Worth Books - Summary and Analysis of Thank You for Your Service: Based on the Book by David Finkel

Summary and Analysis of

Thank You for Your Service

Based on the Book by David Finkel

Contents

Context

In an attempt to dismantle and expel al-Qaeda, and force Osama bin Ladens extrication to the United States, American troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and the war continued for 13 years, until 2014. Then-president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was accused of harboring weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and US President George W. Bush ordered Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The Iraq War continued until the last troops left in 2011.

As of 2014, there are 2.7 million veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Mental disorders are one of three most common diagnoses amongst veterans receiving medical treatment, constituting 55% of the 1 million veterans receiving treatment. David Finkels first book, The Good Soldiers , followed the men of a US infantry battalion on a 15-month tour of Iraq between 2007 and 2008; Thank You for Your Service picks up the story of some of these men as they return home. After depicting what happens during war, Finkel believed it was just as important to shine a light on the much less visible after-war.

While there are many books, both nonfiction and literary, detailing the experiences of soldiers and civilians during the Iraq War, such as reporter Dexter Filkins The Forever War (2008), books looking at the aftermath for soldiers are still rare. Helen Benedicts The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq (2009) focuses on the unique problems experienced by female soldiers both in conflict and after discharge. Finkels book is atypical of Iraq memoirs insofar as it is relatively apolitical, eschewing debates over whether the invasion was justified, and instead focusing on the returned soldiers everyday lives and mental states. The only criticisms of the army or the US government are reserved for its slowness to address the PTSD and suicide epidemic amongst veterans, although those who worked hard to change the situation are given recognition in the text. Finkel removes himself from the narration and instead places the men and their families at center stage.

Overview

Thank You for Your Service examines the progress of several Iraq veterans as they return home to America, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as the effects that deployment had on their loved ones. Three deployments have taken a severe toll on Adam Schumann, who returns home to Fort Riley, Kansas, wracked with guilt over the death of fellow soldier James Doster. Adams wife, Saskia, soon becomes exhausted by the burden of taking care of their two children while dealing with her husbands outbursts, nightmares, and suicidal thoughts. Meanwhile, James Dosters widow, Amanda, remains unable to move on from the horrific death of her husband, and continues to seek answers about how and why he died. Tausolo Aieti, a young Samoan soldier who served with Adam and James, is suffering insomnia, memory problems, and violent impulses, and despite being admitted to a treatment program for traumatized soldiers, Tausolo ends up arrested for domestic battery against his wife, Theresa. Nic DeNinno, from the same company, is suicidal and haunted by dreams of dead bodies. Michael Emory, a semi-paralyzed soldier who was rescued by Adam Schumann, suffers from PTSD and has attempted suicide; his wife left him, and he no longer trusts himself to be around his daughter.

These men are the success storiesthey are still alive, while their comrades have died overseas. The suicide rate in the army is spiraling out of control, despite the concerted efforts of army chief of staff Peter Chiarelli to reduce the number. There are no clear answers; suicide prevention training and mental health treatment have limited success. Former sergeant Tim Jung knows this only too well, having nearly waded into a river and ended his life; his colleague Michael Lewis is scarred by the experience of traumatized veteran Jessie Robinson dying in his arms of an overdose. Adam, Tausolo, Nic, and Michael persist in their journey of recovery with the support of advocates like Patti Walker, the wife of a severely injured soldier, who helps them get access to benefits, jobs, and treatment programs. Even four years after his return and a great deal of therapy, Adam Schumann reflects that there are no easy answers.

Summary

Prologue

Soldier Adam Schumann is being sent home to Fort Riley after his most recent 9-month deployment in Iraq because his mental health has deteriorated. Multiple traumatic missions have compounded his fear and guilt to the point where he wants to die. Yet he feels ashamed of having to tell his squad he is leaving not for an injury, but for mental health reasons. He says his goodbyes and walks to the helicopter, ridden with guilt.

Need to Know: The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, begun in 2001 and 2003 respectively, have left 970,000 American veterans with some form of disability. According to the Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs, many more live with physical and emotional scars despite lack of disability status.

Adam has been diagnosed with PTSD, tinnitus, and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). He suffers from anxiety, depression, nightmares, and headaches. Two years after his departure from combat, his relationship with his wife Saskia is strained; they argue regularly and worry about money. The couple has a 6-year-old daughter named Zoe, and an infant son named Jaxson. Saskia lives in fear of Adam taking his own life.

Adam had a difficult childhood. His abusive father left when he was 6 years old; he was molested as a child by an older boy; and he was raised by a poor, single mother. When he turned nine, he moved in with his grandfather, a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, who, despite being a violent alcoholic in his younger years, was a paternal figure and a role model for Adam. He also inspired Adams ambition to join the army.

The couple attends an appointment for Adam at the VA hospital in Topeka, Kansas. There, Saskia thinks back to Adams return from war, which was muted compared to other soldiers celebratory receptions, and involved Amanda Doster, the young widow of James Doster, a fellow soldier who died in combat, who was demanding that Adam tell her what happened to her husband.

Survivor guilt can be a powerful barrier to recovery from trauma, and Adams shame at surviving while his friend James died was compounded by fellow soldier Christopher Golembe telling him, none of this shit would have happened if you were there. Nancy Sherman, PhD, writes that senior ranking soldiers routinely talk about unit members as family members, their own children, of sorts, who have been entrusted to them. To fall short of unconditional care is experienced as a kind of perfidy, a failure to be faithful . Adam clearly feels he failed James and Christopher as a unit commander by staying behind while his men went out and died.

Need to Know: Army suicides in 2003, the first year of the Iraq War, outstripped deaths in combat. Despite suicide awareness prevention campaigns following this spike, they did so again in 2008.

Amanda Doster remains stuck in her grief for her husband James, who was in Adam Schumanns unit and was killed by a bomb during deployment. Three years later, Amanda is moving to a new home with the help of her friend Sally. Her family and friends, initially sympathetic, have become impatient with her insistence on being so relentlessly heartbroken. When the movers arrive, Amanda insists on handling all of James belongings herself.