Rita Cosby's Quiet Hero - A Daughter's Story About Her Dad

Rita Cosby has been an award winning journalist for over two decades, but that's not why I went to hear her speak.  I went because I wanted to hear her tell her story. She was talking at New York University about her book Quiet  Hero, which is an unbelievable saga of how how a daughter reconnected with her Dad.   

In QUIET HERO: Secrets From My Father’s Past, she tells us 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.

As she talked about her Dad, you could see how deeply she loved this man. Her father never discussed his visible and invisible scars until a few years ago, and now, as a result, the journey has brought Rita and her Dad together 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 keynote 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 HEROhas 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.

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The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says," there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system and a dream.  All things are posssible".