A state legislator who’s also a part-time soldier is writing a book about medal-winning soldiers who’ve served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Chuck Larson, a state Senator, is also a lawyer in the Army Reserve who was on active duty in Iraq for about a year.
In August of this year, several months after he returned from Iraq, Larson founded a group called “Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission.” The group began working with so-called “gold star families” who’ve had loved ones die in the war on terror. Now, Larson is leading a project to write a book. “As I was working with these families and returning veterans, I discovered an incredible number of stories of heroic action under fire and stories that America needed to hear,” Larson says. “I made the decision to begin writing a book to capture those stories.”
Servicemen and women from every branch of the military and from all over the country will be featured. Some of them are Iowa soldiers. “There are some great Iowans we can be very proud of (who) will be profiled in the book,” Larson says. He’s lined up a publisher, but can’t say, yet, when the book will be released.
Former President John F. Kennedy, when he was a freshman in the United States Senate, wrote a book called “Profiles in Courage” that captured the stories of eight men who took courageous political stands — people like John Quincy Adams and Sam Houston. Larson says courage will be a common theme in his book, too. “(These) will be profiles of the great American men and women who have served our nation during the war on terror,” Larson says. You can find some information about Larson’s group and profiles of some soldiers on-line at www.unitedforourtroops.com.