Outskirts Press, INC.

A Warning Before Reading This Book: The Truth Can Be Hard!

You may already know Clay Lifto from other books in the Only a Soldier Can Truly Understand series. You may know him as a valued mentor about what to expect from military life, or as a warm and empathetic guide to help you cope with PTSD and other challenges. You might know him as a stalwart source of tough love and straight talk—the guy who tells it like it is. In this volume of the series, Lifto gets personal, and teaches you one of the hardest and most necessary lessons of all: that in vulnerability lies the greatest strength, and it’s through making mistakes that we learn the most powerful lessons. Born and raised on a small Minnesota farm by an Appalachian mom and a factory-worker dad, Clay Lifto escapes his bitter childhood by joining the Army. Filled with angst and naivete, he tries desperately to cope as he is forced into places, situation, and problems he is ill-equipped to deal with. Journey with him through life as each episode shapes his direction, his mind, and eventually . . . his heart. Imagine with him what life is really about and what his role could be, as he trips and stumbles toward his soul’s purpose. Explore the strangeness of military life in basic training, the cultures of military training, the exotic worlds of the Middle East, Vietnam, Australia, and Germany. And dream with him about what God might have in store for him when it’s all over . . . because the story is still being told. In his journey, you may see a mirror of your own path, because . . . Only a Soldier Can Truly Understand.