Introduction
In the Shadow of Greatness; Authors Joshua Welle, John Ennis, Kate Kranz and Graham Plaster, all officers who were graduates of the Naval Academy Class of 2002 (USNA Class of 02). The first graduating class to go into America’s longest war. All of which were going to class when the attacks of 9/11. They compile the trials and over comings of 32 graduates in the hopes of showing reader the trials and over comings of not only these graduates but of most military veterans of this era. The stories in this book represent the “Next Great Generation” of American Leaders.
This book is an easy read, to those who take pride in serving the greatest country and Navy. It takes you into the lives of those who have served in harms way or not, what they were thinking about in that brief moment when their leadership, their courage, honor and or commitment were put to the test. It also shifts them to their days at the Naval Academy to remember at what time they had read one of many inscription thru out the halls of the academy or learn something from class or a conversation with a professor that would get them thru their current situation. When that light bulb lit up in their heads, and that feeling of righteousness in their heart knowing they were doing the right thing for the right reasons.
“In the shadow of Greatness” there is nothing about this book that I dislike. All thumbs up for me. I enjoyed reading about those young leaders who when put to the test of either a small situation to the ultimate sacrifice did not hesitate in making the right choice. The right choice for the right reasons, not because they wanted to promote or because they wanted praise but because in their hearts they knew it would make them better as a person. The understanding of why a young person would enlist, deploy and return home and how a veteran will pack their uniforms and return to society but
