On Veterans Day this month, a new book titled “Beyond Belief–True Stories of Arizona Heroes That Defy Comprehension” will be released on Amazon.

The 550-page anthology, written and compiled by a team of historians and authors, profiles the stories of 108 Arizona men and women who have distinguished themselves in military service from the late 1800s to present.

The book is the work of Colorado military historian and author, C. Douglas Sterner, and is his 112th book in print. It is co-written and edited by his wife Pamla Sterner.

Among the team of contributing authors is Wyatt Kopkie, an 18-year-old high school student in Vail, who wrote the story of Medal of Honor recipient Jose Francisco Jimenez. The Phoenix resident was a Mexican national at the time of his heroism and death during the Vietnam War. He is one of at least three heroes profiled in the book who were Mexican citizens living in Arizona when they became U.S. military heroes. Jimenez and was killed in action in Vietnam.

In an interesting twist of fate, three days before the book was to be published, Sterner learned that Kopkie’s great grandfather, of Arizona, earned a Silver Star in the Korean War. Based on this, Kopkie wrote a second story for the book − the story of his great grandfather.

The Arizona book is the third in a projected series of 50 such books, one for each state.

Sterner notes that the Arizona book is unique in that it reflects an uncommon diversity of Arizona’s military heroes. The first 11 of Arizona’s 21 Medal of Honor recipients were Apache Indians. Of the 66 Medal of Honor recipients still living, two are from Arizona.

The book profiles both men and women heroes from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

“Some had only grammar school education; some were high school dropouts; and others were college graduates with advanced degrees,” Sterner shared in a press release. “They were Black, White, Native American, Hispanic, Mexican, and Asian-Americans. They hailed from 63 large cities, small towns, rural communities, and Indian Reservations.”

The cover features Phoenix native Frank Luke, Jr., the Luke Air Force Base namesake.

The book is available at Amazon.com or from Sterner’s author website at www.herobooks.org.

The cover of “Beyond Belief–True Stories of Arizona Heroes That Defy Comprehension” features Phoenix native Frank Luke, Jr., the Luke Air Force Base namesake.

(Photo provided by the author)