Winner of the Author Elite Award for 2020 for Best Memoir. Award is based on literary merit and impact.

Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm saw Marcus deployed as part of an Apache Battalion. He arrived dreaming of the honor and glory that could be achieved in service and combat. And yet, victory would not be for him, not until he returned home.

As the war progressed, things happened. Stupid things. Embarrassing things. Things that were far from the honor and glory he eagerly desired. Combat should be an opportunity for valor, but what seemed like an opportunity, began to tear him down instead.

And yet there was light at the end; a blend of humility and frustration. In the midst of that war, something changed, and it just so happened that Desert Storm would be the beginning of a 17-year odyssey to Christ.

Part memoir and part evangelism, My Personal Desert Storm follows Marcus’ journey as he travailed the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 1991, where he was confronted with the reality of a flawed outlook about combat and life. Along the way, Marcus shares bits and pieces of his own radical conversion story and talks about how he draws on the sacrifice and love of Jesus Christ to help better understand his purpose and the depths of his own limitations.

"Honor and glory may have alluded me during the war, but victory was still his - and mine!"