Back in the Fight: The Explosive Memoir of a Special Operator Who Never Gave Up

There are no words that can express how thankful I am for the service of men and women like Joe Kapacziewski.  Men and women who are willing to fight so I may enjoy the freedoms that are not lightly afforded me.  

Reading any story about any young person willing to do this would be worth the time, this story is not only a testament to the bravery and honor of a young man willing to fight for his country and each of us, but also a fascinating testament to what the human spirit, at it's best, can accomplish.  I loved the details of what it takes to be a ranger; I loved the honesty of looking at this war on terror through the eyes of someone with feet on the ground, smack dab in the middle of it; and I loved the personal triumph of Joe "Kap" and his family.


The book is full of details that make you feel like you have a better grasp of what it takes to be a soldier, a ranger, and the wife of a ranger.  Kimberly, Joe's wife, tells her story alongside Joe's recollections and it makes the telling more full to have the two perspectives. 

Gregg Zoroya, of USA TODAY says this about the book"

The story of Joe Kapacziewski's rebirth as the only Army Ranger serving in direct combat operations with a prosthetic limb is more than a tale of will power and physical hardship.

It also is the story of a young man with a natural insensitivity to morphine whose screams of pain brought nurses at Walter Reed to tears. It is about a bedridden patient, his leg held together by rods and pins, doing stomach crunches.

It is a story about Kimberly Kapacziewski, 30, agonizing over her husband — already wrecked once by war, yet striving so hard to get back into it.

And it is about a soldier who says his dream is just to be a soldier — and not a war hero-slash-amputee.

Thank you for sharing your story Sergeant Kapacziewski, and thank you for your sacrifice, it was a pleasure reading this book.