I worked with Kara in VAQ-33 and became a close friend. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding her training or death, anybody that took the time to get to know her was impressed. She was cocky, funny, sensitive and more driven than anyone else I've ever met. Thinking of her drive to pursue her goals has helped me persevere to accomplish my own dreams. Her mother has written a book that reflects who Kara was, and to me that is what it's all about - the amazing woman Kara Hultgreen was.

Even though the ending to this story is obvious from the outset, it was still difficult to read and no doubt was much more so for her mother to write. I didn't realize the amount of turmoil the military services were going through at the time which was to me a big contributor to the second guessing and backbiting that resulted from the crash and subsequent investigations. Ms. Spears has been accused of bias, but come on - this was her daughter and I found it to be as objective as possible given that perspective. For the reader not into aviation the book has a lot of terms that would seem pretty dry but the story can't be told without them. The death of this woman was no more tragic than those of any other American out there with the passion to defend this country. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked the chance to have met Kara.