Perfectly Wounded: A Memoir About What Happens After a Miracle

While parts of his story have already been told in the news, former Navy SEAL Day finally shares his own perspective. While on a mission in Iraq, he was shot 27 times and had a grenade blow up right next to him. He was, as the title indicates, perfectly wounded—those rounds that weren’t stopped by his body armor hit him in such a way that none of the wounds were fatal. After his retirement from the Navy, he found other ways to serve: as a case manager for wounded service members, and then as a contract trainer for future SEALs. Day reveals that years of physical and emotional trauma—starting with childhood abuse and continuing as a serviceman—compounded to leave him in a place where he was depressed and considered suicide. He looks at how many types of loss, from injury to losing a job, can strip away a person’s agency. What shines throughout the book is Day’s respect for the people around him, and how important it is to build trust.