This is a gripping story of two soldiers, Jett and Ace, coming home from war who dread facing the new battles of adjustment from the horrors of combat to their old life in the mountains of North Carolina. You follow these two life long friends through the trauma of their last long range patrol and through their struggles to rebuild their lives.Driven by their desperation to numb the darkness of unspeakable memories, they turn to sex and booze which leads to betrayal, hurt, confusion and problems with the law. Intensifying their heart ache and pain, those choices drive them further into despair and isolation from families, friends and the women in their lives. After a life threatening experience, they are forced to face the reality they are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).Through the urging of family and an increasing sense of desperation, they reluctantly agree to participate with eight other combat veterans in a PTSD treatment program led by a psychologist they call, "Doc." They share a sense of urgency to find some relief from suicidal thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks, isolation and depression. Two of the veterans face an additional crisis. A female veteran lost an arm and a male lost vision in one eye. Doc introduces them to a new form of "basic training" which is received with mixed reactions. In and outside the group, you walk with them through their hopelessness, rage, despair, and tears. They experience hope and possibility not only through what Doc teaches, but through the close bond that forms between these soldiers that share the experience of combat. They stand together to cry, laugh and relive their trauma to find hope for recovery from a source they never expected.
About the Author: Banks Hudson is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point. He completed Airborne and Ranger training, served in Viet Nam and holds two masters degrees in theology. He completed a year of clinical training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and served twenty years in the Army attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist and specializes in generalized anxiety disorders to include post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, acute stress disorder, phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He has over forty years experience in the field of psychotherapy.