The Honor Was Mine

By: Elizabeth Heaney MA LPC

Narrated by: Joyce Bean

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.

©2016 Elizabeth Heaney (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Entertaining & Extremely Insightful!

Informed me about the inner life & culture of military personnel at a deeper level.

You’ve found what you’re looking for.

Elizabeth Heaney’s book, and this narration are so crystal clearly the kind of insight this world craves. Absolutely refreshing. One of the best meals my heart and soul has ever enjoyed, and I venture you’ll agree.
Thank you for your artful hard-work, patience, and devotion, Elizabeth! Thank you for sharing your journey and insight with the world. :)

About the Counselor, Not the Soldiers

As the mother of two soldiers who have deployed to combat zones, with one of our sons being sent to both Iraq (during the surge) and Afghanistan, this account doesn't jive with their first hand accounts. Both our sons suffer from PTSD. I had to stop listening not far into this audiobook, because of the young soldier who told the counselor that he was told to "just shoot" and to keep shooting even when he could not identify his target. I know for certain that our military had to hold their fire if they could not identify the enemy, putting themselves in danger. This is one of the things that worried my husband and I most when our boys were in the combat zones. This book just doesn't ring true. I look forward to more reviews from those in the know. I'm sad to say that this account seems to be more about the author than what our America's young people went through in combat. Tales of survivors' guilt, carrying our own wounded on litters to awaiting aircraft, cleaning out the blood and guts from bombed vehicles . . . playing ball one day with their friends on the Combat Outposts only to be going to that same friend's memorial the next day at the post chapel . . . these are the stories our son's brought home . . . and the nightmares they still have. The author started going into her own personal issues shortly into the book, which I found to be off putting.