Arcadia Public Library

"From a distance, Michael and Joleen Zarkades seem to have it all: a solid marriage, two exciting careers, and children they adore. But after twelve years together, the couple has lost their way; they are unhappy and edging toward divorce. Then the Iraq war starts. An unexpected deployment will tear their already fragile family apart, sending one of them deep into harm's way and leaving the other at home, waiting for news. When the worst happens,...

A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents -- three minutes and forty-three seconds of intense warfare caught on tape by an embedded Fox News crew -- has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America's most sought-after heroes. Now they're on a media-intensive nationwide tour to reinvigorate support for the war. On this rainy Thanksgiving Day, the Bravos are guests of the Dallas Cowboys, slated to be part of the halftime show alongside...

"Phil Klay's Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos. In "Redeployment", a soldier who has had to shoot dogs because they were eating human corpses must learn...

It is April 2003. American forces have taken Baghdad and are now charged with winning hearts and minds. But this vital tipping point is barely recognized for what it is, as a series of miscalculations and blunders fuels an already smoldering insurgency intent of making Iraq the next graveyard of empires. This novel explores the lives on both sides of the battle lines: Cassandra Wigheard, a nineteen-year-old gunner on an American Humvee who is captured...

Back cover: "Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts forge an unbreakable bond of support and love. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. 'Water by the spoonful' is a heartfelt and poetic meditation on lives on the brink of redemption...

Presents a narrative of the Middle Eastern conflict and descriptions of events such as the capture of Saddam Hussein by U.S. forces and the continuing unrest in the region.

A film based on the true life story of a young marine corporal (Kate Mara) whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. When she is assigned to clean up the K9 unit after a disciplinary hearing, Leavey identifies with a particularly aggressive dog, Rex, and is given the chance to train him. Over the course of their service, Megan and Rex completed more than 100 missions until an IED...

"From a MacArthur Fellow and the author of The Good Soldiers, a profound look at life after war No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of...

"Richard "Ricco" Oliver is a single father at the end of his rope. Financially strapped, stressed out, and emotionally broken, he seeks a way out of his situation. With few options available, he enlists in the Marines to give his son a better life, believing that he will never get the call for deployment. Then 9/11 happens. Suddenly, he finds himself heading for Marine training, leaving behind his family, friends, and all that he holds dear. After...

The remarkable true story of one soldier's death in battle, another soldier's journey of discovery and a nation's reverence and gratitude toward its war dead. After hearing of the heroic death of a young Marine in Iraq, veteran officer Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl volunteers to escort the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps back to his hometown in Wyoming. As Strobl crosses America's heartland, he will find himself on an unexpectedly emotional journey...