Until recently, I was an avid consumer of Fox News. Yes, people like Brett Baier annoyed the living daylights out of me, but most of the Fox on-air personalities all seemed reasonable. Of course, Fox News is not broadcast in my home any longer (Free Tucker Carlson). That doesn’t mean that I won’t read books written by the personalities I like. I like Benjamin Hall. I loved his book, Saved.

At just under 300 pages, Saved is a good, page-turning read. The book discusses his adrenaline addiction, my words, as a war correspondent. I don’t use adrenaline addiction as a slur. I am the Mother and Aunt of Paratroopers. I know the signs. Benji, the boy, sung in the choir and his now-wife picked him out as her future husband in primary school. Theirs is a beautiful love story that gets more beautiful. He adores his three daughters. He was proud of his work at Fox News. Then, Russia invaded Ukraine and Hall went to Kyiv. Reporting on war is like war itself. Long periods of boredom interspersed with intense, terrifying action. And then came March 14, 2022 when Hall’s life changed forever.

The car containing two Ukrainian soldiers in the front and Hall, producer/cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and translator Oleksandra Kuvshynova in the back was hit by three Russian projectiles. Kuvshynova was killed right away. Zakrzewski rolled out of the car, seemingly unhurt. It wasn’t until Hall heard his daughter’s voice did he move.

“I was as close to death as I think you can be, in a total silent blackness and into that blackness came my daughter, my seven-year-old daughter Honor. And she was right in front of me. As clearly as anything she said to me, ‘Daddy, you’ve got to get out of the car. You’ve got to get out of the car.’ And my eyes opened. I was brought quickly back into the world, and I grabbed my way towards the door of the car. And just after I had gotten out of the car, the third bomb hit the car itself. And that one threw me away and I was out for a little bit,” Hall recounted.
‘At that Moment, You Have to Pray’

Pierre Zakrzewski bled out from a femoral artery wound. Hall’s survival, with severe burns, eye wounds, shrapnel in his neck, hand and leg wounds, is a miracle and the miracles kept coming. They came through hard work from Save Our Allies and Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin. Save Our Allies is the group that got people out of Afghanistan after our government left them behind.

Our government said that we couldn’t officially go into Ukraine. Not even to save our own? Puhleeze. We are the United States. We still have citizens with skills. Mad skills. They got Benjamin Hall out of Ukraine by hook, crook and miracle. Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer and Medal of Valor recipient Chad Robichaux were his ambulance drivers. Mad freaking skills. Next is the Polish Prime Minister’s train and an Army Chinook helicopter. The first we civilians heard of it, Benjamin Hall tweeted:

#BenjaminHall
“To sum it up, I’ve lost half a leg on one side and a foot on the other,” Benjamin Hall wrote “One hand is being put together, one eye is no longer working, and my hearing is pretty blown… I feel pretty damn lucky to be here – … amazing!” https://t.co/vDpLE5nCW5

— Anne Sotelo (@somasyntax) April 8, 2022

With a correspondent’s mind, Hall took notes when he was cogent enough to do so. He makes light of some aspects of his wounds but the meds, the pain and the nights of darkness come through anyway. The people who stayed with him, the surgeons, the other patients in the medical centers all became heroes in his story that provided what he needed at that time. Doggone, we Americans are so totally cool. Not the elites who couldn’t find their backsides with both hands behind their backs, but the real Americans.

Hall is going to need a lot more surgeries and physical therapy. But, he is now back at work. He interviewed that bete noir and raging A$$wipe Secretary of State Antony Blinken last night:

Antony Blinken treated Benjamin Hall like he was an idiot. All the way through the interview. We saw it.

Buy and read his book. Saved is a great read and will make you believe in Miracles and America again.

Featured Image: Darleen Click for Victory Girls