A War Zone of the Soul
Dr. W. Lee Warren’s life as a neurosurgeon in a trauma center began to unravel long before he shipped off to serve the Air Force in Iraq in 2004. When he traded a comfortable if demanding practice in San Antonio, Texas, for a ride on a C-130 into the combat zone, he was already reeling from months of personal struggle.
At the 332nd Air Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base … Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Warren realized his experience with trauma was just beginning. In his 120 days in a tent hospital, he was trained in a different specialty — surviving over a hundred mortar attacks and trying desperately to repair the damages of a war that raged around every detail of every day. No place was safe, and the constant barrage wore down every possible defense, physical or psychological.
One day, clad only in a T-shirt, gym shorts, and running shoes, Warren was caught in the open while round after round of mortars shook the earth and shattered the air with their explosions, stripping him of everything he had been trying so desperately to hold on to.
Warren’s story is an example of how a person can go from a place of total loss to one of strength, courage, and victory. Whether you are in the midst of your own crisis of faith, failed relationship, financial struggle, or illness, you will be inspired to remember that how you respond determines whether you survive — spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes physically.
It is the beginning of a long journey home.
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I literally could not put this book down! I know part of my fascination is that my son also served 3 deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and still will not openly talk about the things with which he dealt.
Dr. Warren writes about his deployment to Balad Air Base (ak Camp Anaconda) Iraq in 2005. A gifted and accomplished neurosurgeon, he and a …
After reading I’ve Seen the End of You, I wanted to read about Dr. Warren’s experience in deployment. I was not disappointed, at least in the book. Human behavior, on the other hand . . .
My husband was active duty Air Force for 10 years. We presently live outside the gates of Ft. Bragg, home to many of the brave men and women who deploy to …
An absolutely excellent book. It is well written, gripping, intense and thoughtful. There are no easy answers in it and no ducking away from the realities of combat medicine in a shooting war or personal issues that need to be dealt with.
Dr. Warren lays it all out with an honesty that is rarely seen anywhere. Everyone who can take the gritty …
This biography is excellent for anyone wanting to know about the realities of being a surgeon in a war zone. He is honest about his fears, his faltering faith, his marriage that was ending, and his heart rending stories of patients he treated and then lost. His resultant blog and podcast are also inspirational and motivating. Definitely a 5 …
A combat brain surgeon’s view of the Iraq war — inimitable and haunting. I’ll never forget it.