Ernest Leroy Webb is a great patriot, a phenomenal leader, and a dear friend. But most of all, he is a warrior... a warrior with a heart.
These seemingly contradictory two words are, in fact, complementary.
Webb is a combat hero, brave beyond the pale. He is a ferocious fighter and fearless leader. He is a warrior in the spiritual sense of fighting for good against evil.
At the same time, he possesses great compassion for mankind, including the enemy he has been ordered to fight. He is extremely passionate about his country, his fellow soldiers, and his family. He has a heart for humanity.
This book is written for anyone who ever knew Ernie Webb and anyone wishing to read the biography of an amazing leader. Military history buffs will enjoy the many true accounts, including stories from West Point and the Vietnam War.
The three authors, Bob Carroll, Jim Ellis, and Jack Fagan, teamed up to write this fascinating biography of their friend of 60+ years.
In the Preface, Bob Carroll writes: "I first met Webb on July 1, 1958, the day we both arrived at West Point. We were assigned to Company A2, one of the 24 hundred-man companies in the Corps of Cadets. After graduation in 1962, Webb and I served together in the US, Vietnam, Germany, and on the faculty at West Point. After retiring from the Army, we joined forces in teaching corporate executives the fundamentals of leadership."
The authors discovered an interview of Webb hosted on the Library of Congress website. As part of The Veterans History Project, a one-and-a-half-hour interview with Webb was conducted on June 10, 2019, by Joseph L. Galloway, coauthor of We Were Soldiers Once... and Young. This video interview is a treasure trove of stories, told in first-person by the man they pay tribute to in this book.
The Heart of a Warrior has an extraordinary feature for readers: throughout the book, the authors include eleven short video clips (1-3 minutes each) from the above-mentioned interview, where you can see and hear Ernie himself. These short clips are hosted on a special YouTube channel, easily accessible using QR (Quick Response) codes, the square images placed throughout the book.
The reading experience is enhanced as you view the short clips to see, hear, and appreciate the man and his stories.
The cover photo is of Ernie Webb, clutching Old Glory to his heart (2021).