Thank You for My Service

As an extremely proud Honorably Discharged Viet Nam Era Veteran… I salute with dignity and echoing pride the highly honored veteran… and author… Mat Best! With this book… and his platform… he is doing something… that was… and is… scorned … with extreme disdain… and prejudice… by the incestuous… despicable… spineless… “politically-correct”… crowd (who mostly never served our country honorably)… and that is utilizing one of American Military’s… men and women’s… greatest… most powerful weapons… and that is gallows humor! In my opinion and experience… there is no “healthy” way to get through your tour of duty… without a heavy… constant dose… of the aforementioned… “GALLOWS-HUMOR”. Trying to serve your country during a military conflict without “GALLOWS-HUMOR”… would be like a hemophiliac trying to live without blood transfusions.Mat… a former U.S. Army Ranger… takes the sharing of “GALLOWS-HUMOR”… to perhaps the highest… most… hilarious level… I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime! And believe me… long before there was a Mat Best… I did my duty with great deranged enthusiasm… but never had a platform like Mat does today. His writing style is “above-and-beyond”… hilarious. But what makes this book…. “above-and-beyond”… other military books… is that along with the hysterics… the heart and soul… the love of country… the love of your BROTHERS IN THE FORCE… the heartbreak of the lives lost… is never… ever… forgotten… or minimized.My prediction is about a thousand reviews of this book in… there will be about nine-hundred-seventy… five star ratings… and about thirty… one or two star ratings… with comments like…”disgusting… I couldn’t read any further”… or” too much foul language”… or “treats human life too poorly”… well the hell with those wussy politically correct wusses! This is the first book in ages that literally made me laugh out loud by myself… and then a few pages later… made me look myself in the mirror and dig into the secret vault that resides within me… and tell myself I’m thankful and proud of my honorable service… despite being treated so badly by my own country… and at the same time ache in that same special place… When Mat lost his two “BROTHERS-LEADERS-INSPIRATIONS”… DALE BREHM AND RICARDO BARRAZA.The author shares his families military background… and his “nurdness” and “geekdom” through his high school years… and his tremendous re-birth in the military that included his hysterical… triumphant… physical… sexual conquest… when he returned for his “block” leave early in his military career. As I think about all the claaassssiiiiccc stories I want to share from this book… I immediately realize I could write a book with them all… so I’ll just say you’ll enjoy his sexual adventure with a girl that dissed him in high school… as he has his way with her on top of an old garage door… masquerading as a bed… in her families nine-hundred-square-foot home… in their garage… which also is her brothers bedroom… who actually uses the old garage door as a bed. Hoo!! Haa!!I have to share verbatim one story… so I can team up with Mat in kicking any politically correct person reading this review… while looking for and finding the remains of a suicide bomber he writes:“There is no amount of water, no camera angle, no Instagram filter ,that is going to make up for the lack of a face.” “When we turned our attention to Lil’ Sammy Suicide Bomber, we discovered to my great displeasure that all we were able to find were his legs and ass. There are three people on this planet I can identify from those body parts alone; Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, and that South African sprinter who killed his girlfriend.”Take that you politically correct lowlifes! One last personal hilarious bond I feel with the author. Though I proudly display my Honorable Discharge on the wall in my house… I also accrued a handful of *ARTICLE 15’S* during my fateful run… so I got an absolute unmatchable wink and nod with Mat… when I saw that he is a co-founder of ARTICLE 15 CLOTHING! What a claaasssiiic inside joke my brother! Buy this book unless you are incurably politically correct!

The book was well paced, easy to read, and full of humor. It contained some valuable lessons and values along the way that will stick with you (hopefully). I appreciated every minute of it. My only regret is letting it sit on my shelf for a year before getting around to reading it.

This book is freaking hilarious. I got the recommendation from a chat on a Nikko Ortiz live stream. It is an interesting look into a veteran's point of view and experiences. I'm obviously not one but I appreciate what they have done. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think. That's exactly what I look for in a book.

So the past few days, in lieu of the same old Dr. Seuss and nursery rhymes, I have been reading Mat's book to my boys (ages 3 and 1) before bed each night. Upon finishing the book last night, as I left my 3 year old's room, I could swear I heard him exhale a sweet "kee-awk" before turning over and drifting off to sleep. Little did I know what today would have in store.As they arose from their slumber, both boys emerged with full-grown and perfectly groomed beards. My 1 year old, barely able to walk, flipped out of his crib like he was breezing through a boot camp obstacle course. My 3 year old, with bravado I have rarely seen, sauntered his way to the kitchen and slammed the last half of my cup of Black Rifle Coffee (CAF blend, #freshroastedfreedom). He then proceeded to knock out 50 form-perfect burpees without breaking a sweat. After pulling my agape jaw off the floor, we ventured on to daycare.Daycare. Unfortunately, I got a call that there was a fire. Tragic, I know. But everyone survived. Reports have it that the 3 year old not only helped all other children to safety, but he also pulled 2 teachers out of the smoke filled building before first responders arrived. Not to be outdone, my 1 year old took a swig of milk, spit it out on the ground, and helped the fire dept man the hose. When I picked them up, I overheard my 3 year old say, as he stared off into the distance, "Not today, ISIS. Not today."I was so proud, I let them pick out their own dinner tonight. Obviously, my 3 year old is the only one who can speak, so he requested ground bison burgers with a side of tomahawk steak. Of course I obliged. After dinner, I was telling my wife about the day's events as the boys played. Again, with the swagger of unmatched proportions, the 3 year old turns to me and grins, "Dad, watch this." He ran outside and returned right away holding a small piece of paper with the neighbor girl's phone number. She's 15. Again, he's 3. Well played, son. Well played.You might say that this book has been a game changer. So parents, if you want to add a little freedom, some heroics, and a dash of gallantry and confidence to your children's lives, read them this book. Hell, you might need a little pep in your soul as well. Buy it and read it for yourself. Feel the freedom swell in your loins as you stand a little taller and puff out your chest a little more. Because got dammit. America.

About 2 hours before my copy arrived, I found out my girlfriend wanted to break up with me. I was not in a good place. I didn't even register when my dad dropped an amazon parcel on my desk when it arrived. After a few hours of wondering how the f*** this happened, I opened the parcel and that had my preordered copy. I'd honestly forgotten it was coming. Reminded of his youtube videos and how much they made me laugh, I thought I'd see if Mat Best could put a smile on my face even through this.2 hours later, my dad came up to see what the hell I was laughing about and to see if I'd actually lost it.This book is amazing. It manages to balance the serious side of life, war, and self-worth. While also capturing the brilliant slightly (in some cases very) dark humor that makes his youtube videos so good. Whether your a long time fan of Mat's youtube channel, or a supporter or his work with Black Rifle Coffee, or just looking for a brilliant story of military life and after, I cannot recommend this book enough. You will not be disappointed.

This book pretty much has it all, once I started reading it I was hooked and could not put the book down, my only negative point (and it's not even a negative) was that I wished the book was much longer, not that I think it needed to be but simply I would have happily continued reading about Mat's life and work!In summary, buy it, read it, love it!

An amazing book by someone who has "been there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it" Mat has come out of it all kicking and screaming and bringing so much humour with it, he and his buddies are true patriots and heroes helping those that that need it most .... A MUST read

Absolutely fantastic book and really funny. I have never sat down and read a book from beginning to end, but I could not put this down and smashed it out in 5 days.

This is an awesome read. Always love everything the BRCC guys put out, and this was nothing less than an exceptional read