Title: Warrior's creed :
Authors: Sparks, Roger,; Rearden, Don
Date: 2019
Publisher: St. Martin's Press,
Physical description: xiii, 295 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 22 cm
Language: English
LC classification: V
Abstract: The riveting story of how a young boy's upbringing with outlaw culture and charismatic role models forged him into an elite Marine and a decorated Pararescueman. "Absence of self is my sword" comprises the final line in "The Warrior's Creed," a 14th century poem written by an unknown Japanese Samurai, and this is the code Master Sergeant Roger Sparks embodied as a Recon Marine turned Alaskan Pararescueman. A living legend in the military, Sparks first made a name for himself within elite Marine Reconnaissance units. He went on to become an instructor where he trained future Reconnaissance Marines with unorthodox and ancient indigenous warrior techniques. A decade later, the same methods would keep him and others alive, when he hoisted into a maelstrom of violence to rescue an embattled platoon in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Introduced to a tough code of honor, family, and brotherhood from birth, Roger Sparks rose to become a distinguished instructor in Marine Reconnaissance and a Silver Star recipient as an Alaska Pararescueman. A raw and exhilarating tale of guts, grit, and heart, Warrior's Creed recounts the hidden side of special operations training, heroic and heartbreaking Alaskan wilderness rescues, and the surreal and deadly rescues during Operation Bulldog Bite in Afghanistan's Watapur Valley. This powerful and inspirational story is as much of a self-help book as it is an edge of your seat military memoir. Warrior's Creed reveals a motivating and mindful approach to over coming the odds, facing the impossible, and finding mercy and grace in the aftermath."--
Contents: Prologue: on the other side -- Warriors of a different cloth -- Feminine beauty -- Over come -- Create your reality -- The contemplation of intentions -- Nine-sixteenths smaller -- Snake killing days -- The spirit world -- Turning wrenches -- Tea leaves and chicken bones -- Breaking back -- Saving Oz -- The Alaska factor -- A wolf's resolve -- Arctic jump wearing sneakers -- Back breaking 2.0 -- Wise endurance -- Bulldog bite -- Cathartic ink and serendipity -- Metal of honor -- The tiger's smile -- A warrior's creed.
Subject headings (LCSH): Afghan War, 2001---Personal narratives, American; Afghan War, 2001-2021--Aerial operations, American.; Afghan War, 2001-2021--Personal narratives, American.; Alaska. Air National Guard. Rescue Squadron, 212th--Biography.; Autobiographies; Sparks, Roger, 1973-; United States--Armed Forces--Commando troops--Biography.; United States--Armed Forces--Parachute troops--Biography.; United States. Marine Corps. Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd--Biography.