Tough As They Come

Excellent book. Have read twice. Loaned out copy, which wasn't returned, so bought two more copies (one for me and one for my friend). I highly recommend. Travis Mills Foundation is awesome group that author started to help recalibrate veterans. Support a great cause and buy this book.

This is an excerpt from the Facebook post I wrote immediately after finishing this book: You know when you finish a book and just can’t stop thinking about it? When it sticks with you. Leaves you wanting to immediately read it again. When it makes you want to be a BETTER PERSON… I spent this week in paradise, reading the autobiography of a man who’s been through hell. It’s a book I feel certain every human should read. Especially now. About three years ago, I read an article about actor Gary Sinise’s foundation that builds adaptive houses for wounded veterans. Researching that charity, led me to a video of the home he built for SSG Travis Mills and his beautiful family. I started following Travis on Facebook, reading about his incredible story, finding inspiration in his posts. Last fall, I bought his book, Tough as They Come, the day it was released. Now I have a bunch of author friends who keep my kindle overstocked and my ‘to-be-read’ pile way too long, but I think I put off reading this story because I thought it would be hard It wasn’t. His words are like a salve. You laugh and cry. (Sometimes at the same time. Literally laughing with balls of snot rolling down your face.) Travis Mills is funny. He’s one of those guys whose big personality takes up more space in the room. One of those guys you instantly feel safer being around. A person people gravitate toward. You can tell all that by the second chapter. You can also tell he’s made of something a little different than the rest of us. His book tells simple front-line truths about war – the day-in-day-out of three tours in Afghanistan – that every single American should know. Hint: it’s not the picture we get from CNN. (Four showers in one year?) He talks about brotherhood and duty and never quitting. And you realize that our world is safe solely because men and women like Travis are still sleeping somewhere in the dirt tonight, surviving only on MREs and their incredible sense of honor. Travis is one of only five surviving quadruple amputees. Days shy of his 25th birthday an IED claimed both his legs and arms. Think about that for a minute. (As he jokes in his book – snap your fingers and wiggle your toes… life’s not that bad.) The story of his recovery is inspiring. Almost as much as the journey he and his (AMAZING) wife, Kelsey, are now taking to help other men and women like him. He’s never quit. He’s still serving his countrymen. “To live a life in freedom is cherished, desired, worth fighting for, worth getting wounded for, and even worth dying for.” I stopped ¾ of the way through the book and said to my husband, ‘I don’t know how guys like this aren’t totally pissed off at the rest of us.’ Here they are sacrificing for us and we are trying so hard to screw it up. They’ve gone across the world to live in dirt while people shoot at them. We sit at home behind our entitled keyboards and hurl nastiness. We stand in streets and fight with one another like school children who’ve forgotten old lessons. We owe it Travis to be better Americans. To be better humans. To honor the superheroes among us. Lay down your keyboards. Pick up his book. You'll be better for it. *****

This is a short book that was very inspirational so much so we now contribute monthly to the foundation. Purchased as a gift for our son as well. I found the story very heartbreaking at times and inspiring. How Travis survived and fought hard to recover is truly awesome. He has a wonderful wife and children that support him a testament to his character. I highly recommend! I read it during my recovery from surgery and admire his fortitude, Christian faith and perservance.

I saw Travis Mills on one of my morning TV shows earlier this week, hyping his book and foundation. To say I was totally in awe with this facinating young man is an understatement. By the time he was done being interviewed I had gone on Amazon and bought his book. This is not a genre of books I read. He impressed me so much with his dedication to help disabled vets, his humor, his out look on life and not giving up and quitting. I am so glad I did buy his book and read his story. This was a fantastic book! It is by far one of the best books I have ever read and I hope you will treat yourself and read his story. You won't regret it. This is definitely one book I will read again! Thank you Travis for serving our country!

"Tough As They Come" is SSG Travis Mills story of becoming 1 of 5 quadruple amputees in the USA while serving his country in Afghanistan. I was a little unsure of reading this book because I'm not comfortable with military speak but this book was easy to read. The military acronyms and maneuvers were explained in depth. In reading the book I felt as if I were a part of his life - a part of his family, his in-laws, and his platoon. "Never give up - never quit". His motto is good for anyone to live by every day. One of the most enjoyable parts of this book was the humor. SSG Mills' uses humor to keep the book from being overwhelming to the reader I believe and it works. I found myself laughing, crying and rooting for the soldiers. I can not recommend this book any more highly than 5 stars but I do want to say that purchasing this book helps SSG Mills' Foundation which is blessing many veterans and their families. You won't regret reading this book. And so many will be helped as well.

I was totally gripped by this recount of an amputee’s life as a soldier, patient, husband, father. It’s well documented the struggles soldiers face when they leave the army with PTSD and mental illness. So I can’t imagine the pure strength of character it takes to deal with losing a job/calling that you love, losing that feeling of brotherhood, losing your limbs…but not losing yourself. The conclusion that I came to about coming to terms with being an amputee is identity. Travis never lost sight of who and what he was a father and a husband.

Travis Mills shows that if you persevere and never give up - you can accomplish anything. His story is gritty and sometimes traumatic - but through it all, he shares his deep and utter joy for life. Let his journey inspire you.

A very moving and also inspiring story. I was greatly relieved to find little of 'oh poor me', but rather a gripping and emotionally stirring (for me at least) biography. Two thumbs up for this man, his outlook on life and his project!!

What an amazing story. It just shows that with the right attitude you can achieve anything. Great read, very inspirational.

Wonderful book.