"A truly moving experience. Anyone who is considering making war, anyone who wants to prevent it, anyone who has gone to war or sent a father, husband, or child to war should read this book." -- Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and, author of Against All Enemies "Reveling in the great victory for the U.S. in Desert Storm should not let us overlook the need to recognize the tremendous sacrifices made by those who lost their lives or who may have been physically harmed by exposure to hazards in that war. [This] book is a fascinating and tragic portrayal told with clarity and pathos of the situation in which one hero of Desert Storm finds himself today. It is an excellent read; reminding us of the heroic sacrifices that go with war." -- E. R. Zumwalt, Jr., Admiral, USN (Ret.) "The Falcon's Cry! Have you ever heard one? It's a haunting sound that pierces your consciousness. This [book] does too because it is written emotionally and yet artfully by Michael and Denise Donnelly, brother and sister. It is one of thousands of dramas played out before, during and after the Persian Gulf War by soldiers...who lived through perhaps the dirtiest environmental battlefields ever...This tale, when you think long enough about it, will shock you." -- Thomas Dennie Williams, The Hartford Courant "Falcon's Cry is [Donnelly's] story, from his departure for the Mideast to his battle with ALS. It is riveting and heart rendering. This is the true story of Gulf War veterans. Everyone in the United States should read it." -- Bernard Sanders, (I-VT) U.S. Representative "Gulf War hero Major Michael Donnelly, USAF (Ret.), returned home with a deadly disease and to a nation indifferent to his illness. A courageous young American, his compelling story of government betrayal and denial, as told to Congress, is typical of over 100,000 Gulf War veterans who continue to suffer from a variety of unexplained illnesses. Major Donnelly and his fellow veterans are the delayed and forgotten casualties of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. They deserve more than the thanks of a grateful nation." -- Christopher Shays, (R-CT) U.S. Representative and Chairman, Human Resources Subcommittee, Committee on Government Reform and Oversight "Falcon's Cry is a compelling, personal account that shows the untold human suffering due to the neglect of the government." -- Paul Sullivan, Executive Director, National Gulf War Resource Center

When Major Michael Donnelly was instructing his U.S. Air Force student pilots, he used to tell them three things: Timing is everything; it's nice to be lucky; and there is no justice. Highly decorated fighter pilot, proud young patriot, loyal friend with a mischievous sense of humor, loving husband and father of two, he could not have imagined the tragic meaning those words would assume just a few years after his tour of duty in Desert Storm. In 1996 Major Donnelly was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease, at the unusually young age of 35; the onset of this illness marked the beginning of a kind of torture beyond the scope of even the most rigorous military survival training. Betrayed by his body, eventually paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, he experienced another betrayal perhaps even more difficult to comprehend—betrayal by his country. For despite the fact that over 110,000 Desert Storm veterans are sick, many dying of mysterious cancers and neurological diseases, including more than ten times the normal incidence of ALS—and despite all evidence pointing to U.S. troops having been dosed by low levels of Iraqi nerve agents and exposed to chemical weapons' fallout—the Pentagon adamantly denies any connection between their illnesses and their service in the Gulf War. Falcon's Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir, Michael Donnelly's unforgettable story, is his courageous attempt to unearth the truth and force an acknowledgment of that truth by the government he and his fellow veterans defended with their lives.

Flying 44 fighter jet combat missions in a war fought on an all-or-nothing scale was thrilling for Michael Donnelly. When the war was won, he and his country rejoiced in the knowledge that, unlike in Vietnam, America had gotten it right in the Persian Gulf. Less than a decade later, the world is learning what veterans and their families have known since Desert Storm—we did not get it right at all. Saddam Hussein is still terrorizing a large portion of the globe. Moreover, we did not learn the lesson of Agent Orange which the Department of Defense denied for decades was the cause of early deaths and birth defects among Vietnam veterans and their families. Yet, thanks largely to the testimony of the author before the House of Representatives in 1997, a first step has been taken toward justice for the tens of thousands of Desert Storm veterans who are suffering virtually in isolation, many without any medical or disability benefits. Major Donnelly believes the truth about Gulf War Illnesses will be uncovered by studies funded in the recently passed Omnibus Appropriations bill, as well as through stories like his own, and he fervently hopes that America can, at last, get it right.