acceptance adversity afghanistan afghanistan-war american-military american-soldiers autobiography award-winning battle bereavement biography bomb-disposal bombs bravery brian brotherhood camaraderie castner catharsis challenges combat combat-experience combat-experiences combat-veterans coming-home companionship conflict coping coping-mechanisms courage death denial deployment determination duty emotion emotional emotional-healing emotional-journey emotional-resilience emotional-rollercoaster emotional-scars emotional-trauma emotional-turmoil emotions existentialism exploration family family-dynamics friendship grief grief-and-healing grief-and-loss grief-counseling grief-journey grief-literature grief-memoir grief-process grief-stricken grief-support grief-therapy grieving grieving-process healing homecoming honesty hope human-resilience human-spirit humanity identity illness inner-demons inspirational introspection introspective iraq iraq-war joan-didion journey life life-after-loss life-after-war life-and-death life-changes life-events literature loneliness loss love love-and-loss loyalty marriage memoir memoir-genre memoir-literature memoir-therapy memoir-writing memoirist memoiristic memoirists memoirs memoirs-and-biographies memoirs-of-war memories memory mental-health military military-families military-life military-service mortality mourning new-york-city non-fiction nonfiction patriotism perseverance personal personal-account personal-experience personal-growth personal-journey personal-memoir personal-narrative personal-reflection personal-stories personal-story personal-struggle personal-tragedy personal-transformation perspective physical-endurance physical-injuries physical-injury post-conflict post-traumatic-stress-disorder post-traumatic-stress-disorder-(ptsd) post-war post-war-life postwar powerful-writing psychological psychological-effects psychological-impact psychological-trauma psychology ptsd readjustment recovery redemption reflection reflections rehabilitation reintegration relationship relationships resilience sacrifice sadness self-discovery self-reflection service soldier soldiers soldiers-experience soldiers-journey sorrow storytelling strength struggle suffering support survival the-long-walk:-a-story-of-war-and-the-life-that-follows therapy tragedy transformation transition trauma triumph true-story uncertainty us-army us-military veteran veterans violence vulnerability war war-aftermath war-experiences war-literature war-stories war-veterans widow widowhood writer writing