Baby Jack

This is a novel about a family who lose a son to the American war effort in Iraq, told from the perspective of several subjects. While fiction, it is based on the stories of real people, including those of the author himself, and makes for moving reading in the view of this UK civilian. Some of it may shock readers with its unconventional religious perspective, but it expresses an honest view worthy of being heard. Readers of the non-fiction works that Schaeffer has already written about his family's story as a 'military family' will have some idea of what to expect. This is a powerful story that encourages patriotism and respect for the virtues of soldiers that serve their country without stint. Highly recommended, but for adult readers only, in view of some of its contents.

Great war stories are not about combat. They are about the fractured lives and wounded souls of the combatants -- in and out of uniform. In BABY JACK, Frank Schaeffer captures the raw humanity of Jack Ogden's story as no other other war novel I have read. He also offers the hope that understanding, reconciliation, and spiritual renewal will unfold in each life that humbly seeks it. Late yesterday afternoon UPS delivered my copy of BABY JACK. Last night, mesmerized by Frank Schaeffer's brilliantly voiced characters, I read the story through in one sitting. I relived my experiences as a young Marine through Jack; I fell in love with Jessica; and, I hated everything I saw of myself in Todd. Many years ago I, like Jack Ogden, chose the Marines over college. I was squad leader and "honor Marine" in boot camp. Like Jack, my father did not come to my graduation. I had seen him only two times as a young child. In DaNang, our perimeter was overrun by North Vietnamese Army regulars. I was blown off the road by an explosion from a rocket propelled grenade while taking a wounded Marine to an aid station. I spent the night trapped in deep grass clutching a grenade and waiting to die. My sister worked for Robert McNamara. Every day she checked the Pentagon "Casualty List" searching for my name. Like Jack, I volunteered to serve but my family was drafted into the war. Through BABY JACK I relived my experiences as a combat Marine and a was given the opportunity to experience how my family suffered in untold ways as have countless others. Great literary novels are character driven -- and this is one for our time.

Through BABY JACK Frank Schaeffer has created characters that although fiction are real. You might know some of the characters yourself, I do. Schaeffer is an intelligent, witty writer - he can make you laugh through your sobs and believe me, you will experience both emotions as you read BABY JACK. Through a special cadence of writing from different points of view, we see a young man who could be anything in the world he wanted to, become just that, a United States Marine, we see how others in his life respond because, as Schaeffer writes at one point, "Jack entlisted, the rest of us were drafted." There are some powerful emotions at play in this book - read it and give thanks that there are real men/women in this country willing to become a Marine. I strongly suggest you also read Keeping Faith and Faith of Our Sons also written by Frank Schaeffer - these books should be required reading for all Americans. Do I hear movie????

Frank Schaeffer is my father, and as such you might expect me to be biased (which I won't deny), but if you look at any of the other reviews on any of his other books on this site (which I encourage you to do) you will see that I have written nothing about them. I never even put a plug in for Keeping Faith-A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps, which we wrote together. I have read and liked them all, and I hope you also will read them, but never before has one of his books affected me as this one has. I see how the life of a family very like my own might have played out if things had been just a little different, if someone like me had never returned from a war zone. The experience of reading BABY JACK was akin to George Bailey's in It's a Wonderful Life, watching the life of everyone around him play out as if he had never existed. Reading BABY JACK was both a surreal and wonderful experience at the same time and I hope that you will read Dad's book and glimpse how the life of a family can be forever changed by a single choice or a single event.

This might well be Frank Schaeffer's finest book. Altho a well-written novel in it's own right, "Baby Jack" takes on the important topic of the huge and growing chasm in America today between those who've served in the military and those who do not. With the fictional Ogden family as the setting, with the liberal father vs. the Marine-recuit son, the book discusses the value today of service to the country, why it's so important in today's society, and perhaps why the fabric of America is being threatened by the casual and "you do it" attitude so prevalent today. And the novel itself is simply brilliant ! God hanging out at Parris Island ? God as a D.I. ? OOH-RAH, Mr. Schaeffer, for a job well done !