The riveting story of how a young boy's upbringing with outlaw culture and charismatic role models forged him into an elite Marine and a decorated Pararescueman.

"Absence of self is my sword" comprises the final line in "The Warrior's Creed," a 14th century poem written by an unknown Japanese Samurai, and this is the code Master Sergeant Roger Sparks embodied as a Recon Marine turned Alaskan Pararescueman. A living legend in the military, Sparks first made a name for himself within elite Marine Reconnaissance units. He went on to become an instructor where he trained future Reconnaissance Marines with unorthodox and ancient indigenous warrior techniques. A decade later, the same methods would keep him and others alive, when he hoisted into a maelstrom of violence to rescue an embattled platoon in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

Introduced to a tough code of honor, family, and brotherhood from birth, Roger Sparks rose to become a distinguished...