by Mark L. Donald
Battle Ready: the gripping memoir of Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart recipient SEAL Lieutenant Mark L. Donald. As A SEAL and combat medic, Mark served his country with valorous distinction for almost twenty-five years and survived some of the most dangerous combat actions imaginable.
From the rigors of BUD/S training to the horrors of the battlefield, Mark Donald’s Battle Ready dramatically immerses the reader in the unique life of the elite warrior-medic who advances into combat with life-saving equipment in one hand and life-taking weapons in the other.
Battle Ready is also an uplifting human story that reveals how a young Hispanic American bootstrapped himself out of a life that promised a dead-end future by enlisting in the military. That new life begins with the Marines and includes his heroic achievements on the battlefield and the operating table, and finally, of his inspirational triumph over the demons caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that threatened to destroy him and his family.
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Watch the Trailer: Battle Ready by Mark Donald
Buy Battle Ready today!
Watch the trailer for Battle Ready, the gripping memoir of Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart recipient SEAL Lieutenant Mark L. Donald
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1: WHO I AM
In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.
—JOSÉ NAROSKY
Those who know me understand I never intended to write a book, but over the years of learning how to cope with combat stress, I realized how cathartic writing had become. What started as an adjunct to therapy became an incredible psychological release. However, as my notes turned into journals I discovered the writing was less about me and more about the individuals and events that shaped my life…
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– Continue reading the full excerpt of Battle Ready, by Mark Donald.
Giving Back
Mark L. Donald and UDT-SEAL Association
By: Matthew Baldacci Date: MARCH 6 , 2013
Command Posts occasionally highlights organizations that are devoted to aiding and assisting America’s warriors and their families. UDT-Seal Association is one such organization, and we are happy to bring it to the attention of our readers today.
UDT-Seal Association has a long history, initially formed in 1969 to preserve the heritage of the Navy’s frogmen by building unity among the generations through annual reunions and publication of a quarterly magazine. As the needs of its members evolved, and the support of its sister organization—the Navy SEAL Foundation—grew, the Association shifted focus toward helping veterans and community members transitioning to civilian life.
Today, UDT-Seal Association has a rich mission helping veterans who are separating from active duty service, and one of the focus programs is led by Mark Donald, retired SEAL.
Continue reading Giving Back.
Ground Zero and the Battle of Khand Pass
By: Mark L. Donald and Scott Mactavish
Date: March 6, 2013
We bumped along the winding path at a snail’s pace, each vehicle roughly three to four car lengths from the next. The wadi was a relatively flat, rocky area with sporadic patches of sand. It was cut between a big mountain to our right and several large rock formations on the left. These joined together to form an intermittent ridge roughly twenty to thirty feet high and hundreds of yards long. At the base of the mountain to the right, outcroppings of rock formed alcoves along the mountain wall, giving the wadi a snakelike shape. This caused the ravine floor to vary from fifty to one hundred feet wide as it weaved back and forth around the massive rocks.
The first two vehicles crept ahead as Chief wrestled our truck through a deep pocket of sand. Ned and the terp watched from the back as Chief and I silently communicated our observations to one another. Chief sensed something strange about the hills to his left, and through the corner of my eye I saw him sweeping his head back and forth, scanning them carefully. In the sideview mirror, I saw nothing; the vehicles directly behind us hadn’t made it past the elongated turn we had just exited. Our vehicle crunched over a group of rocks that came together to form a ramplike structure, which lifted the front left corner of the truck into the air. Chief gripped the steering wheel and was preparing to drive down the rock ramp when I noticed his head snap toward the hills to his left.
“Movement?” I asked, but his response said it all.
Continue reading Ground Zero and the Battle of Khand Pass.
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