With all profits going to veteran's organizations, 20/20: The Iraq and Afghanistan Narratives is a retrospective of America's most recent wars told through twenty oral histories from a cross section of veterans who served on the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom and/or Operation Enduring Freedom. These tales come "from the horse's mouth" and explain the many physical and emotional highs and lows of life in the combat zone and after. Readers are taken from serving on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan to discussing how to fix a troubled Veterans' Affairs system. Between these bookends, veterans give firsthand accounts on a range of historic and personal subjects including: being involved in the initial invasion of Iraq, battling insurgents in intense urban street combat during the Second Battle of Fallujah, combating the Taliban in the hills of Afghanistan, training Afghani security, surviving suicide bombers, IED blasts and green on blue violence, being part of the 2009 surge in Afghanistan, and many more unique and enthralling tales. Although combat is the focus of several of the narratives, also detailed are the lesser known challenges our veterans faced while overseas such as dealing with a culture foreign to their own, giving and receiving emergency medical care, losing fellow battle buddies, experiencing friendly fire, and getting through the day-to-day struggles that come from life on a military base in the middle of a war zone. Lastly, the text gives several heartbreaking accounts of the difficult transition of re-joining the civilian world with tales about PTSD, traumatic brain injury, drug and alcohol abuse, relationship struggles, workplace problems and unemployment, suicide, and the faltering system that has yet to properly treat those returning from these wars with such problems - the Office of Veterans' Affairs.
About the Author: Jonathan Pickering is a writer and high school teacher living in a suburb of Boston. Jon graduated Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2007 where he studied journalism. In mid-2015, Jon received his Masters in Education through UMASS Lowell. Jon worked as a technical writer and journalist, covering local news in and around Boston, before turning to teaching full time. Jon has also been published in several literary journals and websites including McSweeney's Internet Tendencies, Northeastern University's Spectrum Magazine, and Brown University's 3rd Bed. 20/20: The Iraq and Afghanistan Narratives is Jon's first major work. Jon hopes the publication of his work will aid in bridging the ever-widening gap that exists in our country between soldier and civilian with the idea that readers may better understand the makeup of America's military, the new face of conflict in the 21st century, and the cost of war for our country and others.