The Walking Wounded

A gripping account of PTSD, and a stark reminder that, for many, wars go on long after the last shot is fired. In the shadows of army life is a world where friends become monsters, where kindness twists into assault, and where self-loathing and despair become constant companions. Whether you know it by old names like “soldier’s heart,” “shell shock,” or “combat fatigue,” post-traumatic stress disorder has left deep and silent wounds throughout history in the ranks of fighting forces. Among the Walking Wounded tells one veteran’s experience of PTSD through an intimate personal account, as visceral as it is blunt. In a courageous story of descent and triumph, it tackles the stigma of PTSD head-on and brings an enduring message of struggle and hope for wounded Canadian veterans. This book is a must-read for anyone who cares about Canadian veterans and the dark war they face long after their combat service is ended.

"The best Vietnam War novels yet for this age range." -- Kirkus Reviews Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck were best friends. So when one of them was drafted into the Vietnam War, the others signed up, too. They promised to watch out for one another. They pledged to come home together.Now, that pledge has been broken. One of the four has been killed in action. And the remaining three are the only men alive who know the awful truth about their friend's death.Each is left to deal with their secret in his own way. One of them will accompany his friend's body home to Boston. One of them will defy orders in an act of protest. And one of them will decide it's up to him to single-handedly win the war.In the end, Vietnam may claim more than their lives. As the war grinds on, their very souls are at stake. And their shattered friendship will prove either their salvation... or their ruin.

A gripping graphic novel illustrates the challenges of Iraq War veterans as well as their inspiring triumphs After the shock of 9/11, for hundreds of thousands of young Americans there was Ar Ramadi, Baghdad, Abu Ghraib—the war in Iraq. Then came the trauma. From the torment of these vets to their reflections, Morel and artist Maël demonstrate the seemingly impossible return of those who aspire to get back to a normal life. The effort is huge; some can't make it and others score their own victory by finally turning the corner. Walking Wounded is a parable for our country's war sickness.

Sherwood O'Neal and Art Johnson--back from an unpopular war and unable to fit into the lives they left to serve their country--are building a new life in a remote cabin in South Dakota's Black Hills. That life is disrupted by the death of Sherwood's sister, which leaves him the only living relative of her four-year-old son, Jamie. Reluctantly, Sherwood accepts his responsibility to do 'something' for his nephew, which takes the two recovering soldiers back to California where they are forced to confront both the fall-out from their service and the lives they had sought to escape.Through the confusion and uncertainty of a society trying to reconcile itself with the fact that The United States of America is losing a war, Sherwood and Art come face to face with the collateral damage of that war on the home front. Slowly they realize that the Army didn't create all their problems, as surely as getting out didn't fix them, and that the hippies were right. The only thing that really matters is love.

Born at the end of the First World War, a young girl struggles to find her own identity in her big family and is pushed into a stormy marriage through a terrible misunderstanding from which her pride refuses to let her back down. As her own personal world begins to crumble, the foundation of the world around her is shaken as Germany once again declares war and her brothers and young husband sign up with the first wave of volunteers. Walking Wounded tells the story of those left behind in a Blitz-ravaged London, and of the web of loyalty, guilt and duty that shapes the decisions of the women awaiting the return of their men-folk as the war draws to a close. Spanning the period from the Armistice of the First World War to the exodus of the Ten Pound Poms to Australia in the 1950s, Walking Wounded is a family saga whose internal violence is mirrored by the world stage upon which it is set.

By every principle of war, every shred of military logic, logistics support to Canada’s Task Force Orion in Afghanistan should have collapsed in July 2006. There are few countries that offer a greater challenge to logistics than Afghanistan, and yet Canadian soldiers lived through an enormous test on this deadly international stage - a monumental accomplishment. Canadian combat operations were widespread across southern Afghanistan in 2006, and logistics soldiers worked in quiet desperation to keep the battle group moving. Only now is it appreciated how precarious the logistics operations of Task Force Orion in Kandahar really were. What the Thunder Said is an honest, raw recollection of incidents and impressions of Canadian warfighting from a logistics perspective. It offers solid insight into the history of military logistics in Canada and explores in some detail the dramatic erosion of a once-proud corner of the army from the perspective of a battalion commander.

Marcus and his sister are counting down the days until their father comes home from Afghanistan. When the big day arrives, the family is overcome by happiness and relief that he is safe, but as the days pass Marcus begins to feel that there is something different about his father. Barely sleeping, obsessed with news from Afghanistan, and overly aggressive, his dad refuses to seek counselling. Marcus knows post-traumatic stress disorder affects many soldiers, and he needs to get his dad some help before it is too late.