A Breath Away From Eternity: The Long Road Home

By Dr. Kirk "Captain" N. Phillips

Raw, intimate, sometimes humorous, and deeply human, A Breath Away From Eternity is a firsthand journey through history, survival, war, and the long road home, and a reminder of something easily forgotten in the rush of everyday life:

None of us knows which breath will be our last. Make the ones you have matter.

On September 11, 2001, the Pentagon moved beneath Kirk "Captain" Phillips' feet.

A binder slid from his lap. The floor vibrated beneath him. Then came the smoke, confusion, and realization that the unthinkable had happened.

American Airlines Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon.

Phillips survived that morning and returned to duty. But survival did not mean the story was over.

Five years later, he volunteered for Afghanistan.

Serving alongside U.S. Army, NATO, Department of State, and coalition personnel, Phillips traveled across southern Afghanistan, from the Iranian border to the Pakistani frontier. There were convoys and remote outposts, danger and uncertainty, solemn ramp ceremonies for the fallen, unexpected laughter among those living with war, and encounters with Afghan families and children that stayed with him long after he came home.

A Breath Away From Eternity: The Long Road Home does not simply recount those events. It takes you there.
Into the Pentagon on an ordinary Tuesday morning that suddenly became history.

Onto the roads of Afghanistan, where another day could never be taken for granted.

And finally home, where the longest journey was sometimes the one no one else could see.

At its heart, this is not simply a story about war. It is about survival, service, brotherhood, family, faith, loss, purpose, and the extraordinary value of an ordinary day.

Twenty-five years after September 11, Phillips looks back with questions that belong not only to veterans and survivors, but to all of us:

How do you honor those who never received another sunrise?
How do you come home when part of you remains somewhere else?
And what do you do with the life you were unexpectedly allowed to keep?

You live it. You love deeply. You remember. And you keep breathing on purpose.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HG7DMKTC
• ISBN13: 9798194033492
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"