Thomas Hatfield’s Rudder from Leader to Legend
sueannlockard@lockardandwhite.com
If you like inspiring biographies, if you like military history and even if you have not previously, if you are an American patriot, if you are a proud Texan, if you feel the Aggie Spirit, if you have a passion for education, and if you believe in Divine guidance, this book is for you.
Previously I knew Earl Rudder as the visionary President of Texas A&M who had a military background and was the guiding force in transitioning Texas A&M from an all male, compulsory military school to a co-educational institution with no military requirement. The rest of his story is so much larger than life. He never planned to go to college, but one event after another in his life kept him moving toward a destiny and place in history even he would not have believed had he not lived it. He was a very honorable man who made the absolute most of every opportunity that came his way, and in doing so had a rather large impact on the world.
The author, Thomas Hatfield, travels back to Earl Rudder’s early life in Brady, Texas. He writes in such a way, that he involved me in the story and the individual, so that I, who had never read any military history, could not wait to turn each page wading through and learning details of World War II and the D Day Invasion with such rapt interest that, other than falling asleep while holding the book, I did not put it down until I had finished.
I love to read and this is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. I think this is a book every American should own. It is much much larger than the story of a former Aggie President. It is about a man who, in his rather short life of 59 years, left a legacy immensely larger than he ever could have imagined for himself.
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