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To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard
Wiley
May 2009
On Sale: May 18, 2009
272 pages
ISBN: 047037361X
EAN: 9780470373613
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
The war story that needs to be told: a Washington Post reporter follows five courageous National Guard soldiers as they deploy to Iraq, survive combat, and come home to pick up the pieces The Iraq War radically transformed the typical βone weekend a month, two weeks a yearβ commitment of many National Guard soldiers around the country into lengthy, grueling tours of duty in Iraq. Little has been written about the tens of thousands of guardsmen and women sent to Iraq and the unique challenges these citizen-soldiers have faced in serving their countryβand then coming home to the civilian world. Washington Post reporter Christian Davenport was embedded with the Virginia National Guard's 2-224th Aviation Regiment and witnessed the hardship and heroism of its members firsthand, from their sudden call-up, through their return from overseas, to new battles faced on the home front as they struggle to rebuild their lives after the war. He tells the story of five of these remarkable soldiersβa teacher, a 50-something Vietnam vet, a sorority-girl-turned-door-gunner, a born leader, and a young woman unable to find her place in the world. By continuing to follow these soldiers, and their families, for more than a year after their tour, Davenport chronicles the difficulties they face returning home: lost jobs, financial woes, and the inability to relate to a society that has never been so divorced from the war its country was fighting. Depicting these soldiers as heroes, not victims, As You Were reveals a hidden dimension of the war, and provides an intimate look at the patriotism and courage that inspire those who have fought in itβand the rest of us as well.
 Media BuzzDiane Rehm Show - NPR - July 9, 2009
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