Thank You for Your Service

By: David Finkel

Narrated by: Arthur Bishop

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).

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!

Don't Understand the Accolades

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Although I am not an expert on the plight of veterans I do follow the news and the impact of the service on their lives. As a result, I do not feel I learned a lot. Having said that I will never think of the phrase "Thank you for your service" in the same light again.

If you’ve listened to books by David Finkel before, how does this one compare?

David Finkel is a skilled writer. I would have enjoyed more information about where we were headed to keep things in context.

Have you listened to any of Arthur Bishop’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first Arthur Bishop narration. He is excellent. Not among the best but really good.

Do you think Thank You for Your Service needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, I don't think a follow up book is needed. The press does a good job of covering this issue.

Must Be Required Reading for Counselors!

I read the first installment to this saga, "The Good Soldiers", about the 2/16 Infantry's time in the sand box. If you are reading this review, you you may have seen it first with the review of his first book, as my sentiments are the same. IF I were back in command, I would have both of these on the required reading list for ALL of my officers, NCOs, AND enlisted troops. As it is now, in my civilian role as mentor and nursing leader, as well as therapist, this is required reading along with David Wood and others for anyone who is under my mentorship.

I spent over 23 years in the Army as a commissioned officer- most of that in the Nurse Corps as a Psychiatric Nurse, with my own military-related PTSD issues. My journey in the mental health field began well before we knew about things like moral injury and the like. PTSD had only been a buzz word for about 15 years before my time, and I have seen the rapid growth of treatment for PTSD in the active military, as well as in the VA, into today's mental health agenda. I recently had a young rehab (medical) patient who had served in this very place just before the 2/16 came in to take over, and he was the one who told me I had to read this book, as he knew I would understand exactly what he was talking about once I read the story. Myself a combat veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, I was already very familiar with life in the sand box, yet, this story held my brain from the first sentence of the first chapter, and did not let go until I had DEROS'd with the unit!

I began studying and following the phenomenon of "moral injury" for at least a decade before it became the new invisible wound along side PTSD, only much, much deeper and damaging in most cases. I have read several books and articles on the topic over the years, including some of David Wood's tremendous work- Pulitzer Prize Winning "Beyond the Battlefield" and his most recent book "What Have We Done: Moral Injury in Today's Longest Wars"- to name a couple. I have been retired since 2005; however, I still work with the VA, and care for young and older veterans, all of whom have been through combat and come home with the same stuff going on in their minds and souls.

David Finkel's treatment of the experience of the Infantry soldiers in the midst of Hell and Doom is respectful and honest, down to the last F-bomb dropped. He was able to get even Officers to share their emotions and struggles- and we all know how us Officers do NOT do that! The narrator was quite capable of putting vivid scenes into my head as if I were there. I appreciate that the book was not a truck-load of chapters to trudge through, as with some books about these topics. He did not get bogged down in politics or irrelevant details outside of what needed to be referred to in order for the scene to make sense. I enjoyed the “sandwiching” technique of his writing- going back and forth between past and present with each chapter.