The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 led to the U.S. sending tens of thousands of soldiers into Afghanistan, and, not much later, into Iraq. One of those soldiers was then-Marine reservist and now-Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego.
On the surface, Gallego seemed an unlikely soldier. His decision to walk into a Marine recruiting office came about after he was kicked out of Harvard as an undergrad. Gallego ending up serving in a unit — Lima Company 325 — that was incredibly hard hit as 22 of his fellow Marines were killed during their six months on the battlefield in Iraq.
Gallego and co-author Jim DeFelice wrote about his experiences in war, the loss of his friends and how all of it changed how he sees daily life and the world. The new book is titled, "They Called Us Lucky: The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War’s Hardest Hit Unit."
To learn about the book and war experience, The Show spoke with both Gallego and DeFelice.
Hope you will pick up my book and learn about the men of Lima 3/25. https://t.co/ItDI4Cej3z pic.twitter.com/BvFvgBAQWa
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) November 5, 2021
