They Called Us "Lucky": The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit

From the Arizona Congressman, a 21st-century Band of Brothers chronicling the eternal bonds forged between the Marines of Lima Company, the hardest-hit unit of the Iraq War At first, they were "Lucky Lima." Infantryman Ruben Gallego and his brothers in Lima Company--3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, young men drawn from blue-collar towns, immigrant households, Navajo reservations--returned unscathed on patrol after patrol through the increasingly violent al Anbar region of Iraq, looking for weapons caches and insurgents trying to destabilize the nascent Iraqi government. After two months in Iraq, Lima didn't have a casualty, not a single Purple Heart, no injury worse than a blister. Lucky Lima. Then, in May 2005, Lima's fortunes flipped. Unknown to Ruben and his fellow grunts, al Anbar had recently become a haven for al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. The bin Laden-sponsored group had recruited radicals from all over the world for jihad against the Americans. On one fateful day, they were lured into a death house; the ambush cost the lives of two men, including a platoon sergeant. Two days later, Ruben's best friend, Jonathon Grant, died in an IED attack, along with several others. Events worsened from there. A disastrous operation in Haditha in August claimed the lives of thirteen Marines when an IED destroyed their amphibious vehicle. It was the worst single-day loss for the Marines since the 1983 Beirut bombings. By the time 3/25 went home in November, it had lost more men than any other single unit in the war. Forty-six Marines and two Navy Corpsmen serving with the battalion in Iraq were killed in action during their roughly nine-month activation. They Called Us "Lucky" details Ruben Gallego's journey and includes harrowing accounts of some of the war's most costly battles. It details the struggles and the successes of Ruben--now a member of Congress--and the rest of Lima Company following Iraq, examining the complicated matter of PTSD. And it serves as a tribute to Ruben's fallen comrades, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.&nbsp;

Biographies & Memoirs

GALLEGO, RUBÉN

DeFelice, Jim

Community & Culture

Mariner Books

Product Description 
From the Arizona Congressman, a 21st-century Band of Brothers chronicling the eternal bonds forged between the Marines of Lima Company, the hardest-hit unit of the Iraq War 
At first, they were “Lucky Lima.” Infantryman Ruben Gallego and his brothers in Lima Company—3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, young men drawn from blue-collar towns, immigrant households, Navajo reservations—returned unscathed on patrol after patrol through the increasingly violent al Anbar region of Iraq, looking for weapons caches and insurgents trying to destabilize the nascent Iraqi government. After two months in Iraq, Lima didn't have a casualty, not a single Purple Heart, no injury worse than a blister. Lucky Lima. 
Then, in May 2005, Lima’s fortunes flipped. Unknown to Ruben and his fellow grunts, al Anbar had recently become a haven for al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. The bin Laden-sponsored group had recruited radicals from all over the world for jihad against the Americans. On one fateful day, they were lured into a death house; the ambush cost the lives of two men, including a platoon sergeant. Two days later, Ruben’s best friend, Jonathon Grant, died in an IED attack, along with several others. Events worsened from there. A disastrous operation in Haditha in August claimed the lives of thirteen Marines when an IED destroyed their amphibious vehicle. It was the worst single-day loss for the Marines since the 1983 Beirut bombings. By the time 3/25 went home in November, it had lost more men than any other single unit in the war. Forty-six Marines and two Navy Corpsmen serving with the battalion in Iraq were killed in action during their roughly nine-month activation. 
They Called Us “Lucky” details Ruben Gallego’s journey and includes harrowing accounts of some of the war’s most costly battles. It details the struggles and the successes of Ruben—now a member of Congress—and the rest of Lima Company following Iraq, examining the complicated matter of PTSD. And it serves as a tribute to Ruben’s fallen comrades, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. 
 Review 
“A deeply felt, swift-moving account of war and its complex aftermath.” -- 
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)\n"A powerful, grunt’s-eye view of modern combat and the struggle to readjust to life back home. ... This searing autobiography leaves a mark." -- 
Publishers Weekly 
 About the Author 
Ruben Gallego (D, AZ) represents the 7th District of Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives. A son of Hispanic immigrants, Representative Gallego was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from Harvard University with a degree in international relations. While an undergrad, Gallego enlisted as an infantryman in the Marine Corps Reserve. Corporal Gallego deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he and the other members of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Elected to Congress in 2014 as a Democrat, Gallego is a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee, where he serves as chairman of the Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee. Gallego lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife and son.\nJim DeFelice is the co-author, with former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, of the multi-million-copy bestseller American Sniper, the source for Clint Eastwood’s film starring Bradley Cooper. His other books include Omar Bradley: General at War; Rangers at Dieppe; and West Like Lightning: The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express. He lives in upstate New York.

This is an extraordinary personal testament, the story of one boy's triumph in the face of impossible obstacles. Born with cerebral palsy in Moscow, Ruben Gallego was hidden away in Soviet state institutions by his maternal grandfather, the secretary general of the Spanish Communist Party in the 1960s. His was a boyhood spent in orphanages, hospitals, and old-age homes, a life of emotional deprivation and loss of human dignity. And yet, there is no self-pity here, no bitterness, only an unfailing regard for the truth. Gallego's story is one of neglect and mistreatment but also of shared small pleasures, of courage, of the power of the human will, and of a child's growing fascination with books and the worlds he finds in them. Winner of the 2003 Russian Booker Prize, White on Black is "one of those rare books one can call revolutionary" (Corriere della Sera, Italy).

White On Black

Schwartz, Marian

Parenting & Relationships

Houghton, mifflin, harcourt

This is an extraordinary personal testament, the story of one boy’s triumph in the face of impossible obstacles. Born with cerebral palsy in Moscow, Ruben Gallego was hidden away in Soviet state institutions by his maternal grandfather, the secretary general of the Spanish Communist Party in the 1960s. His was a boyhood spent in orphanages, hospitals, and old-age homes, a life of emotional deprivation and loss of human dignity. And yet there is no self-pity here, no bitterness, only an unfailing regard for the truth. Gallego’s story is one of neglect and mistreatment but also of shared small pleasures, of courage, of the power of the human will, and of a child’s growing fascination with books and the worlds he finds in them.

White on Black

This is an extraordinary personal testament, the story of one boy’s triumph in the face of impossible obstacles. Born with cerebral palsy in Moscow, Ruben Gallego was hidden away in Soviet state institutions by his maternal grandfather, the secretary general of the Spanish Communist Party in the 1960s. His was a boyhood spent in orphanages, hospitals, and old-age homes, a life of emotional deprivation and loss of human dignity.   And yet there is no self-pity here, no bitterness, only an unfailing regard for the truth. Gallego’s story is one of neglect and mistreatment but also of shared small pleasures, of courage, of the power of the human will, and of a child’s growing fascination with books and the worlds he finds in them.

WHITE ON BLACK: A BOY'S STORY

John Murray Publishers, Ltd.

Ruben David Gonzalez Gallego (born 1968) was born in Moscow, Russia, with severe cerebral palsy. Gallego was separated from his family at the age of one; he was sent to a state orphanage, because his grandfather, Ignacio Gallego, who was Secretary-General of the Spanish Communist Party, was ashamed of him and told his daughter (who was Ruben's mother) that her son had died. Born without the use of hands and feet, Ruben Gallego was tenacious and survived to adulthood, eventually marrying and having children. He lived in Russia and worked as a computer specialist until 2000, when he was reunited with his mother. Gallego now lives in the United States. His memoir, which won the Russian Booker Prize, was translated into English and published, in January 2006, as White on Black: A Boy's story. --- Ruben Gallego ricevis la rusan Booker-premion en 2003 por la verko Blanko sur nigro. La membiografia romano estas verkita ruse, spite la hispanan nomon de la au'toro. Gallego estas nepo de iama estro de la Komunisma partio en Hispanio. Li estas denaske grave handikapita, sidas en rulsegho kaj povas uzi nur kelkajn fingrojn. Lia patrino loghis en Moskvo en 1968, kiam li naskighis. Al shi oni anoncis, ke li mortis baldau' post la naskigho. Efektive li ne mortis, sed estis kashita en diversaj infanejoj, kiuj ighis la scenejo de Blanko sur nigro. Post la disfalo de Sovetio Ruben Gallego ekhavis kontakton kun sia familio, ekloghis en Hispanio kaj ighis hispana civitano. Nun li loghas en Usono.

Blanko sur nigro: Biografia Romano En Esperanto (Esperanto Edition)

Mondial

The author and protagonist of this impressive narrative is a man who did not allow human cruelty or his handicap silence the voice of his intelligence and sensitivity. Gallego was born in Moscow with his twin brother; days later the first baby passed away. The second, Rubén, affected with cerebral paralysis, was passed for dead and taken away from his mother. This is the story of his survival as a presumed orphan in secret asylums and sinister orphanages.

BLANCO SOBRE NEGRO (Spanish Edition)

Literature & Fiction

Short Stories & Anthologies

Alfaguara

Bianco su nero

Contemporary

Adelphi

Arts & Literature

Wild Leaf

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Books by GALLEGO, RUBÉN

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They Called Us "Lucky": The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit

They Called Us "Lucky": The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit

White On Black

White on Black

WHITE ON BLACK: A BOY'S STORY

Blanko sur nigro: Biografia Romano En Esperanto (Esperanto Edition)

BLANCO SOBRE NEGRO (Spanish Edition)

Bianco su nero

White on Black