If I Don't Return: A Father's Wartime Journal

Author: Lieutenant General (Ret ). Mar Hertling
Publisher: Ballast Books
Published: 03/10/2026
Pages: 350
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.78d
ISBN: 9781971678092

About the Author
Hertling, Mark: - Lieutenant General (Retired) Mark Hertling served thirty-eight years in the US Army as a tanker and cavalryman while also spending thirty-eight months in combat in multiple roles: as a major in a cavalry squadron during Desert Storm; as an assistant division commander in the 1st Armored Division in Baghdad (2003-2004); and later as the commander of the 1st Armored Division in Northern Iraq (2007-2008). After retiring from the army, Mark became a senior vice president for a major health care organization and later became a professor of practice in strategic leadership at the Crummer School of Business at Rollins College. He is an active public speaker on leadership, national security issues, and health care. From 2014 to 2024, Mark appeared as a military and national security analyst for CNN/CNN International. Today, he is a freelance analyst and writes extensively on national security and leadership issues for a variety of media outlets. His book If I Don't Return offers reflections of life and service based on a journal he wrote to his young sons during Desert Storm. Mark is married to his best friend, Sue. They have two sons, five grandsons, and two granddaughters.

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