American Heroes

Code Pink is at it again, protesting in front of the Marine Recruiting Station in Berkley, California

Even though he is a decorated veteran of the war in Iraq, Sgt. 1st Class John Duggins doesn’t think of himself as an “American Hero.” So it came as quite a surprise when Duggins saw his face on the cover of a new book with that name written by best-selling author Oliver North.

Uncovering the identity of the soldier on the cover of ‘American Heroes‘ by Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Public Affairs, Fort Bragg, N.C.

“People started calling me up as soon as they saw it saying, ‘Hey, you’re on the cover of a book!’ I was like, ‘Yeah, right. Shut up, …”

… recounts Duggins, 37, a platoon sergeant with Battery B of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment.

At first, Duggins thought his buddies were playing a prank on him, but they were telling the truth – it is indeed his face staring out the front cover of North’s just-released book, “American Heroes.”

The book is a tribute to U.S. military personnel serving on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cover photo - taken last September while Duggins’ unit was in the middle of a 15-month deployment to Iraq – shows him out on patrol looking steely-eyed and ready for action with his M4 at the low-ready.

“We were looking for a Captain America photo, and that one just jumped out at us,” said Chuck Holton, the book’s co-author, who ended up selecting Duggins’ photo from a pool of hundreds of other possibilities.

The book has turned Duggins into something of a minor celebrity, complete with his own publicist: his mother, Ruth.

“We’ve called just about everybody we know to tell them about it,” Mrs. Duggins said.

The photo has already made Duggins famous in his hometown of Madison, N.C. His picture is hanging up on the wall at the local tavern.

On the other hand, Duggins’ newfound celebrity has also earned him some ribbing from his fellow Paratroopers.

“We all say, ‘Hey, what’s up, American Hero?” said Capt. Josh Richardson, Duggins’ battery commander.

Duggins, a humble man of few words, said he prefers to avoid the spotlight. He said he didn’t do anything worthy of a spot on the front cover, even suggesting that a different photo on the back of the book of a Soldier carrying a wounded comrade would have been a better choice.

“That should be the one on the cover. That’s the real hero,” Duggins said modestly.

But if Duggins wasn’t exactly thrilled to be in the limelight, his two sons, Taylor, 15, and Cody, 13, were more enthusiastic about the book. Taylor even gave it the ultimate teenage endorsement.

“It’s cool. I put it up on my My Space page,” he said.

Duggins’ appearance on the book’s cover even earned him a chance to meet with Oliver North personally. As fate would have it, North was passing through Fayetteville on a book signing tour and arranged to meet Duggins after a signing at a local Barnes & Noble book store May 6.

At the store, a line of customers clutching copies of “American Heroes” for North to sign snaked out the door. Some of them did double takes when they saw Duggins waiting outside with his family. One man recognized Duggins from the cover photo.

“Wow, he even looks mean in real life,” the man noted.

“No he doesn’t,” Ruth Duggins said protectively.

After the signing was over, Duggins and his family were taken into a back area of the store to meet with Oliver North privately. When North entered the room, he gave Duggins a giant bear hug.

North, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines and a war hero in his own right, said he has nothing but admiration for Duggins and all the other Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines serving in today’s Armed Forces. He said Duggins was the perfect choice to appear on the cover of his book.

“He represents a generation of American heroes that the American people need to know,” North said.

North presented Duggins and his sons with free, signed copies of “American Heroes,” and then asked Duggins to autograph a few copies for him. Like a seasoned pro Duggins began scrawling his name across the front covers of a stack of books.

“We’re so proud of him,” Ruth Duggins said as she watched her son sign his name. “This whole thing is just unbelievable.”

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It should make you proud to belong to a nation that claims as its’ heritage leaders who don’t hesitate to call on the Almighty for guidance. We’re blessed as a nation because of it.

The following prayer was read by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during a radio address to the Nation on D-Day, June 6, 1944. You can listen to the entire address here.

FDR’s Prayer

“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

“Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

“They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

“They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

“For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

“Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

“And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

“Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

“Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

“And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

“And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

“With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

“Thy will be done, Almighty God.

“Amen.”