Thank You for Your Service

By: David Finkel

Narrated by: Arthur Bishop

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Non-Fiction, 2014

From a MacArthur Fellow and the author of The Good Soldiers, a profound look at life after war

No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel shadowed the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous surge, a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed all of them forever. Now Finkel has followed many of those same men as they’ve returned home and struggled to reintegrate - both into their family lives and into American society at large.

In the ironically named Thank You for Your Service, Finkel writes with tremendous compassion not just about the soldiers but about their wives and children. Where do soldiers belong after their homecoming? Is it possible, or even reasonable, to expect them to rejoin their communities as if nothing has happened? And in moments of hardship, who are soldiers expected to turn to if they feel alienated by the world they once lived in? These are the questions Finkel faces as he revisits the brave but shaken men of the 2-16.

More than a work of journalism, Thank You for Your Service is an act of understanding - shocking but always riveting, unflinching but deeply humane, it takes us inside the heads of those who must live the rest of their lives with the chilling realities of war.

©2013 David Finkel (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

revealing

if you want a good understanding of "nothing good comes.from war", read this book

Strong stuff

I’m not sure I can give the kind of review this audiobook deservesthis incre powerful piece of work. The book itself, subject matter, and the narration all extraordinarily powerful

Great Read!

The Narrator was great and The Book was Phenomenal just wish the book was longer I honestly didn't want it to end.

Thankful Veteran

The narration of the book was great, it really brought the feelings across. From a veteran that has seen his share of horrors this is a great look at what our men & women are going threw on a daily basis. What we will live with for the rest of our lives, and that little piece of hope, hope that one day soon we will all be normal again.

well done

book was insightful and told stories of different viewpoints from soldiers and what was affecting them have a lot of experience in some of those areas so it was very helpful good job

heart breaking and honest look into pstd

captivating tale of the struggles that veterans deal with and the toll it takes on those around them

Great books and film as well

I read both “The Good Soldiers” and “Thank You for Your Service”. I personally found the first book harder to listen to because it can be very heavy at times, but I think this is a necessary story to tell and that it will help others understand some of the issues veterans face (both during and after deployments).

Sad reality

As a military member with deployments, this book Tells the story of truth. tells the story of suicide in the military and how it is such a big problem. a problem we don’t want to have a problem. we don’t want to see but it is there and people do struggle. Story is not a light read. Many stories within one.

Hard to listen to the stories

Depressing. War is bad & soldiers' treatment makes it worse. Too many unanswered questions & blame.

Miraculous reporting beautifully read

What did you like best about this story?

The book reveals what most of us never know about the costs of war on the soldiers who do the fighting and the families they come back to. Heartbreaking sometimes, gripping throughout.

Any additional comments?

The reader's performance is as good as it gets. He sounds like one of the guys, not some performer, yet his delivery is clear, beautifully timed, and incredibly insightful. Let's have him read more books!