Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL, recounts his life and military experiences, discusses his record for the most career sniper kills in United States military history and the bounty placed on his head by Iraqi insurgents, provides an eye-witness account of war in Iraq, shares the strains of war on his marriage and family, and honors his fellow soldiers.

Presents the story of Marine Jay Kopelman's efforts to have Lava, a dog found in Fallujah, sent to the United States, at the same time focusing on Iraqi political corruption, miltary bureaucracy, and the sufferings of ordinary Iraqis who have become the innocent victims of the war.

[In this book, the author offers an] account - explosive, shocking, and authoritative - of the American military's tragic experience in Iraq. [The book also offers] accounts of battles such as 2nd Fallujah and Tall Afar, whose names should take their place alongside two Jima and Porkchop Hill on a select list of honor ... Too many American and Iraqi lives have been lost, and too much of America's might and influence has been squandered, for these...

This work is a powerful account of war and homecoming. The author served three tours of duty in the Middle East, two of them as the commander of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Iraq. Days and nights he and his team, his brothers, would venture forth in heavily armed convoys from their Forward Operating Base to engage in the nerve-racking yet strangely exhilarating work of either disarming the deadly improvised explosive devices that had been...

The former Secretary of Defense offers a candid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On April 13, 2004, Melissa Stockwell lost her leg to an IED during a routine patrol in Iraq, making her the first female soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq War. This was just the beginning of her inspiring story of perseverance and triumph. "I have had the chance to meet Melissa and hear her amazing story in person. In this book, Melissa shares insight on how she became a warrior and fought back to become the champion she is today. She is a great...

"Finkel, a journalist, follows the soldiers who serve in the Iraq War as they struggle to reintegrate into American society. He creates an essential portrait of what life after war is like-- not just for these soldiers, but for their wives, widows, children, and friends, and for the professionals who are truly trying, and to a great degree failing, to undo the damage that has been done."--

Ryan Smithson joined the Army Reserve when he was seventeen. Two years later, he was deployed to Iraq as an Army engineer. In this extraordinary and harrowing memoir, readers march along one GI's tour of duty. Smithson avoids writing either prowar propaganda or an antimilitary polemic, providing instead a fascinating, often humorous-and occasionally devastating-account of the motivations and life of a contemporary soldier.

John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition, willingly exchanging one weekend a month and two weeks a year for a free education. But one semester short of graduating and newly married, he was called to active duty and sent to Iraq. Crawford and his unit spent months upon months patrolling the streets of Baghdad, occupying a hostile city. During the breaks between patrols, Crawford began writing nonfiction stories...

Lt. Col. Kopelman won the hearts of readers with his moving story of adopting an abandoned puppy named Lava in a hellish corner of Iraq. For this Marine and his comrades, the puppy served as an important emotional touchstone in a grim and seemingly endless war. Kopelman now writes about what it's like to be home. He credits his canine best friend with finding his wife--in the park, Lava began playing with her dog and the two owners met--and for keeping...