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Lucky Enough | 
 enlarge | Author: Eddie Beesley
Publisher: River Road Press (MO)
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $2.90
You Save: $10.05 (78%)
New (5) Used (13) Collectible (2) from $1.27
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 1314766
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 112
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.3
ISBN: 0966327675
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9780966327670
ASIN: 0966327675
Publication Date: December 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A true story of an Oklahoma boy who joined the Marines and was injured in Vietnam. He was one of the first above-the-knee, double amputees of the war. His story recounts the hope, faith, gratitude and humor that have defined him throughout his life. BIO000000; OCC019000
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
AWESOME! January 5, 2007
Awesome book.Very well written.Eddie is full of courage and spirit as a war hero with disabilities from his war injuries who continues on thru life with an uplifting and positive attitude into a very successful life he makes for himself and others.He touches our soul and makes us proud to thank him and all the others who give their all for our freedom and our country.
D.Firth
A Real Hero Then and Now! September 14, 2006
Sometimes you follow someone's life in the media and you wonder if this guy is all what he seems to be. For those many veterans and handicapped people out there who have been helped because of the personal efforts of Eddie R. Beesley, then reading his short memoir will make you a believer, once again, in heroes. His book "Lucky Enough" is about a doing something positive regardless of what life deals you.
Eddie tells his story of growing up poor on a farm and going on to become a U.S. Marine. He talks about his tour of duty in Vietnam and about the events that lead to his losing both legs to a land mine explosion. But this is not the main focus of his tale. Once you dig a little deeper into his book you find how he used what life has presented to him to help himself and others. He has become a champion for the handicapped in this nation. He fought for public awareness and accommodations for those in wheel chairs at a time when he was one of the few lone voices speaking out.
His story is one of great physical and emotional pain. But he leaves you upbeat. He inspires you by his attitude to be of service to others. I was enthralled with his life story. My only regret was that it was not any longer as there were still things about Eddie that I would have liked to have learned about him.
He writes it simple and straight forward to the point. His pains and suffering are understated and briefly exposed. He was not writing his story looking for pity or to win any symphony but as a proud man--no, make that a PROUD MARINE! He is a fine example of that special bread of veteran that wears the USMC uniform with honor!
I think this book will give many additional insights into PTSD and related veteran issues. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to read something about war and want to become inspired. It will make you want to give Eddie both a hug and a salute. He is a true American Hero!
This book gets the MWSA's top rating of FIVE STARS! It also receives my personal endorsement. Buy it and read it!
Great Book! May 18, 2006
This book is written from the heart, and tells the story of an incredible Marine and his family. Don't start reading it late at night, you will keep reading until you finish it! Ed and Connie Beesley are wonderful people, and this book is a keeper.
 Doesn't glorify war. May 1, 2006
Most people think about sharecropping and poverty in historical terms. When I read Eddie Beesley's account of his childhood, as the 18th of 21 children, the first images that popped into my mind were James Agee's and Walker Evans' book 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.' Mr. Beesley's story is different. First of all, with the exception of the photo of his wife Connie, the photographs are not as good. To be fair to Mr. Beesley, Walker Evans was one of the most famous photographers of the past century, while Eddie Beesley is just a lucky enough Marine. Second, Agee and Evans tell a story of families living in historic poverty, but the story Mr. Beesley tells is his own, and while it begins in adversity it ends, considering all the circumstances, in personal triumph. And third, Mr. Beesley's book is better written. It's direct, open, gripping, and funny.
Yes, funny. It's one thing to laugh out loud when you're reading a book, but when the writer is telling the story of how he enlisted in the Marines, got his legs blown off and his brother Marines were killed by a land mine, then finally overcame his feelings of guilt and tracked down the widow and orphan daughter of his lieutenant, and he can STILL get you to laugh out loud, well, I just think that takes a doggone good writer. And an unusual individual, too, to find the humor in the first place in a difficult life. It's not too much of a surprise that most people read Eddie Beesley's book straight through, even though it's a hundred pages long.
Other reviewers here have said plenty about the Vietnam War Memorial aspect of 'Lucky Enough', which is quite moving. (You won't laugh at those parts.) I need not repeat what they said here. This book is a classic. But you're going to have to buy it yourself to read the funny parts, 'cause I ain't giving a single one of them away.
Lucky enough to read this book! April 29, 2006
Eddie Beesley epitomizes being a Marine, revealing their stick-with-it trademark from cover to cover in this journey about service and commitment. His positive attitude remains through the most troubling or best of times, in relationships, and whether in battle or carrying the torch in a wheelchair at the Olympic Games. Leadership and love are apparent as you turn each page of "Lucky Enough."
Eddie meets his wife Connie in recovery after his legs are blown off on his tour of duty in Vietnam. They have a magnetic attraction with the reader through their use of positive forces in character we all admire and should strive to use. Remarkable experiences of an unusually gifted but modest man are condensed in this memoir, and Eddie's stories keep rolling in like powerful storm waves and seem bigger than life at times. Duty, faith, loss, love, hope, family, recovery, and success are admirably addressed throughout this strikingly interesting adventure. Beginning as an Oklahoma farm boy - the eighteenth of twenty one children - Eddie guides through his eventful time as a teenage Marine and describes the everlasting effects of war. His story is a successful one, and it culminates with a decades delayed visit to the Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. Covering other issues such as disability discrimination and coming out on top in business and marriage, Eddie's faith will rub off on you. It is odd to imagine a Marine not putting on dress blues for thirty years; but such is the precarious life of Eddie Beesley. For many reasons including these, I felt lucky enough to read this book!
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