Never Surrender by LTG William G. Boykin
July 3rd, 2008Title: Never Surrender
Author: Lt. General William G. Boykin
Publisher: FaithWords (2008)
When I started this book, I didn’t realize who the author was. It just seemed like a really interesting book to read. As it ends up, Lt. Gen. (ret.) William G. Boykin (Jerry) is a pretty famous (some might say infamous) person of the past 15-20 years! He is one of the founding members of the US Army Delta Force, which is of course made especially famous by the awesome Chuck Norris movies.
Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom was a really interesting book written by a super decorated US Army soldier. The book tells story after story of how famous military operations went down. The Iran Hostage Crisis, Grenada, Panama, Columbia and Somalia were all operations that Boykin wrote about. Reading the tactical plans, and the resulting actions, for each of these was really interesting. Plus, Boykin knows what he is talking about…he helped design all of them.
The most interesting chapter, I felt, was the chapter on Mogadishu, Somalia. As most people know, thanks to the movie Blackhawk Down, the operation in Mogadishu didn’t quite go as planned. Many people died, unnecessarily, because the people in charge of the funding wouldn’t release the right supplies and weapons. Boykin, and the other leaders of Delta Force, had planned everything out including what they would need to accomplish their mission. Since they didn’t get what they asked for, they were woefully unprepared. A number of people died because of this oversight. Boykin, as the leader of the mission, had to make the horrifying call of leaving a man down in order to save others. He said that was the worst thing he has ever experienced.
Another reason for Boykin’s fame is because he said some things that were interpreted as being religiously aggressive. Boykin has never been afraid to admit he is a Christian, and some things he said during the most recent war in Iraq rubbed people the wrong way…a lot of people. Boykin said that he believed God put George Bush in the White House, which is what the papers quoted. What the papers didn’t quote was that he then went on to say that God put Bill Clinton and every other American leader in their positions. Boykin was pretty much crucified in the press, even though he was completely exonerated by internal military investigations.
A small portion of this book is about Boykin’s faith. While going through the various trials, he relied on God to help him. I was a little surprised though, considering the title of the book, he didn’t spend more time on his faith. It seemed to me that he glossed over it more than anything else.
All in all…I thought this was a pretty good book that had some pretty fascinating insight into military tactics and life behind the scenes of Delta Force.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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August 3rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
There is no name with the review shown above. He might want to read the whole book before writing a review. It is a cover to cover book about how a soldier relied on his faith. To say Boykin did not write much about his faith is a clear indicator the writer did not read the whole book.
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Mike…I wrote the review as this is my site, and all the reviews are mine. And yes, I read the book cover to cover. I even read some sections twice. What I found is that Boykin talked about his faith…but he kept repeating the same thing over and over again. “I was down for a short while…then I remembered to rely on God…so I got better.”
I do apologize for my review not meeting your standards.
September 28th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
You can always tell when someone who has never shed blood in defense of this Nation and the freedoms we all enjoy set about to destroy an icon of what we are, and should be, all about! I’ve never known a single person in the line of actual fire who has NOT got close to his religion, whatever that might be! God Bless General Boykin, and God Bless our Homeland!
September 29th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
[...] Book Review of Never Surrender at Letters On Pages [...]
December 9th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I’ve seen and heard many who espouse to not believe in god; until they lay dying in a lonley place or their life hangs on the thinnest of stands only God could hold. Then they convert.
September 23rd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
WOOAHH!General–You brought tears to this old soldiers eyes. You included just as meny enlisted soldiers involvement in your march through your life as you did Comissioned Officers. Thank you for honoring the N.C.O.s and their Families that stayed by your side through it all. I’ll be sure to look you up when we get to Heaven, Sir. Staff Sergeant Berson U.S.Army Ret.