Overview

For more than a decade, Ron Capps, serving as both a senior military intelligence officer and as a Foreign Service officer for the U.S. Department of State, was witness to war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. From government atrocities in Kosovo, to the brutal cruelties perpetrated in several conflicts in central Africa, the wars in both Aghanistan and Iraq, and culminating in genocide in Darfur, Ron acted as an intelligence collector and reporter but was diplomatically restrained from taking preventative action in these conflicts. The cumulative effect of these experiences, combined with the helplessness of his role as an observer, propelled him into a deep depression and a long bout with PTSD, which nearly caused him to take his own life. Seriously Not All Right is a memoir that provides a unique perspective of a professional military officer and diplomat who suffered (and continues to suffer) from PTSD. His story, and that of his recovery and his newfound role as founder and teacher of the Veterans Writing Project, is an inspiration and a sobering reminder of the cost of all wars, particularly those that appeared in the media and to the general public as merely sidelines in the unfolding drama of world events.

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9781936182589

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Reviews

The writing is crisp, authoritative, rueful, very much alive in the face of death, and political in the best sense: an eyewitness account. -- Bill Roorbach, author, Life Among Giants

The writing is crisp, authoritative, rueful, very much alive in the face of death, and political in the best sense: an eyewitness account. -- Bill Roorbach, author, Life Among Giants An affecting meditation about our recent expeditionary wars and the consequences for those we have sent into the fight. --Rick Atkinson, author, the Liberation Trilogy This powerful and necessary work teaches us that, while we cannot expunge the ghosts of history, we can and must bear witness and share the truth as we know it. --Richard Currey, author, Fatal Light and Crossing Over: The Vietnam Stories This searing memoir recounts the horrors Capps encountered and their devastating effects on his psyche and soul. Capps's telling of his story of war and bearing witness is vitally important for the 99% of Americans who sat out the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. -- Publishers Weekly A mostly even-keeled soldier's memoir that occasionally throws sparks. -- Kirkus Reviews

The writing is crisp, authoritative, rueful, very much alive in the face of death, and political in the best sense: an eyewitness account. -- Bill Roorbach, author, Life Among Giants An affecting meditation about our recent expeditionary wars and the consequences for those we have sent into the fight. --Rick Atkinson, author, the Liberation Trilogy

Author Information

Ron Capps is the founder and director of the Veterans Writing Project, a non-profit program that provides no-cost writing seminars and workshops for veterans, service members, and their family members. He is the curriculum developer and lead instructor for the National Endowment for the Arts programs that bring expressive and creative writing seminars to wounded warriors at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Ron is a graduate of both the Master of Liberal Arts program and the MA in Writing program of the Johns Hopkins University. A combat veteran of Afghanistan, Ron served in the Army and Army Reserve for 25 years, entering as a private and retiring as a lieutenant Colonel. He also served as a political officer in the Foreign Service. As a soldier or diplomat, Ron served in Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and in the Darfur region of Sudan. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Afghanistan and received the William R. Rivkin award from the American Foreign Service Association for ""intellectual courage and the creative use of dissent"" for challenging U.S. foreign policy following his service in Darfur.

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