Last Journey

"Mr. Griffin convinces you that his son was an unusual man, someone worth knowing ... It has already been pointed out, by Thomas E. Ricks of The Washington Post, that the most honest and gripping accounts of the Iraq war have come from low-ranking soldiers, not from generals. “Last Journey” joins that small shelf of serious books, thanks to a father with a native gift for the English language, one who gave his son the greatest gift a father can give: his avid and appreciative attention."—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

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"The book that he helped his father write from the grave is a testimony to the brave brand of thinking, skeptical soldier who does his job no matter what. One of Skip's lieutenants later told the elder Griffin that regardless of the mission Skip always said, "Screw it, we gotta do it, we gotta do it." It might have been the elder Griffin's mantra while writing this book for and about his son. And the literature of war is richer for it." — Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead, Barnes & Noble Book Review 

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“The conflicted, ultimately tragic experience of an American soldier in Iraq is explored in this moving homage. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Skip Griffin saw heavy fighting during several tours in Iraq before he was killed by a sniper in Baghdad in 2007. His father's memoir portrays Skip as a thoughtful man (he read Plato at age 13) imbued with a skeptical patriotism; despite his deep misgivings about the war, he volunteered to cut short a yearlong break to return to Iraq. Skip's own perceptions emerge through extensive excerpts from his e-mails, blog and other writings...it presents a harrowing, unsanitized vision of the war and the toll it takes on our soldiers.”—Publishers Weekly

"A remarkable and very moving account of the loss of his son, a father’s need to understand how and why it happened, and the relationship between a parent and child changed and deepened by war. Whatever your views about the purpose and conduct of the war in Iraq, this book deserves your attention and the acclaim it will surely receive for its heartrending testament to the awful wages of war and the invincible devotion of love." —Senator John McCain