Homecoming

Homecoming
Author: Bob Greene
Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
Total Pages: 282
Release: 1989
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Download Homecoming Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Vietnam veterans recount what happened to them upon their return to the U.S.

War & Homecoming

War & Homecoming
Author: Travis L. Martin
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0813195667

Download War & Homecoming Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In War & Homecoming: Veteran Identity and the Post-9/11 Generation, Travis L. Martin explores how a new generation of veterans is redefining what it means to come home. More than 2.7 million veterans served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their homecomings didn't include parades or national celebrations. Instead, when the last US troops left Afghanistan, American veterans raised millions of dollars for the evacuation of Afghan refugees, especially those who'd served alongside them. This brand of selflessness is one reason civilians regard veterans with reverence and pride. The phrase "thank you for your service" is ubiquitous. Yet, one in ten post-9/11 veterans struggles with substance abuse. Fifteen to twenty veterans die by suicide every day. Veterans aged eighteen to thirty-four die at the highest rates, leading advocates to focus on concepts like moral injury and collective belonging when addressing psychic wounds. Martin argues that many veterans struggle due to decades of stereotyping and a lack of healthy models of veteran identity. In the American unconscious, veterans are treated as either the superficially praised "hero" or the victimized "wounded warrior," forever defined by past accomplishments. They are often appropriated as symbols in competing narratives of national identity. War & Homecoming critically examines representations of veterans in patriotic rhetoric, popular media, literature, and the lives of those who served. From this analysis, a new veteran identity emerges—veterans as storytellers who reject stereotypes, claim their symbolic authority, and define themselves through literature, art, and service. Their dynamic approach to life after military service allows for continued growth, agency, individuality, and inspiring examples of resilience for others.

Soldier from the War Returning

Soldier from the War Returning
Author: Thomas Childers
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 0618773681

Download Soldier from the War Returning Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

One of our most enduring national myths surrounds the men and women who fought in the so-called "Good War." The Greatest Generation, we're told by Tom Brokaw and others, fought heroically, then returned to America happy, healthy and well-adjusted. They quickly and cheerfully went on with the business of rebuilding their lives. In this shocking and hauntingly beautiful book, historian Thomas Childers shatters that myth. He interweaves the intimate story of three families--including his own--with a decades' worth of research to paint an entirely new picture of the war's aftermath. Drawing on government documents, interviews, oral histories and diaries, he reveals that 10,000 veterans a month were being diagnosed with psycho-neurotic disorder (now known as PTSD). Alcoholism, homelessness, and unemployment were rampant, leading to a skyrocketing divorce rate. Many veterans bounced back, but their struggle has been lost in a wave of nostalgia that threatens to undermine a new generation of returning soldiers. Novelistic in its telling and impeccably researched, Childers's book is a stark reminder that the price of war is unimaginably high. The consequences are human, not just political, and the toll can stretch across generations.

Homecomings

Homecomings
Author: Yoshikuni Igarashi
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2016-09-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 023154135X

Download Homecomings Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Soon after the end of World War II, a majority of the nearly 7 million Japanese civilians and serviceman who had been posted overseas returned home. Heeding the call to rebuild, these veterans helped remake Japan and enjoyed popularized accounts of their service. For those who took longer to be repatriated, such as the POWs detained in labor camps in Siberia and the fighters who spent years hiding in the jungles of islands in the South Pacific, returning home was more difficult. Their nation had moved on without them and resented the reminder of a humiliating, traumatizing defeat. Homecomings tells the story of these late-returning Japanese soldiers and their struggle to adapt to a newly peaceful and prosperous society. Some were more successful than others, but they all charted a common cultural terrain, one profoundly shaped by media representations of the earlier returnees. Japan had come to redefine its nationhood through these popular images. Yoshikuni Igarashi explores what Japanese society accepted and rejected, complicating the definition of a postwar consensus and prolonging the experience of war for both Japanese soldiers and the nation. He throws the postwar narrative of Japan's recovery into question, exposing the deeper, subtler damage done to a country that only belatedly faced the implications of its loss.

A Soldier's Homecoming & A Soldier's Redemption

A Soldier's Homecoming & A Soldier's Redemption
Author: Rachel Lee
Publisher: Harlequin
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2015-03-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1460383974

Download A Soldier's Homecoming & A Soldier's Redemption Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In these two thrilling, fan-favorite Conard County stories the past is never left behind! A Soldier's Homecoming Soldier Ethan Parish is here to meet his father for the first time. Then Ethan's plans take a turn once he meets Deputy Connie Halloran and he starts thinking about the future. Connie and her adorable daughter bring out his protective instincts, especially when a threat from the past emerges. Suddenly Ethan must risk his life—and his heart—to save his new family. A Soldier's Redemption Cory Farland's house seems like the perfect place for former SEAL Wade Kendrick to decompress. But the close quarters have an unintended effect as he falls for the guarded young widow. Despite their secrets, a fresh start together could be possible—until her life is threatened. Instantly, Wade knows there isn't anything he won't do to keep her safe and claim the love that could redeem them both….

Tribe

Tribe
Author: Sebastian Junger
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 103
Release: 2016-05-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 145556639X

Download Tribe Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding--"tribes." This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival. Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lamented that English settlers were constantly fleeing over to the Indians-but Indians almost never did the same. Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life. The loss of closeness that comes at the end of deployment may explain the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by military veterans today. Combining history, psychology, and anthropology, Tribe explores what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging, and the eternal human quest for meaning. It explains the irony that-for many veterans as well as civilians-war feels better than peace, adversity can turn out to be a blessing, and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. Tribe explains why we are stronger when we come together, and how that can be achieved even in today's divided world.

Coming Home

Coming Home
Author: Greg Ruth
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2014-11-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1250055474

Download Coming Home Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

A young boy is waiting for his mom to come home from the military.

Homecoming Hero

Homecoming Hero
Author: Renee Ryan
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2010-08-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1426865023

Download Homecoming Hero Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Army captain Ty Wolfson assured a dying soldier that he'd stop the man's sister from going to the Middle East as a missionary. But when Wolf knocks on Hailey O'Brien's door, he finds a beautiful woman determined to fulfill her mission—for her brother. No matter what Wolf says about the dangers, Hailey believes it's her duty to bring hope overseas. Wolf can't seem to change her mind. Until he realizes it's a certain homecoming hero who needs to change first. By opening his heart to the Lord—and to Hailey.

Odysseus in America

Odysseus in America
Author: Jonathan Shay
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2010-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1439125015

Download Odysseus in America Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In this ambitious follow-up to Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. Seamlessly combining important psychological work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics. In Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the story of the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture: danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. He also explains how veterans recover and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics.

Papa's Backpack

Papa's Backpack
Author: James Christopher Carroll
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2015-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1634704169

Download Papa's Backpack Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

When a soldier has to leave his or her family for extended service, it's an emotional time for all involved. It can be especially confusing and upsetting for children, who long for the comfort and security of a parent's presence. Papa's Backpack honors the bond between a parent/soldier and a child, and acknowledges the difficult and emotional process of separation during deployment. A young bear cub dreams of accompanying Papa when he leaves on a mission, wanting to stay close to provide comfort and moral support, ultimately overcoming adversity together.