Taking the Hill: From Philly to Baghdad to the United States Congress

This is an outstanding book by and about the type of public servant our country needs. It gives great insight into the political process and the evolution of a young and dynamic Congressman.

Patrick Murphy has written his autobiography. This book details how a street fighting kid from Northeast Philadelphia wound up teaching at West Point, serving in the Iraq War, and getting elected to Congress, all by age 33. Patrick Murphy graduated from Widener Law School in Harrisburg and joined the JAG Corps. He also became one of the few JAG lawyers to also complete paratrooper training. Indeed, he was the first attorney to complete 82nd Airborne Division training in two decades. Then he found himself one of the youngest professors at West Point, where he also wrote a column entitled "Murphy's Law" for the official Military Academy newspaper. While serving in the JAG Corps, Murphy was the Command Judge Advocate for a district that ranged from Sarajevo to Hungary. He then was assigned to Iraq where he served as both an attorney and as a soldier on patrol. As a military attorney, he handled the very sensitive subject of Iraqi legal claims. As a soldier, he led patrols into dangerous zones, taking on pistol fire. Murphy witnessed war and military practices and he emerged from these experiences with strong opinions. He finds the dismissal of gays from the military to be very counterproductive, especially since there is a shortage of troops. He finds it dangerous to the remaining troops that 3,500 troops, including 50 Arab language interpreters, have been dismissed at a time when the remaining troops are being overly stretched in what they need to do. Murphy is upset over the use of private contractors in Iraq are paid as much as $150,000 a year tax free for tasks such as gardening and sorting mail when privates in combat earn $15,000 a year. There are about as many private contractors in Iraq as there are troops. He was further upset that these contractors fell outside the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which meant they could not be prosecuted for just about anything they did wrong in Iraq, including killing civilians. When Murphy was elected to Congress, he proposed the Iraq Accountability Act that called for better oversight and scrutiny of how our money is spent on contractors and to eliminate the fraud and waste he saw in this system. Murphy was frustrated as seeing how the military failed to provide body armor to troops. 80% of Marines who died in Iraq could have lived had they worn such armor. He was further startled to see that vehicles lacked proper protection against mines and even after years of this being pointed out, only 6,000 vehicles were properly provide with the correct protective attachments. He is upset that this is a war where standing by existing slow delivery contracts with suppliers takes priority over rapid production of what troops require. He notes how our country could build 57,000 tanks, 109,000 airplanes, and 31,000 beach landing vehicles in a matter of months during World War II. He compares that to our inability to come close to that level of productivity today. Bureaucracy upset Murp

This is a great book, not a good book, but a great book. As someone who has done multiple tours in Iraq, I can say with pleasure how thrilled I am that Congressman Murphy is on the Hill representing our interests. He is a leader who has clearly not forgotten where he comes from and this story reflects that both in its telling and in his values. The life he describes in Iraq as a deployed officer is one I know all too well and I must admit it was a bit painful for me to read some sections of this book. The frustration and exhaustion are experiences I have had too often over the course of the past few years. If you are looking for story on the "reality" on the ground this is it. All the way!!!

Many reviewers have been, understandably, so taken with the almost Dickensian account of Patrick Murphy's rise from a blue collar childhood in Northeast Philadelphia to become, at 34, the first Iraq War veteran to serve in the US Congress (via a stint as the youngest professor of Constitutional Law at the US Military Academy at West Point) that they may miss the central message of this remarkable book--"bring our troops home!" Almost immediately after he was sworn in as a Congressman from Pennsylvania's 8th district in January 2007, Murphy introduced HR 787, the Iraq De-escalation Act of 2007--binding legislation that would have begun phased redeployment of troops from Iraq by May 1, 2007, with the goal of getting all combat troops out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. Vetoed by the not quite lame enough duck president, this legislation has itself been redeployed (and revetoed) time and again. It'll be interesting to see how Murphy's pertinacity pays off with a Democratic president (especially since the candidate he's backing--Barack Obama--co-sponsored the Iraq De-escalation Act in the Senate).

When I was a boy (40 years ago) I read the autobiography of another Murphy - America's most decorated serviceman of WWII - Audie Murphy. As I read TAKING THE HILL, I was transported back in time as I marveled at the integrity, patriotism, modesty, and commitment to family, faith and country that filled the pages in Patrick Murphy's new autobiography. He reminded me of what is best about our great country. His rise from the streets of Philadelphia to the Halls of Congress is a testament to the power of the American Dream. This Murphy served in a different war and a different time - and his exploits are not the daring heroics of the battlefield as much as they are the principled battles to win hearts and minds at West Point, in Baghdad and on the political campaign trail. But what shines through is a voice that is unabashedly proud of America, of freedom, and of the values that many cynics no longer believe can be found in our fractured country. With a modest voice and a pure heart, Patrick Murphy delivers a classic American story. A trouble-making kid who finally grows up and takes responsibility for his life, who learns the importance of service through his family, his faith, his friends, and the military. And who shares the challenges of modern warfare that our political system has become. His values of duty, service, hard work, determination, and straightforwardness provide a road map for young people to follow. I put the book down and thought how lucky we are to have a leader for this new generation who reminds me that the lessons and sacrifices of the greatest generation were not really lost after all. Patrick Murphy's story is an inspiring journey and should be read by those who are looking for a reason to be confident in troubled times. With Patrick Murphy now in the Congress of the United States, a working class hero has been born - although I can't imagine this courageous and modest young leader would ever use those words about himself.