Storm on the Horizon is the story of the deadliest battle of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a fight that resulted in 25 US dead. Told from a front line Marine’s point of view, Storm on the Horizon is an up close and personal account of the first battle of the smart bomb age, it is the story of a contest of wills that forever changed the way the US military looks at itself and set the stage for a new era of American military power, paving the way for the victories in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Storm on the Horizon drops you in the middle of this chaotic fight. The Marines are trapped and outnumbered, their weapons no match against the Iraqi tanks bearing down on them. Their only lifeline to the rear is a barely functioning radio. Drawing upon hours of interviews as well as the Marines’ journals and letters, David J. Morris’s vivid minute-by-minute narrative takes you through the battle from its beginning as a scattered collection of skirmishes to its fiery final act in the streets of the abandoned Saudi Arabian town of Khafji. Morris, a former Marine officer, captures this ordeal through the eyes of the men who were there, giving the reader a rare front row seat to an incredible sequence of events. But Storm on the Horizon is far more than a by-the-numbers military history, it is a thoughtful exploration of a new generation of fighting men coming to terms with its own war, a journey into the moral chaos created by modern war and heartfelt portrayal of the innocence lost in a heartbeat and mourned for a lifetime. David J. Morris served as an infantry platoon commander in 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and later as the Assistant Director of the First Marine Division Schools in Camp Pendleton, California. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University, he holds degrees in history and literature. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and Salon.com, and Rock and Ice magazine. He is a frequent guest on national radio and television programs, including NPR’s Morning Edition, Wisconsin Public Radio and ABC News’ “Inside the Newsroom.” He is currently working on a documentary for The History Channel based on Storm on the Horizon, which was a main selection of the Military Book Club. He was embedded with the Marines in Western Iraq from April to June 2004. He teaches English at the University of California, Irvine.
Website: http://www.stormonthehorizon.com/