AUTHORS ON DECK: UNCOMMON VALOR BY DWIGHT ZIMMERMAN AND JOHN GRESHAM: A SPECIAL VETERAN’S DAY EVENT

In honor of Veteran’s Day and as part of the U.S. Navy Memorial’s “Authors on Deck” book lecture series, authors Dwight Zimmerman and John Gresham will present Uncommon Valor: The Medal of Honor and The Six Warriors Who Earned it in Afghanistan and Iraq. Uncommon Valor identifies six young warriors, the dramatic details of their life-or-death situations and why they responded to those situations as they did. The book also explores the history of the Medal of Honor. Following the presentation, Zimmerman and Gresham will be available for a Q&A session and book signing. The Navy Memorial will hold its official Veteran’s Day wreath laying ceremony with the U.S. Navy Band and Ceremonial Guard at 1:00pm on the plaza.

Between the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 and before September 2010, our nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, had been presented to only eight men for their actions. Six of the eight service members who went ‘above and beyond their call of duty’ were young men who fought in the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. All of these medals were awarded posthumously, as all six made the choice to give their lives so that their comrades might live.

Using an extraordinary range of sources, including interviews with family members, friends, teammates and superiors in the military, personal letters, blogs posted within hours of the events, personal and official videos and newly declassified documents, Uncommon Valor is a compelling and important work that recounts incredible acts of heroism and lays bare the ultimate sacrifice of our bravest warriors.

Dwight Jon Zimmerman is an award-winning author of books and articles on military history and a member of the Military Writers Society of America. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

John D. Gresham is a veteran military analyst and the co-author, with Tom Clancy, of Clancy’s bestselling nonfiction series, including Special Forces: A Guided Tour of the US Army Special Forces and Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing. He lives in Fairfax, VA.