Title: Shooting at The Navy Yard: One Survivor’s Memoir
Author: Laurel Myers
Publisher: URLink Publishing
ISBN: 978-1483421025
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 181
Reviewed by: Arthur Thares
Hollywood Book Reviews
Shooting at the Navy Shipyard: One Survivor’s Memoir is a unique book covering a gambit of topics all centering around one event. On September 16th, 2013, a lone gunman entered the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) inside the Washington Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, D.C. He began a shooting spree that killed thirteen people. This memoir is a therapy tool for author Laurel Myers who shares her first-hand account of the shooting and what she thinks could have been done and can be done in the future to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
The first few chapters of the story describe the disturbing events of that day. Mrs. Myers recounts in incredibly impressive detail everything that happened from the first instance she realized that her life was in danger, to her rescue, to the hours afterward when she was stuck on base, still wondering whether her friends and colleagues made it out alive.
The second half of the book covers a wide range of subjects from Mrs. Myers recovery process after suffering such a traumatic experience – to the aftermath of the shooting, and her opinions on what should have been done to prevent the incident, and what can be done in the future to avoid similar situations. One idea that Mrs. Myers brings up a few times that stuck with me as a reader was that when the shooting first started, it was hard to believe they were gunshots because they had a false sense of security in a Navy building.
At times this book is hard to read, but it is not because of Mrs. Myers writing ability. She is a fantastic storyteller, and her attention to detail is impeccable. It is hard to read because it is difficult to imagine what she went through on that day and the continued effects on her psyche. At times you can feel the pain and anger she harbors over the event and what could have been done to stop it from ever happening. It is easy to empathize with the author, especially since her writing is polished and direct.
Shooting at the Navy Yard is not a feel-good book, but it is an important one. There is a lot to gain from these pages, but especially if you distrust the media and like to hear accounts from the sources themselves. Mrs. Myers states that this is a form of therapy for her, and hopefully, it works because she deserves some peace after this traumatic experience. I could see this story being turned into a movie at some point, and hopefully, they consult Mrs. Myers when they do.