Wyman’s book adds to the growing literature about the effects of combat on veterans—such as sleeplessness, emotional numbness, flashbacks, nightmares, survivor guilt and a feeling of isolation. His book arose from his composition classes as a writing instructor at Seattle Central Community College, where he heard veterans tell heart-rending stories of their experiences in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The experiences moved him to apply for a sabbatical to write a book about combat vets and the effects of war upon them. He researched Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and interviewed about seventy soldiers, eighteen of whom appear in his book. Wyman read from his book, as will several veterans who wrote chapters for it.

Wyman has been a faculty member at Seattle Central Community College for over twenty years. He is also the academic director of the Clemente Course for Veterans at Seattle’s Antioch University, a new program for veterans that explores military culture and the experience of war through art, moral philosophy, U.S. history, and literature.