Overview

They suffer physical injury and moral trauma as they fight in wars to protect us -- while most of us are unaware of their efforts. If we send our soldiers to war, we also are responsible for welcoming them home and helping them heal. By reading these stories as told to psychiatrist, Dr. Ted Beal, Americans learn to be present to the families, friends and neighbors who served in our place. War Stories From the Forgotten Soldiers is a collection of 31 riveting stories told by soldiers and heard and experienced by Dr. Beal, the professional listener. This unique narrative weaves Beal's clinical observations with the veterans war stories of trauma and its treatments. Following each essay are Dr. Beal's thoughts and questions generated by each soldier's experience. Read and learn why some war trauma is so monumental that it cannot be contained within an individual soldier or family but must become part of our national collective responsibility to them.

Full Product Details

9781633939493

Table of Contents

Reviews

This book is an outstanding resource. Dr. Beal tells the full wide range of our stories and asks America to help bear witness to our experience. --Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America In his compelling book, Dr. Beal opens our eyes to the psychological aftermath of war. We certainly owe our men and women in uniform a great deal of gratitude for their sacrifices. But, equally as important, I believe we also owe them a greater understanding of what they face upon returning home. This book, rooted in first-hand accounts by service members, is that source for greater understanding and compassion. --Senator Bob Dole, World War II veteran In a word, it is BRILLIANT. I have never read anything quite like it. The way [Dr. Beal combines] factual information (from a multitude of authors and sources), clinical observations, story-telling, personal observations, and reflections is as unique as it is engaging. --Robert Koffman, MD, Navy Captain, former Director for Psychological Health to the Navy Surgeon General, Former Deputy Director of Clinical Operations at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda, Maryland Dr. Beal's background gives him an unique perspective, having both empathy as a fellow soldier during his service [as a physician during the Vietnam war] as well as professional objectivity as a civilian psychiatrist treating soldiers from the Iraq-Afghanistan war. In this remarkable collection of riveting stories and thought-provoking reflections, Dr. Beal shares his decades of experience observing and counseling the 1% of our population who bear the untold burden of protecting our country. He challenges readers to learn how to ask our veterans about their service, listen to their stories and their ongoing challenges, and become more compassionately aware of the immeasurable cost of war on our military members, their families, and the society surrounding them. This extraordinary book is an emotionally and academically charged call to action for service members and civilians alike! --Peter S. Cooke, Major General (Ret.) US Army Reserve; former Director of National Center for Veterans' Studies; former Chairman of Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee Some 99% of Americans have little contact with the military today. Because very few know anything of the experiences or consequences for those who serve, deploying them becomes even easier. In War Stories Dr. Ted Beal, who has spent years meeting with soldiers and confronting with them the horrors they have faced and the memories they endure, asks us all to confront them. With powerful accounts and candid observations, he tells stories that need to be heard by all citizens, especially by those who send the young to war. --James Wright, President Emeritus of Dartmouth College, Historian, former Marine, Author of Enduring Vietnam: An American Generation and Its War

Author Information

"Edward W ""Ted"" Beal is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. War Stories From the Forgotten Soldiers is the culmination of almost eight years of experience and over 5,000 interviews working with returning soldiers. He is the coauthor of Adult Children of Divorce and coeditor of The Failure of Nerve as well as numerous academic papers and book chapters. His popular press writings appear in the Washington Post, The CPF Quarterly and in Pulse, Voices from the Heart of Medicine, an online magazine."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available