For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice

The remarkable stories in For Love of Country aim to bridge the divide in our society between our civilian and military populations, shattering stereotypes of our veterans as broken, angry, and needy by highlighting the power of their experiences and their profound devotion to their country. The first half of this extraordinary book honors acts of remarkable valor in Iraq and Afghanistan, including an army sergeant who runs into a hail of gunfire multiple times to protect his comrades; two marines who chose to stand and defend their outpost from an oncoming truck bomb rather than run to safety; and a sixty-year-old doctor who joined the navy after his son was killed at war and saved the lives of dozens of people. The second half showcases how post-9/11 veterans are plowing their leadership skills and commitment to service into initiatives to strengthen and rebuild our nation. Among them are former soldiers who help residents dig out after natural disasters, a general seeking to find new ways to treat brain injuries, and an army spouse who is helping wives whose husbands have lost multiple limbs in war. We see the challenges some of our returning troops face–joblessness, homeless