Winner of the Nautilus Book Award and the Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal.

A young combat veteran hides in his closet under a pile of clothes on bad nights. Another, home for five days, can't figure out how to talk to his wife. And a commander's spouse recounts the soul-draining effect of attending nearly one hundred memorial services...

When therapist Elizabeth Heaney left her private practice to counsel military service members and their families, she came face-to-face with unheard-of struggles and fears. Emotions run deeply--and often silently--in the hearts of combat veterans in this eye-opening portrait of the complex, nuanced lives of service personnel, who return from battling the enemy and grapple with readjusting to civilian life.

Presenting the soldiers' stories--told in their own words--as well as her own story of change, Heaney offers an intimate perspective, not of war itself but of its emotional aftermath. Some of these stories scrape the bone; others are hopeful, even comical. Every one reveals the sacrifices of those on the front lines and the courage, grace, and honor with which they serve.