Robin Higgins

The tragic death of Marine colonel Higgins is detailed from the point of view of his wife and retired Marine lieutenant colonel. This book reveals how she was able to cope with the stress of her husband being held hostage by a Hezbollah terror cell. Her futile attempts to work with the U.N. and the US State Department to obtain his release make it easy to sympathize with her plight. The author seemed overly idealistic and apparently in her entire career never had to deal with the loss of human life or the government's political hand wringing when it came to military affairs. I really felt for her as she tried to re-channel her energy into positive and productive outlets. Political posturing aside, the US military eventually names a naval destroyer after him and he is given a appropriate burial in Quantico National Cemetery with full honors. Higgins became linked with CIA Station Chief William Buckley who was also murdered. This book is filled with a wife's sadness and a mother's pain. The author shows an overly trustworthy disposition in how US foreign policy is handled and mishandled. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent first-hand account of how America came to learn some hard lessons about Middle Eastern terrorists, the difficulty of negotiating hostage releases and the no-win situation for military families caught up in international affairs.… (lisätietoja)