In this candid, eagerly awaited autobiography General H. Norman Schwarzkopf reveals the story of his remarkable life and career. Here is the story of his boyhood years during World War II and a unique adolescence spent in the Middle East and Europe that would later prove invaluable to his understanding of the Gulf. Here, too, is a frank account of the West Point graduate's early disillusionment with the ''real'' Army - a disappointment that nearly prompted him to leave the military.
General Schwarzkopf speaks openly about his two tours of duty in Vietnam. He recounts the ''dark years'' that followed, and his own role in the struggle to reform the military.
For the first time ever General Schwarzkopf provides his personal, behind-the-scenes account of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, including candid portraits of such major figures as Colin Powell, Richard Cheney and President George Bush. From the general's unique perspective we experience firsthand the complexities of coordinating the campaign in a country deeply suspicious of foreigners; of maintaining strategic secrecy during America's first internationally televised war; and of ensuring that this war would not be another Vietnam.
Thoughtful and provocative, It Doesn't Take a Hero is an intensely personal portrait of an American life, the triumphant journey of a soldier who set his star by a simple but timeless motto: duty, honor, and country.