QUIET HERO: Secrets of My Father's Past by Rita Cosby Released in Paperback This Week

The recent operation for Osama Bin Laden shows the strength of the US military and its importance in maintaining freedom and democracy for our country and throughout the world.

RITA COSBY knows this on a very personal level. She also knows about redemption, forgiveness and the value of faith.

As a renowned journalist for more than two decades, she was one of the first to report that Bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks, she also did an exclusive interview with then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf right after 9/11, where after hesitation, he said he would side with America versus the terrorist mastermind. Cosby also traveled to Afghanistan near Bin Laden’s original hide-out in Tora Bora where she spent time with our troops. She was the first journalist to witness an actual interrogation at Guantanamo and see the detainees up close.

Now, in her newly released paperback, QUIET HERO: Secrets From My Father’s Past, she reveals how her own father became a POW who was saved by US troops. Her father’s story is one of sheer courage and patriotism as he battled the Nazis in WWII as a teenage resistance fighter, escaping in the sewers and ultimately weighing only 90 pounds (standing six feet tall) when he was rescued.

QUIET HERO is also a rare glimpse into the deeply personal story of the effects of war on those who fight and their families. Cosby’s father never discussed his visible and invisible scars until now, and as a result, the journey has caused father and daughter to reunite after decades of estrangement.

Rita Cosby is now on a mission to help our wounded troops and their families. Significant proceeds from QUIET HERO go to the USO’s Operation Enduring Care program. Having served as a keynote speaker alongside many military leaders such as Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Rita is working tirelessly to give voice and raise awareness on the critical issue of Post Traumatic Stress and the debilitating long term effects confronting our troops and thereby impacting all our citizenry.

She has become the national spokesperson for ICAMI’s (International Committee Against Mental Illness) stress disorders program and the United Stress Disorders Association, which focus on helping those with PTSD. It’s estimated more than half a million of our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan alone will have some form of PTSD, with an estimated 18 veterans a day committing suicide.

QUIET HERO has also become required reading in psychology and social work courses focused on trauma and recovery in several US universities, including NYU and Fordham. Her father received a special commendation from the prestigious Medal of Honor Society for his bravery.