Best of Q: David Finkel on the battle soldiers face after the war
Author David Finkel writes about the challenges U.S. soldiers face upon returning home to regular civilian life.
From the Best of Q, author and Washington Post journalist David Finkel joins guest host Kevin Sylvester to talk about the post-war struggles of U.S. soldiers returning from battle.
Finkel describes their challenges in his new book, Thank You for Your Service, which chronicles the "afterwar" faced by young soldiers he met when he while embedded in Iraq. He first chronicled the men's experiences during the troop surge in 2009's The Good Soldiers -- but notes that their lives changed dramatically when they returned their families.
Many veterans told him of their post-war psychological trauma, spurring Finkel to write what he calls "the second half" of their story.