After Combat

Marian Eide is a professor of English at Texas A&M University. Her research and teaching address twentieth-century and contemporary narrative with a particular focus on ethics and war. She is the author of Ethical Joyce. Michael Gibler is a retired colonel and served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army for twenty-eight years and is now an assistant professor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. His assignments included airborne, air assault, and light and Stryker infantry units; he participated in Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"After Combat is a superb book that stands out from books with comparable concepts. This is a book that is veteran focused, superbly organized, and void of any covert or overt agendas. These qualities combine to offer a volume that will be eye-opening to those not particularly familiar with the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan and the veterans who served in them. Eide and Gibler have crafted a book that will unquestionably benefit and educate the general public."-Rick Baillergeon, Military Review "The greatest value of After Combat is in the authors' achievement of their aims: to create a book that bridges the gap between what Hollywood and the media has presented to the public about the realities of war and the actual realities of war and combat. Without the filters of professional writers and reporters creating a narrative they can use to promote a product, including the product of war, Eide and Gibler have given the veterans' ownership of their stories to create their book. By using themes to coalesce the service members' stories and introducing each theme in context, the authors have allowed the focus to remain on the veterans' experiences while creating a structure that adds to the impact and value of the stories shared. After Combat: True War Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan should be read by anyone who wants to gain a greater understanding of what life in and after combat is really like."-Sarah E. Minnis, Journal of Veterans Studies "After Combat is a different kind of page-turner. . . . It evokes a series of important and somewhat uncomfortable emotions, exactly its objective, as it pushes the unfiltered experience of war to a mass audience."-James Sandy, Strategy Bridge “Marian Eide and Michael Gibler seek to construct one big narrative from interviews with thirty veterans about their experiences [in Iraq and Afghanistan]. Does this approach work? Yes, and far better than I expected. I finished this book wishing that there were companion volumes for the American Revolution and the Civil War.”-Thomas E. Ricks, New York Times Book Review “After Combat paints a picture of the messy aspects of war and their aftermath on veterans, their families, their friends, and their personal and professional lives. There are no ordinary stories of the men and women who are deployed to fight our nation’s wars. America is fortunate to have those who volunteer to wear the cloth of our country. A must-read if you care about America and its military men and women.”-Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, U.S. Army (Ret.) “In After Combat Marian Eide and Michael Gibler capture the true essence of our generation’s defenders of freedom. From the warrior perspective After Combat highlights the emotion, the sacrifice, the anguish, and, most important, the heart of what it means to serve in combat. Once again we witness the selfless sacrifice of our nation’s greatest treasure: her sons and daughters, as they tell their stories of their time in the ‘crucible of fire.’ Where do we find men and women of such courage, patriotism, and selflessness?”-Lt. Gen. Frank Wiercinski, U.S Army (Ret.)

• Acknowledgments                                                Introduction                                                                                                               1. Enlist/Commission                                                                                                             2. Mission                                                                                                                               3. Every Other Day                                                                                                                4. In Country                                                                                                                          5. The Best Job I Ever Had                                                                                                   6. Explosion                                                                                                                           7. Low Points                                                                                                                         8. Close Call                                                                                                                           9. Combat                                                                                                                              10. Comrades                                                                                                                         11. Chain of Command                                                                                                         12. Did You Kill Anyone?                                                                                                     13. Enemies                                                                                                                            14. Homecoming                                                                                                                    15. Loss                                                                                                                                  16. Nostalgia                                                                                                                          17. Struggling                                                                                                                        18. Thank You for Your Service                                                                                           19. True War Stories                                                                                                              20. Out of Sync                                                                                                                     Glossary