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Chasing Courage: No Guns - No Glory
As a boy, Rob Waples II watched his father run toward danger.
To him, his father was larger than life — a six-foot-three crimefighter with nerves of steel, a man feared by criminals and respected by the people he served. He was also the man Rob wanted to become.
But wanting to be brave and believing you are brave are two very different things.
Chasing No Guns, No Glory is the story of a man who spent much of his life trying to live up to the courage he saw inside his own home. From the streets of Philadelphia to the faraway battlefields of the Global War on Terror, Rob Waples II takes readers through the hard places where courage is tested, misunderstood, and often found where no one thinks to look.
A raw, honest, and unfiltered memoir about service, loss, and trauma, this is a hard-hitting account about one man’s search for meaning. Written in his own words, Chasing Courage asks the question that follows many people who have lived a life of
Did I make the world safer?
Through tragedy, heartbreak, and triumph, Rob discovers that courage is not always found in battle and uncertainty. Sometimes the hardest fight is learning how to climb out from beneath another man’s shadow — and finding the strength to become who you were always meant to be.
To him, his father was larger than life — a six-foot-three crimefighter with nerves of steel, a man feared by criminals and respected by the people he served. He was also the man Rob wanted to become.
But wanting to be brave and believing you are brave are two very different things.
Chasing No Guns, No Glory is the story of a man who spent much of his life trying to live up to the courage he saw inside his own home. From the streets of Philadelphia to the faraway battlefields of the Global War on Terror, Rob Waples II takes readers through the hard places where courage is tested, misunderstood, and often found where no one thinks to look.
A raw, honest, and unfiltered memoir about service, loss, and trauma, this is a hard-hitting account about one man’s search for meaning. Written in his own words, Chasing Courage asks the question that follows many people who have lived a life of
Did I make the world safer?
Through tragedy, heartbreak, and triumph, Rob discovers that courage is not always found in battle and uncertainty. Sometimes the hardest fight is learning how to climb out from beneath another man’s shadow — and finding the strength to become who you were always meant to be.
333 pages, Hardcover
Published August 6, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2026
🚔🚔🚔🚔.5 : keep in mind the star review is based off of MY interests!
I am very thankful to have been provided the opportunity to read and review this book! Thank you so much Rob Waples II!
If you enjoy reading about the truth: the good the, the bad, the ugly about what it’s like to have lived the life of a police officer, military man, a dad, a husband.
His story is emotional. I felt frustration, I felt happiness. I felt really bad for some of the things he was put through, but happiness came with how he figured a way through.
I truly believe this story is what some families go through in that profession. This is a good book to help ease into that life.
If you want something true and honest look no further. His story covers his lifetime and multiple large events. What he did take courage. In today’s world, this is a very controversial topic but one I think more people should learn from true stories versus the media.
Thank you for taking the time to share your story!
Tropes:
🚔 Nonfiction
🚔 Memoir
🚔 Police and Military
⚠️: discussions regarding death, grief, law enforcement, war and military.
I am voluntarily leaving this review and all thoughts are my own!
I am very thankful to have been provided the opportunity to read and review this book! Thank you so much Rob Waples II!
If you enjoy reading about the truth: the good the, the bad, the ugly about what it’s like to have lived the life of a police officer, military man, a dad, a husband.
His story is emotional. I felt frustration, I felt happiness. I felt really bad for some of the things he was put through, but happiness came with how he figured a way through.
I truly believe this story is what some families go through in that profession. This is a good book to help ease into that life.
If you want something true and honest look no further. His story covers his lifetime and multiple large events. What he did take courage. In today’s world, this is a very controversial topic but one I think more people should learn from true stories versus the media.
Thank you for taking the time to share your story!
Tropes:
🚔 Nonfiction
🚔 Memoir
🚔 Police and Military
⚠️: discussions regarding death, grief, law enforcement, war and military.
I am voluntarily leaving this review and all thoughts are my own!
August 31, 2026
The type of book that stays with you long after you finish it.
To me, the best part of this book was the eventual understanding of grief as something much larger than bereavement. Without spoiling too much, the grief described in the story surrounded losses that were both literal (the deaths of a father and two brothers), and figurative (the jobs we thought we needed, the professional identities we built around ourselves, the relationships we believed would endure, and overall the person we once thought we were supposed to become). That broader understanding of grief’s extension beyond bereavement, into the loss of imagined futures and former selves, was really impactful to me.
The sections regarding professional conflict were similarly resonant. Disappointments, misunderstandings, compromises, and more were discussed in a way that was painfully recognizable. Instead of presenting them as concepts of right and wrong, the author was honest in capturing the uncomfortable realities of ambition, loyalty, ego, and insecurity in early career experiences and missteps.
The book’s handling of illness marks an important shift where the author switches from feeling invincible, to confronting his own mortality. This shift, and the subsequent religious reflection, creates one of my favorite parts of the book. At one point the author expresses not knowing why God spared him. By the end, success, work, identity, family, mortality, and faith no longer seem to occupy the same hierarchy they did at the beginning, creating a transformation that provides an answer to that question. This book is a record of that change: it is an account of someone gradually learning that sometimes courage isn’t about seeking out danger, but choosing a life worth protecting.
To me, the best part of this book was the eventual understanding of grief as something much larger than bereavement. Without spoiling too much, the grief described in the story surrounded losses that were both literal (the deaths of a father and two brothers), and figurative (the jobs we thought we needed, the professional identities we built around ourselves, the relationships we believed would endure, and overall the person we once thought we were supposed to become). That broader understanding of grief’s extension beyond bereavement, into the loss of imagined futures and former selves, was really impactful to me.
The sections regarding professional conflict were similarly resonant. Disappointments, misunderstandings, compromises, and more were discussed in a way that was painfully recognizable. Instead of presenting them as concepts of right and wrong, the author was honest in capturing the uncomfortable realities of ambition, loyalty, ego, and insecurity in early career experiences and missteps.
The book’s handling of illness marks an important shift where the author switches from feeling invincible, to confronting his own mortality. This shift, and the subsequent religious reflection, creates one of my favorite parts of the book. At one point the author expresses not knowing why God spared him. By the end, success, work, identity, family, mortality, and faith no longer seem to occupy the same hierarchy they did at the beginning, creating a transformation that provides an answer to that question. This book is a record of that change: it is an account of someone gradually learning that sometimes courage isn’t about seeking out danger, but choosing a life worth protecting.
September 26, 2026
I really enjoyed Chasing Courage. Reading about the Rob’s life, the experiences he went through, and the people who crossed his path made it such an interesting and meaningful book. I especially loved seeing Rick, aka Ryan Goss, mentioned—it gave the story a personal connection for me and made reading it even more special. An inspiring story about life, courage, and the people who can make a difference along the way. Thanks for sharing your story ❤️
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews