Waubonsee Community College

The invisible wounds of war, coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-237) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The invisible wounds of war

bibliography

764387265

Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard

coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan

Discusses the sacrifices that the American soldiers have made during and after the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. There is no real homecoming for many of our veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They may go through the motions of daily life in their hometowns, but the terrible sights and sounds of war are still fresh in their minds. This empathic, inside look into the lives of our combat veterans reveals the lingering impact that the longest wars in our nation's history continue to have on far too many of our finest young people. Basing her account on numerous interviews with veterans and their families, the author examines the factors that have made these recent conflicts especially trying. A major focus of the book is the extreme duress that is a daily part of a soldier's life in combat zones with no clear frontlines or perimeters. Having to cope with unrecognizable enemies in the midst of civilian populations and attacks from hidden weapons like improvised explosive devices exacts a heavy toll. Compounding the problem is the all-volunteer nature of our armed forces, which often demands multiple deployments of enlistees. This results in frequent cases of post-traumatic stress disorder and families disrupted by the long absence of one and sometimes both parents. The author also discusses the lack of connectedness between civilian society and military personnel, leading to inadequate healthcare for many veterans. This deficiency has been highlighted by the urgent need to treat traumatic brain injuries in survivors of explosions and the high veteran suicide rate. The author concludes on a positive note by discussing some of the surprising and encouraging ways that the chasm between civilian and military life is being bridged to help reintegrate our returning soldiers. This book is enlightening for veterans, their families, and especially for civilians unaware of how much our soldiers have endured

The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. A volunteer army ; Iraq ; Afghanistan ; Drawdown in Iraq ; Drawdown in Afghanistan ; The media. -- Homecoming and Parallel Lives. Women warriors ; Family trauma ; Taking space. -- Mothers of Servicemen and Servicewomen -- Spouses and Children of Servicemen and Servicewomen -- The High Rate of Suicide. The facts ; The suicide of spouses ; People, not statistics ; Noah Charles Pierce ; Jeff Lucey ; The suffering of families. -- Healthcare. Women warriors ; Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC ; Home base at the Massachusetts General Hospital ; Project Share ; Burgeoning charities ; Criminal behavior. -- Hidden Grief. Why we grieve alone ; Minimizing the losses servicemen and servicewomen experience ; Anger and grief ; The grief of returning with mental and physical disabilities ; Grief of the parents ; Grief of a spouse ; Children of servicemen and servicewomen ; The healing power of understanding. -- Bridging the Chasm: Social reintegration ; Writing ; Speaking the unspeakable ; Photography ; Theater of war ; The soldiers project ; Give an hour ; Always lost: a meditation on war

Coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan