Battle Scars: Twenty Years Later: 3d Battalion 5th Marines Looks Back at the Iraq War and How it Changed Their Lives

Book Synopsis: Chip Reid was an embedded reporter with 3d Battalion 5th Marines as they fought their way from Kuwait to Baghdad in 2003, interviewing the young Marines within hours of brutal combat actions.

The most eye-opening, and terrifying, story in Chip Reid's career as a journalist was the six weeks he spent with 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, as a correspondent for NBC News. Traveling shoulder-to-shoulder with the young Marines, he had unparalleled access, witnessing them in combat, and interviewing as many as he could persuade his bosses to put on air, allowing them to tell their war stories in their own words. It took only 22 days for the Marines of 3/5 to fight their way to Baghdad, but the effects on those who fought have lasted a lifetime. They lost a number of their own in battle, and others suffered life-threatening injuries. Of those who returned - even if they avoided physical scars - many have had to find their own way through survivor's guilt and the nightmare of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with all its attendant miseries.

Twenty years on, Chip sat down with the Marines of 3/5 once more. They told Chip inspiring stories of heroism in battle, of camaraderie and comrades lost, of patriotism and belief in mission, of recovery and success in both military and civilian life, and of the new appreciation for life that results from Post-Traumatic Growth. Visceral and searingly honest, this book is a tribute to the Marines for their service, and for the many sacrifices they made then, and that many still make today.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Mr. Magoo Goes To War

Part One: From Kuwait to Baghdad at the Tip of the Spear

Chapter 1: The Ground War Begins

Chapter 2: First Combat

Chapter 3: Two Days from Hell

Chapter 4: The Battle at Devil's Ditch

Chapter 5: Winning The Hearts of the Iraqi People

Chapter 7: Arrival in Baghdad

Part Two: Twenty Years Later

Chapter 8: Consequences of Being Trained to Kill

Chapter 9: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Post-Traumatic Growth

Chapter 10: Marines Tell Their Stories Of PTSD and PTG

Chapter 11: Marine Families Tell Their Stories of PTSD and PTG

Chapter 12: Lives Transformed by the Marines

Chapter 13: Marines Who Loved It So Much They Made It a Career

Chapter 14: Opinions About the Iraq War Today

Chapter 15: In Memory

Epilogue: An Emotional Mountaintop Reunion

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