Combat is a soul snatcher. When the warrior leaves the field of battle he or she often leaves behind a vital part of their essence. On returning to peacetime life, the combatant is left feeling incomplete and without the capacity to leave behind the survival mode of living learned during the rigors of battle. The result is often a deterioration of personality and understanding of ones role in noncombatant life. For many it also leads to the deterioration of moral values and belief systems. Reintegrating that essence or ghost is the key to healing. Tribal peoples recognized this and dealt with the problem immediately through ritual and ceremony. Today in our society there is a acknowledgement and even an anticipation of the problem. That was not the case during and after the conflict in Vietnam when soldiers and Marines returned from war and found themselves incapable of functioning within the norms of society. This book of poems is the story of one warrior's journey from despair and hopelessness to a life filled with promise and serenity. The pieces in it were written during a long healing process. It is not an easy task to expose the ugly secrets of combat and the resultant aftermath. Ghost Warrior is an attempt at sharing a life of healing and renewal in hopes that it can help other veterans and their families heal from the unnatural experiences of war.
About the Author: Robert Sasse: Biography Robert Sasse was raised on a ranch in Park County, Montana. At age twenty he was a professional rodeo clown and bullfighter, an auctioneer and helped his mother with the family ranch following the death of his father. In February of 1966 after receiving a draft notice, he volunteered for service in the Marine Corps and was sent directly to Vietnam after training. He was sent home medivac in 1967. After his release from the Marine Corps in February of 1968 he began a difficult odyssey through alcoholism and dysfunction that took him to Alaska, Canada, back to Montana and eventually Omaha, Nebraska where at age forty he found sobriety and began receiving help with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Writing became part of his therapy for battling the ghosts of war. Robert and his wife live in the beautiful mountains of southwestern New Mexico where they attempt to walk the good red road.