Posts Tagged ‘iraq’
Veterans don’t need pity
This essay was published March 24th 2013 by the Austin American Statesman. http://www.statesman.com/news/news/opinion/veteran-reports-of-recruitment-tricks-and-trauma-m/nWxRF/ Veteran: Reports of recruitment tricks and trauma misleading By Chris Hernandez Two years ago I attended a presentation by a woman who advocates “selective conscientious objector” status. In other words, she believes service members should be able to say, “I’ll go to […]
Filed under: Afghanistan, Iraq, Writing | 54 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, iraq, PTSD, veterans
I just finished the book Fobbit by David Abrams, a novel about the dark underworld inhabited by all the cooks, bakers and candlestick makers who served in Iraq but never left the relative safety of a Forward Operating Base (Forward Operating Base = FOB, FOB inhabitant = fobbit). Abrams was a fobbit, and unlike many […]
Filed under: Afghanistan, Iraq, Writing | 9 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, ben fountain, billy lynn, david abrams, fobbit, iraq, Kevin Powers, veteran authors, Yellow Birds
Based on many recommendations and driven by my basic desire to be fair, I read Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. If you read my blog post from a couple of weeks ago (https://chrishernandezauthor.com/2012/12/06/billy-lynns-bogus-journey/), you’ll recall that I was a little peeved at what I read and heard about the book’s portrayal of our troops. I […]
Filed under: Iraq, Writing | 7 Comments
Tags: ben fountain, billy lynn's long halftime walk, iraq, veteran authors, veterans
PTSD and my mistake
Full disclaimer: I do not have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I don’t know why some others have it and I don’t. I have no doubt a great many men and women who are mentally tougher than me have PTSD from their wartime service. I think I may be partly responsible for one soldier I served […]
Filed under: Afghanistan, Iraq | 13 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, iraq, PTSD, veterans
Billy Lynn’s bogus journey
So there’s this book out. It was authored by Ben Fountain, is called Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, and has gotten lots of attention. It just may be the long-awaited Great Iraq War Novel. Karl Marlantes, a veteran author I highly respect, has praised it. The book has been compared to Catch-22. In a nutshell, […]
Filed under: Iraq, Writing | 18 Comments
Tags: ben fountain, billy lynn, iraq, veterans
