Unlikely Warrior

As a child I was anything but brave. I was a fearful child, not confident at all; a follower, not a leader. I was small for my age, a fair-skinned tow-head; the third of four children born into a family of modest means. So begins the journey of C. Michael Dingman from conflict-avoiding child and teen to multiple-medal decorated combat medic to devoted minister. Unlikely Warrior is an achingly honest testimony of a decent boy becoming a good man, trusting his God and doing his best to do the right thing while covered in mud and blood and ducking volleys of enemy fire. I had to make a choice between peace and honor, and I had chosen honor. A perfect sentence and a perfect statement of theme. Dingman includes, realistically, moments of levity amidst the horror of war; this is entirely appropriate, as unremitting terror simply cannot be borne. The most effective journeys of the heart encompass the whole spectrum of human emotion. Dingman's language is fresh, his sense of story exquisite and his powerful faith palpable and moving. Unlikely Warrior bears all the marks of an enduring work. I left home just a boy...pretending to be a soldier. Now I was coming home a man who had come face to face with the realities of war and survived. I had been forced to choose between my decision not to carry a weapon and my responsibility as a medic to care for and protect those who might not be able to protect themselves. I had faced my fears and overcome them relying on my faith in Christ and His promise to be with me always.