Echo Valor Podcast

Built by Fire - Chapter 1: Introduction (Audiobook)

David Burnell

I didn’t set out to write a book. Most of my life was spent in motion—training, deploying, rescuing, rebuilding—rarely pausing to explain any of it. For years, I believed the story existed in the doing rather than the telling. But the memories spoke louder than the silence I kept.

This isn’t just my story—it’s theirs. The warriors, rescuers, healers, and the broken who found purpose in the fire. The ones we tried to save, the ones we lost, and the moments of grace that stayed with me.

I have walked the jungles of Burma with medics and rebels, pulled a brother from icy waters, stood guard on Haitian rooftops, and held a family photo in Japan’s mud, asking how we hold on when the world lets go.

This audiobook is not about medals or fearlessness. It’s about answering the call, even when afraid. It’s about honoring what cannot be forgotten and letting the silence speak.

This is for those shaped by fire.

—David Burnell

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