As Scott Brown reads the introduction to "Preparing Boys for Battle," we learn that there are three elements that he desires in a book. He say that every book should point back to scripture, be about real people, and it needs to communicate the interesting facts that are interesting and exciting to ponder on. 

The book I always wanted. This is the kind of book I always wanted to have as a young father, flashlight in hand, inside a tent, reading to my children. I always wanted a book with three qualities. First, it had to bring the reader to the teaching of Scripture, which contains the secrets of life and godliness. 2 Timothy 3.16.

There is nothing more encouraging or practical or life-changing than Scripture. Second, it had to be about real people and real situations in history, for I value history over fantasy. Third, it had to communicate the facts that were interesting, exciting, and fulfilling to ponder. Each chapter of the book you have in your hand contains all of the following elements. First, it contains a true story from the battle.

Boys need to know history or they're lost in their own context. Most of the chapters begin with stories my father told me, something else I learned along the way from some of the men I've met, incidences from our trip to Iwo Jima, or stories from reading about the battle there. Near the beginning of many of the chapters you'll find the words, my father told me, because this is the emphasis of the book. I wanted to document the things he told me about his experience there. Second, there's life application.

Every story ends with some practical correlation to everyday life or an important concept to live by. Thus, I have taken the stories from Iwo Jima and looked to them for illustrations of something important for life today. And then thirdly, there are scripture citations summarizing the life application. All of Life must be seen through the lens of scripture and then be governed by it. With these scripture references, I'm not saying that everyone saw it this way or that the people involved understood it the same way I do.

This is simply my own understanding of how to see the events through a scriptural perspective. My desire is that this book will reveal some of the historical aspects of the battle for Iwo Jima, as seen through the eyes of men who are actually there. But more than that, I pray that my work in compiling the stories my father told me, of the great deeds of God in his past, might bear fruit in a particular way, to equip boys to be courageous men, men ready for battle.