They are the troops that nobody wants to see, carrying a message that no military family ever wants to hear. It begins with a knock at the door. "The curtains pull away. They come to the door. And they know. They always know," said Major Steve Beck.

Since the start of the war in Iraq, marines like Major Beck found themselves thrown into a different kind of mission: casualty notification. It is a job Major Beck never asked for and one for which he received no training. They are given no set rules, only impersonal guidelines.

Marines are trained to kill, to break down doors, but casualty notification is a mission without weapons. For Beck, the mission meant learning each dead marine's name and nickname, touching the toys they grew up with and reading the letters they wrote home. He held grieving mothers in long embraces, absorbing their muffled cries into the dark blue shoulder of his uniform. He stitched himself into the fabric of their lives, in the simple hope that his compassion might help alleviate at least the smallest piece of their pain. Sometimes he returned home to his own family unable to keep from crying in the dark.

In Final Salute, Pulitzer Prize &winning journalist Jim Sheeler weaves together the stories of the fallen and of the broken homes they have left behind. It is also the story of Major Steve Beck and his unflagging efforts to help heal the wounds of those left grieving. Above all, it is a moving tribute to our troops, putting faces to the mostly anonymous names of our courageous heroes, and to the brave families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Final Salute is the achingly beautiful, devastatingly honest story of the true toll of war. After the knock on the door, the story has only begun.

Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

"A Pulitzer-winning journalist looks at the impact of war deaths on the home front. Sobering, touching stories told with deep respect."

Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"In Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jim Sheeler pays tribute to the soldiers who died in the Iraqi War by bringing them back to life through the eyes, ears, heartache and hope of the loved ones they left behindBecause of achingly touching imagesand the other remarkably resilient people we meet, Final Salute is not really about war, but about love and strength and grit and how, regardless of politics, we honor our troops to the end."

Parade.com

"Jim Sheeler's Final Salute is an act of national service. Like no other book I've seen, it captures the human costs of going to war. Combat's pride and pain are here, along with the tragic truth that some give all, while most give none. This is a beautiful book that deserves, demands, to be read."

Nathaniel Fick, author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

"Final Salute is an"extraordinary book, an"exploration of a national loss"that we badly need. Jim Sheeler writes with such direct honesty about an absolutely heart-rending subject that you will very likely read much of it, as I did, with tears in your eyes. And yet you will want to read every page, gathering along the way an intensely deepened appreciation and love for America's communities, its citizens, and its servicemen and women."

Nick Arvin, author of Articles of War

"Final Salute is a searing and unforgettable piece of work from one of the most supernaturally gifted reporters of our time. Jim Sheeler has the heart and the talent to chronicle the real cost of war. With his quiet persistence and endless empathy, he guides the reader inside hushed and sacred moments that most of us can scarcely imagine."

Thomas French, author of Unanswered Cries and South of Heaven, and winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing

"Jim Sheeler's Final Salute should be required reading for all Americans and their elected leaders. It is not pro or anti war, but instead a gripping account of combat's price on the families of the fallen. Final Salute is also the inspirational and often heartbreaking story of the incredible, heroic efforts of a Marine officer to help ease the pain of these families. Jim Sheeler should be saluted for providing a heartfelt view inside the returns home from Iraq that too often pass unrecognized by the American public."

Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, author of Chasing Ghosts

"With his words, Jim Sheeler has taken what has been a very personal journey for all the families of the fallen and opened the eyes of the world to the tears and sacrifice we have made and the respect and honor paid to our sons. He has been given a magnificent gift of writing from the heart...I could not have been more proud of him if he were my own son."

Terry Cooper, mother of Marine Lance Corporal Thomas Slocum, the first Coloradan killed in Iraq