while he was a working dog handler in Afghanistan.  You will share her despair, fears, tears and finally, her hope as she moves through the days, weeks and months following word of Max' injury, and then his death. 

MWSA Review

In war there is death! The loss of even one life is tragic, the loss of one’s child rips at the very soul of the parent(s). None more so than the Mother who brought the child into the world and is now faced with their leaving. I remember when very young my Grandmother at my one Uncles funeral saying “no Mother should have to witness the death of their child.” Even at that age I understood on one level what she meant and what she felt.

Missing Max is one Mother’s story of the loss of her Marine son. This is not a professional counselors book, it is not a guide or instruction manual written by one to help others. Each word written in ink is the pain this Mother felt and will live with for the rest of her life. It is about how she made it to where she is today, no heroics, no special words or tricks, just one foot in front of the other. It is a great example of something most know and many ignore. Life is filled with choices and those choices determine the person we are or become. Julie Schrock decided to live and in so doing will help others who experience the same loss through her book Missing Max.

One part of the book stood just a little higher than the rest, coming from a Mom who has had the message and experienced the cost of freedom brought home and takes a moment to express her feelings as follows; “It certainly does not feel as though Americans appreciate the cost of their freedom when the pledge of allegiance no longer begins each school day, or standing for the flag is no longer standard practice.”

Reviewed by: jim greenwald (2012)