Honor Bound: An American Story of Dreams and Service

The inspiring story of the first female Marine to fly a combat mission in an F/A-18—and the transformative events that led to her bold decision to take on the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate.

“[McGrath's] voice and unique perspective are essential to re-imaging the next generation of leaders in America.”—Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (ret.), author and Former Supreme Allied Commander NATO

Amy McGrath grew up in Edgewood, Kentucky, a childhood shaped by love of country, baseball, and, from the age of twelve, a fascination with fighter jets. Her devastation at learning that a federal law prohibited women from flying in combat fueled her determination to do just that—and then, to help change the laws to improve the lives of all Americans.

McGrath writes of gaining an appointment in high school to the U.S. Naval Academy, making it through Marine Corps training, graduating from Annapolis, Maryland, becoming a Second Lieutenant, and raising her right hand to swear to defend the U.S. Constitution, honor bound.

She vividly recounts her experiences flying in the Marines, and her combat deployments to Iraq (Kuwait) and Afghanistan, her work as an Air Combat Tactics instructor—and what it was like to finally fly that fighter jet: high-speed, intense, and physically demanding.

Here is McGrath, training to do the most intense tactical flying there is (think the Navy's TOPGUN); meeting the man who would become her husband; being promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel; marrying, having three children, a career and life in Washington and then moving her family back to Kentucky to begin a whole new chapter in politics; her roller-coaster congressional campaign (she lost by three percentage points); and making the tough decision to run again, in an even bigger, higher-stakes national campaign, against the five-term leader of the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell.

A moving, inspiring American story of courage, determination, and large dreams.