Joseph S. Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government: "Many works describe humanitarian assistance and aid from a general and theoretical perspective, but what does it feel like to a practitioner? David Holdridge describes aid from the ground up, a different and fascinating perspective."
Christopher Shays, Congressman, 4th Congressional District in Connecticut: "David and his team in the Shia heartland of Iraq represented the best values and hopes of his country as he remained indefatigable over his 7 years there - outside of any perimeter - in pursuit of leaving some lasting good behind within the larger Iraqi context of dismay and disintegration."
Sayed Sa'ad Mehdi, Religious Cleric: "In my name and on behalf of the community of al Hayy in Wasit Governorate, Iraq, we are praising the extraordinary efforts made by the humanitarian organization as led by its Director, Mr. David Holdridge and his Iraqi staff who provided such exceptional services in the province from 2003 to 2010."
Phil Karber, travel writer, POSTMARKS FROM A POLITICAL TRAVELER: "David Holdridge's AVANT GARDE OF WESTERN CIV pulls no punches in taking on the charity industry and foreign policy pundits. For over four decades, he and his family have experienced fully the social and political realities of the world's conflict zones, natural disasters, famines and crises. Starting as a young infantry lieutenant who was gut shot in Vietnam, he has since taken on countless missions as a humanitarian aid worker into hotspots such as Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Gaza and Haiti. This foot soldier's evocative story, in equal parts, exposes a flawed approach to soft power and expands our understanding of 'right relations.'"