a-story-of-war-and-the-life-that-follows accountability action adventure adversity afghanistan afghanistan-war 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 combat combat-experience combat-experiences combat-stress combat-veterans coming-home coming-of-age companionship conflict consequences-of-war contemporary coping coping-mechanisms courage death deployment determination duty emotional emotional-impact emotional-journey emotional-scars emotional-trauma endurance existential exploration exploration-of-self exploration-of-trauma explosions family forgiveness friendship grit guilt haunted healing heroism homecoming homeland hope human-connection human-psyche human-psychology human-resilience human-spirit humanity identity injury inner-demons inner-strength inner-struggle inner-struggles inspiration inspirational introspection introspective iraq iraq-war iraqi-war 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-families military-family military-life military-memoir military-service narrative-nonfiction non-fiction nonfiction overcoming-adversity patriotism perseverance personal-account personal-accounts personal-growth personal-journey personal-memoir personal-narrative personal-stories personal-story personal-struggle personal-transformation 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-stress post-traumatic-stress-disorder post-traumatic-stress-disorder-(ptsd) post-war post-war-life postwar profound psychological psychological-effects psychological-effects-of-war psychological-impact psychological-trauma ptsd readjustment reality-of-war recovery redemption reflection reflections rehabilitation reintegration relationships resilience sacrifice self-discovery self-reflection service soldier soldiers soldiers-experience soldiers-journey soldiers-life soldiers-perspective storytelling struggle suffering survival survivor the-long-walk the-long-walk:-a-story-of-war-and-the-life-that-follows therapy tragedy transformation transition trauma traumatic-experiences triumph true-story 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