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Mike Trahan wrote the second instalment of his spellbinding biography- The Gift: Part 2, finally! I was given a pre-release copy to read and review. What can I say? Not only is it one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, it has topped his first book “The Gift.” (Click here to read my review of Part 1.)

Hard to do? Well, yes, the first book was one of those biographies that kept the reader turning the pages. The mounds of 5-star reviews it received pretty much proved that it was a slam dunk from the start. Now, I was one of the first guys to review that book and frankly, I loved every moment of it. I learnt about myself, as well as about Mike Trahan.

Who is Mike Trahan? Mike is one of those guys from Texas you instantly want to share time with. He has stories, experiences and memories that most people will never attain. He was a pilot from the get-go, he went to Vietnam, came back and settled down with his family and became the ultimate family man. He doesn’t brag, boast or beg. He has a very conservative attitude towards the people he spends time with. Mike Trahan is a man you don’t mess around, but you can be sure if he likes you, he will be there for you.

All of this comes across clearly in his book. He has a way of making you feel like his best friend as he pours his life story out for you to read. He is talkative, jolly, friendly at times, but always with a hint of seriousness– any man who witnesses war will have that streak of seriousness. This book is about the Vietnam War- Mike tells it as he experienced it.

This volume has a harder edge to it than the first instalment. We are taken from Texas to a living hell. We are taken on flights that must have terrified and missions that honoured a country. We are told a love story, we are taught about the true meaning of a patriot. Mike Trahan pours his heart out with emotion, vigour and beauty as we are taken with him on a voyage of destruction and re-birth.

This book is another 5-star volume. You can’t afford to miss this one. If you do then you will be missing a part of history you can’t find elsewhere.

The Gift: Part 2- Coming Soon!

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Mike Trahan has written a book that really does something quite strange. It used to be a fact that a memoir would be a written account of the life of someone with a series of stories to tell. In modern times, post-1990 I mean, the memoir genre has been hijacked by every celebrity, near-miss pop star and TV personality in town. What has happened to stories of men who struggled against the odds to get to where they wanted to be?

Mike Trahan is what happened.

Now, that sounds a little dramatic– I grant you, I am rather dramatic. I got my copy of this book and I sat down expecting an interesting tale of a guy from Texas who got his wings and coped with life. What I actually found was the history of a time, a place, a family and the struggles and problems a family faced. Mike writes with striking honesty about his life– his father and his mother who raised him on a small farm over in West Orange, Texas. The man who would become Captain Mike Trahan started as just ordinary Mike who spent summers playing with his cousins and living off the land. This boy grew up poor, but never knew about poverty, because his family was so rich with love and devotion. He also left school at the beginning of eighth grade and didn’t look back. He just found another school, another route into his desired occupation. This book is not about great achievements, it’s not about fame– this book is about life, and most importantly, how you can deal with life.

Turning the pages, Mike writes as though he is telling you his stories over a beer and a smoke on a slowly closing day. You can feel the warmth of the love he has for his mother and the drive and ambition he had to reach his goal of being a pilot. You can pick any page of this book and you will learn something about Mike and in the process you will learn something about yourself. This is the real journey of life. Mike was lucky enough to know what he wanted from life– he took a fateful flight when he was fifteen and knew that he wanted to fly planes. So, Mike geared his whole life to fulfil that dream. He wouldn’t stop until he had his wings. That is the crux of the story. He didn’t sit back and say “I want to fly, but I am scared.” He looked at what needed to be done and he went straight ahead and did it. There were false roads and dead-ends of course. Mike spent two years on a football scholarship– it didn’t work out so he just changed schools and finished his education and jumped through the open window instead of banging his head on a firmly closed door. Trahan then found that he had a cyst on his tailbone– a cyst that would have made it impossible for him to join the forces. Did that stop him? You bet your ass it didn’t! He had it removed and bided his time until he could reconnect with his dream. Actually, this book isn’t really about flying or cysts or stories; this book is about finding your goal in life and creating acheivement. This book is about choices, actions, the ability to think for yourself and create your own future.

As you read The Gift you will be hooked by a book that has all the hallmarks of a touching and inspiring story. You will feel the love, the trials, the tribulations, the problems, the successes, the failures. You will discover a world that has all but disappeared now. You will hear stories of times long past; you will learn of a man who not only succeeded in his attempts, but he failed and he learnt from his failures. He didn’t give up; he didn’t say he couldn’t make it; he kept on going and going and going and going… He stood his ground and, sure, he hit the dust a few times, but Mike Trahan born in 1942 in West Orange, Texas, became Captain Mike Trahan after achieving over 600 hours of flying time whilst at college, whilst juggling his life, whilst living and breathing and striving.

For a guy like me, that’s a story I want to read. I know you will, too. Get the book and sit down and learn who the real Mike Trahan really is…and you may just learn something about yourself, too.

By Nick Wale