Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Best-selling author and former Marine Oliver North (left) autographs a copy of his new...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Public Affairs
FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Even though he is a decorated veteran of the war in Iraq, Sgt. 1st Class John Duggins doesn't think of himself as an "American Hero." So it came as quite a surprise when Duggins saw his face on the cover of a new book with that name written by best-selling author Oliver North.
"People started calling me up as soon as they saw it saying, 'Hey, you're on the cover of a book!' I was like, 'Yeah, right. Shut up," recounted Duggins, 37, a platoon sergeant with Battery B of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment.
At first, Duggins thought his buddies were playing a prank on him, but they were telling the truth – it is indeed his face staring out from the front cover of North's just-released book, "American Heroes."
The book is a tribute to U.S. military personnel serving on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cover photo - taken last September while Duggins' unit was in the middle of a 15-month deployment to Iraq – shows him out on patrol looking steely-eyed and ready for action with his M4 at the low-ready.
"We were looking for a Captain America photo, and that one just jumped out at us," said Chuck Holton, the book's co-author, who ended up selecting Duggins' photo from a pool of hundreds of other possibilities.
The book has turned Duggins into something of a minor celebrity, complete with his own publicist: his mother, Ruth.
"We've called just about everybody we know to tell them about it," Mrs. Duggins said.
The photo has already made Duggins famous in his hometown of Madison, N.C. His picture is hanging up on the wall at the local tavern.
On the other hand, Duggins' newfound celebrity has also earned him some ribbing from his fellow paratroopers.
"We all say, 'Hey, what's up, American Hero?" said Capt. Josh Richardson, Duggins' battery commander.
Duggins, a humble man of few words, said he prefers to avoid the spotlight. He said he didn't do anything worthy of a spot on the front cover, even suggesting that a different photo on the back of the book of a Soldier carrying a wounded comrade would have been a better choice.
"That should be the one on the cover. That's the real hero," Duggins said modestly.
But if Duggins wasn't exactly thrilled to be in the limelight, his two sons, Taylor, 15, and Cody, 13, were more enthusiastic about the book. Taylor even gave it the ultimate teenage endorsement.
"It's cool. I put it up on my MySpace page," he said.
Duggins' appearance on the book's cover even earned him a chance to meet with Oliver North personally. As fate would have it, North was passing through Fayetteville on a book signing tour and arranged to meet Duggins after a signing at a local Barnes & Noble book store May 6.
At the store, a line of customers clutching copies of "American Heroes" for North to sign snaked out the door. Some of them did double takes when they saw Duggins waiting outside with his family. One man recognized Duggins from the cover photo.
"Wow, he even looks mean in real life," the man noted.
"No he doesn't," Ruth Duggins said protectively.
After the signing was over, Duggins and his family were taken into a back area of the store to meet with Oliver North privately. When North entered the room, he gave Duggins a giant bear hug.
North, a former lieutenant colonel in the Marines and a war hero in his own right, said he has nothing but admiration for Duggins and all the other Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines serving in today's Armed Forces. He said Duggins was the perfect choice to appear on the cover of his book.
"He represents a generation of American heroes that the American people need to know," North said.
North presented Duggins and his sons with free, signed copies of "American Heroes," and then asked Duggins to autograph a few copies for him. Like a seasoned pro Duggins began scrawling his name across the front covers of a stack of books.
"We're so proud of him," Ruth Duggins said as she watched her son sign his name. "This whole thing is just unbelievable."
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2008 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 19235 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 801 |
| Downloads: | 754 |
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