Book of Honor

[Sapper12B]

Hey folks,

Just finished "Book of Honor" by Ted Gup. It is a series of true stories about CIA operatives, the circumstances surrounding their deaths, and more important, their lives. Excellent read, I could not put it down. I finished it in 3 days. The title says it all.

All The Way

[ActionJackson03]

ok ok its time for me to finally vent. before i begin, let me just say that Gup wrote some good things about some of the men represented on the Wall of Stars. so dont get me wrong, its just that there are a few bones i'd like to pick on a personal level. some of you might remember about 10 years ago, when Freddie Woodruff died in Georgia (the country). Freddie Woodruff was a dear friend of mine. He helped raise me, i grew up playing with and still am close friends with his children. He presided over my parents' wedding. Gup wrote chapter after chapter about men who died working for the CIA, whose families were outraged at the secrecy surrounding the deaths. the vast majority of the material in his book is dedicated to this kind of thing. why? because it makes money. its sensationalism. the public isnt interested in a man's quiet sacrifice for his country, the public wants scandal and outrage at the shadowy underhandedness of the CIA. While some deceased heroes in Gup's book got thirty or more pages dedicated to their stories, Freddie Woodruff got a summary paragraph in the last few pages of the book. why? because his family didnt have anything bad to say about the big bad Agency.

[SHOOB]

AJ,
I am in no way defendign Gup. For all I know you could be right about the money part. I remember reading about Mr. Woodruff towards the end of the book. I did not come away after reading it with a conspiracy theory about the agency. I can see how the agency would have no comment on the topic of the wall of stars, but it does pay tribute and give the agency credit for putting so much emphasis and detail into the actual book and the wall itself. If you really want to be sure that Gup wrote that book for the sole purpose of starting controversy and collecting a check, write him and find out if any proceeds (if there were any) went to the families of the deceased. The book was ok but unless anyone gets to see it, other than employees of the agency, it can not be really appreciated.

[ActionJackson03]

good point, I guess that being a close friend of Freddie probably makes me extra-critical.