a-story-of-war-and-the-life-that-follows acceptance accountability action adventure adversity afghan-war afghanistan afghanistan-war american american-history american-military american-soldiers army-ranger army-veteran assistance autobiography battle battle-scars biography bomb-disposal bombs bravery brian brotherhood camaraderie castner challenges collegesuccess combat combat-experience combat-experiences combat-stress combat-veterans coming-home coming-of-age companionship conflict consequences-of-war contemporary coping coping-mechanisms coping-with-loss courage death deployment determination duty effects-of-war emotional emotional-healing emotional-impact emotional-journey emotional-scars emotional-trauma endurance english existential existentialism exploration exploration-of-self exploration-of-trauma explosions family forgiveness friendship grit guilt haunted haunting healing heroism history homecoming homeland hope human-connection human-psyche human-psychology human-resilience human-spirit humanity identity infantry injury inner-demons inner-strength inner-struggle inner-struggles inspiration inspirational introspection introspective iraq iraq-war iraqi-war iraqwar(2003-) journey leadership life life-after-war life-journey loss love love. loyalty memoir memoir-writer memoir-writing memoirist memoirs memoirs-of-war memories mental-health military military-experience military-experiences military-families military-family military-life military-memoir military-service militaryhistory mindset narrative-nonfiction non-fiction nonfiction overcoming-adversity patriotism perseverance personal-account personal-accounts personal-growth personal-journey personal-memoir personal-narrative personal-narratives personal-stories personal-story personal-struggle personal-transformation personalmemoirs perspective physical-&-emotional-scars physical-and-emotional-pain physical-and-psychological-tolls physical-and-psychological-trauma physical-challenges physical-endurance physical-fitness physical-injuries physical-injury post-9/11 post-conflict post-traumatic post-traumatic-stress post-traumatic-stress-disorder post-traumatic-stress-disorder-(ptsd) post-war post-war-life post-war-trauma postwar profound psychological psychological-effects psychological-effects-of-war psychological-impact psychological-trauma psychology ptsd readjustment reality-of-war reconciliation recovery redemption rediscovery reflection reflections rehabilitation reintegration relationships resilience sacrifice self-discovery self-reflection service socialsciences soldier soldiers soldiers-experience soldiers-journey soldiers-life soldiers-perspective specialforces storytelling struggle struggles suffering survival survivor the-long-walk the-long-walk:-a-story-of-war-and-the-life-that-follows therapy tragedy transformatio transformation transition trauma traumatic-experiences triumph true-story u.s.-army united-states-army us-army us-military veteran veterans veterans-affairs violence war war-aftermath war-experiences war-literature war-stories war-trauma war-veterans war-zone