While researching for my latest book, contemporary fiction Silent Heroes, I discovered five secrets which I later revealed in my novel: one of them about the U.S. Marines’ true sacrifices. The other four secrets involve a hidden underground fortress, the hush-hushed holes in the military chain of command, a secret too dangerous to even be researched and shared, involving the Taliban, and one inconceivable in the 21st century, involving women’s rights.

Secrets revealed: U.S. Marines’ lifestyle in a war zone forward operating base, FOB

secrets revealed U.S. Marines Silent Heroes — Secrets revealed: U.S. Marines’ humanity and lifestyle at war

So many simple things we often take for granted, like the song of a bird, the peace of the early morning, or a birthday cake. These are all highly-priced commodities in a military base in Afghanistan. The smaller sized bases often don’t have a cook (or didn’t used to, at the very beginning of the War in Afghanistan), thus food reaches the soldiers in form of meals ready to eat, MREs.
MRE First Strike is provided to soldiers when they go on a mission outside the base. These include three meals in one pack, enough food for an entire day. The MREs have numbers, each number corresponding to a different menu.

A First Strike MRE contains enough food to last a U’S. soldier for an entire day. There are, individually wrapped: a bag of tuna, beef sandwich, tortillas, crackers, apple sauce, lemon pudding cake, dessert bar, corn nuggets, cheese spread, mayonnaise, pepper sauce, nut & raisins mix, various flavors energy bars, instant coffee, lemon-flavored powder beverage in a level-marked waterproof bag, also a tropical punch one, coffee creamer, coffee, sugar, salt, chewing gum, moist towel, napkins, matches, and a trash bag. All this amazing information was sourced from (but not limited to) Crazy Russian’s Hacker’s video. Have a look, he is extremely entertaining. It was my son who first introduced me to Taras Kulakov’ videos 🙂

More secrets revealed regarding all Marines’ sacrifices.

Birthday Cake made of a soldier’s meal ready to eat, MRE – heartbreaking in its humanity.

When one of your platoon mates turns 21 and you are all deployed in Afghanistan, no way to source a cake with blue and red icing – what do you do? You improvise the best that you can:

‘Right now, the two fellow Marines were assembling a surprise birthday cake for Seb by stacking together prepacked slices of pound cake, peanut butter cookies, Rice Krispies treats, jams and dessert bars, all saved from their military rations. Although FOB Day had a pretty good cook, birthday cakes were not part of the Marines’ menu. It’s been Dunn’s idea to fashion this MRE-sourced cake.
“After all, one turns 21 but once in his life,” he said.’
Silent Heroes

Imagine those U.S. Marines, away from their homes for three, six months at a time, having little means of communications with the family left behind, saving their rations to put together a single serving of birthday cake. Because it is their mate’s birthday and they want to celebrate it, to bring some home-feel to the cruelty of war. Create an oasis of serenity in the midst of the battlefield.
You can celebrate this birthday alongside the U’S. Marines fighting in Silent Heroes. They would surely appreciate your presence, as it will bring that home-feeling to a war-torn, sun-blazed piece of land that no one knows, anymore, why they still fight over.

secrets revealed Marines sacrifices. family

Are you ready to delve into the secrets revealed in Silent Heroes, involving the U.S. Marines, their bravery and sacrifices?

Amazon 5 Stars Review:
“Silent Heroes will prompt you to pause and think several times. It serves as a reminder of the ongoing, long-term struggles these people have endured under the Taliban and how lucky many of us are to live our lives as we want. You will feel both pride and sadness as you read about the Marines and the experiences of their teams. But you will also feel joy and hope about the sacrifices that are made for us each day. Silent Heroes is an incredible novel that I highly recommend. Regardless of your usual preferred genre, this is an excellent read that is realistic, full of well-developed characters, and will stay in your heart and mind long after finishing.”