The Sure Mercies - Salvatore Esposito

The hardest person to forgive is yourself.

Benjamin Orry, a wounded Iraq War veteran, sets out to visit the hometown of fallen comrade Uriah Landon. His goal is to return Uriah’s personal effects to his family which includes Uriah’s last letter home. Uriah’s Christian faith had been tested to extremes in Iraq, and at home. Ben is uncertain of the composition of the letter but is certain Uriah expressed heartbroken feelings in another item he carries: Uriah’s personal leather-bound journal.

The brutal truths in Uriah’s final entries may damage the faith of many in the close-knit town. For the sake of peace, Ben considers not revealing the journal to anyone, but having witnessed Uriah’s violent death, he feels he owes it to his memory to let his final entries be read. As he limps painfully through Uriah’s neighborhood he wonders what he’ll do, what justice might be, and what several of Uriah’s loved ones must do to have self-forgiveness. However, a series of encounters and circumstances keeps hindering the well-disciplined soldier.