Tell My Sons: A Father's Last Letters (29 page)

To the fifty-nine men and women who have received a 1971 silver dollar from me over the past eighteen years (you know who you are)—thank you for making me the person I am. Three mentors in particular deserve special mention, as they have been fathers to me during my entire time in the army: Colonel Terry Clemons, Command Sergeant Major Jim Barrett, and Colonel David Treuting. Aside from these three men, there’s no way I can list more of you without inadvertently missing one of you. You simply must know who you are.

I’ve mostly used real names in this book. John Booth, Dennis Bryer, Ben Kramer, Avery James, and Mike Burns are all pseudonyms, so if one of their stories seems to be referring to you, it’s either paranoia or wishful thinking.

My thanks to Major General Richard Nash, for granting me permission to write this book while still serving on active duty. Since I have decided to use my rank to identify myself as author,
I’m obligated to express that the views presented in this book are mine and do not necessarily represent the views of Department of Defense.

In October 2010, several hundred family members and friends from across the country, as well as hundreds of soldiers and every senior leader in the Minnesota National Guard, gathered together to hold the Operation True Grit benefit for my family. I was reluctant to accept help we didn’t need, and I didn’t know what I was going to do with all that generosity.

This book is part of the answer: the benefit raised nearly the exact amount of money needed to self-publish this book on my terms, which has, in turn, brought this book to the major leagues.

That generosity is also empowering us to take Operation True Grit and pay it forward. Kristin and I are going to use 50 percent of the proceeds from this book to help other parents’ sons and daughters overcome their hardships so they may live, as I hope my sons will, rich and productive and loving lives.

L
T
. C
OL
. M
ARK
W
EBER
was born and raised in Minnesota. He has served a total of twenty-three years in the U.S. Army, with five years as an enlisted soldier in the Minnesota National Guard and nineteen years on active duty as a commissioned officer. He has been stationed throughout the United States, at the Pentagon, in Saudi Arabia, and in Iraq. He is a distinguished alumnus of Minnesota State University, holds master’s degrees in history from Jacksonville State University in Alabama and public policy management from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and has served as a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota. His awards include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Combat Action Badge. Mark lives in Rosemount, Minnesota, with his wife, Kristin, and their three sons.