Presents the stories of nineteen servicemen and women who fought in the Afgahan and Iraq wars and who were given the highest honors for their extraordinary heroism and bravery.

"A Tom Doherty Associates book."

Preface: The Best Among Us --13 -- 1 Marine Captain Brian Chontosh Rochester, New York: Navy Cross, Iraq -- 21 -- Marine Corporal Armand McCormick Mount Pleasant, Iowa: Silver Star, Iraq -- Marine Sergeant Robert Kerman Klamath Falls, Oregon: Silver Star, Iraq -- 2 Army Sergeant First Class Javier Camacho Bayamon, Puerto Rico: Silver Star, Iraq -- 39 -- 3 Marine Sergeant Marco Martinez Las Cruces, New Mexico: Navy Cross, Iraq -- 49 -- 4 Air Force Master Sergeant William "Calvin" Markham Waukesha, Wisconsin: Silver Star, Afghanistan -- 67 -- 5 Army Master Sergeant Patrick Quinn Cromwell, Connecticut: Silver Star, Iraq -- 77 -- 6 Marine First Sergeant Justin LeHew Temecula, California: Navy Cross, Iraq -- 87 -- 7 Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Luis Fonseca, Jr. Fayetteville, North Carolina: Navy Cross, Iraq -- 111 -- 8 Army Sergeant Micheaux Sanders Goldsboro, North Carolina: Silver Star, Iraq -- 127 -- 9 Army National Guard Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester Bowling Green, Kentucky Silver Star, Iraq -- 139 -- Army National Guard Specialist Jason Mike Radcliff, Kentucky: Silver Star, Iraq -- Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein Henryville, Indiana: Silver Star, Iraq -- 10 Air Force Staff Sergeant Stephen Achey Sumter, South Carolina: Silver Star, Afghanistan -- 153 -- 11 Marine Captain Brent Morel Martin, Tennessee: Navy Cross, Iraq -- 165 -- Marine Sergeant William Copeland III Smithfield, Utah: Navy Cross, Iraq -- 12 Army Lieutenant Colonel Mark Mitchell Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Distinguished Service Cross, Afghanistan -- 179 -- 13 Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith Tampa, Florida: Medal of Honor, Iraq -- 201 -- 14 Marine Sergeant Rafael Peralta Tijuana, Mexico: Purple Heart, Nominated for the Medal of Honor, Iraq -- 219 -- Afterword: Have the Mainstream Media Ignored Our Heroes? -- 233.