Retired Colonel Jeff O’Leary documents a Legacy of Hope in Brave Hearts Under Red Skies

"Where does faith go when the blue skies disappear? When my heart is broken and I sit in grief holding the pieces of my life, does God still care? When all I’ve trusted seems foolish in the face of my present circumstances, can God bring good out of evil?” Retired Colonel Jeff O’Leary poses these seminal questions in his new book, Brave Hearts Under Red Skies (Cook Communications/May 2003). This Legion of Merit holder, longtime member of the United States Air Force, humanitarian, and consultant for Fox Television understands what it means to trust in God in faith-trying circumstances: While serving as a Peacekeeper in Northern Israel during the Gulf War, he survived a nightly Iraqi missile barrage and a café bombing while evacuating innocent civilians.

As an author, O’Leary’s books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and appeared on the New York Times Bestseller’s List. Now, with Brave Hearts Under Red Skies, he addresses an issue that takes on a resonant significance as America prepares for a showdown with Iraq: How can Faith and War coexist? The book documents the stories of our country’s unsung heroes throughout two centuries of American life, believers who combined their faith in God with courage to endure the crucible of war; believers who put their trust in God even though their worlds were falling apart. In the preface to his book, Colonel O’Leary says, “I wrote this book as a kind of prayer. It was a prayer that no matter what your circumstances, you would find Him present in the sunlight of your joy as well as the darkness of your sorrow. Sometimes, the weight of our sorrow seems great enough to crush out our faith and future…then God has never been nearer to you than He is now. I cannot promise that you will find all the answers in this book, but you will find a God big enough to hold all of your questions.”