THE AFTER

A veteran reflects on what it means to return to civilian life after serving in combat.

Ramos, an Iraq War veteran and creative writing instructor, was a Greensider—a U.S. Navy specialist assigned to chaplains serving with the Marines. While the job involved plenty of administrative work and other “unsexy, uncool stuff,” it also required being ready to protect someone forbidden to carry weapons in a combat zone. However, this book isn’t about “war stories,” as the author makes clear at the outset—although he does provide vivid accounts of military life: scrounging for food, defecating in a hole while under fire, dealing with vital pieces of equipment such as combat boots. Ramos includes these stories in part to show civilian readers what they can’t understand because they weren’t there. Especially relevant are the author’s encounters with civilians who think they do know what he experienced—or who pretend to be veterans to horn in on benefits such as free Veterans Day meals or to bask in unearned respect from those who can’t spot the imposter. One chapter in particular, set in a writers’ workshop, juxtaposes veterans with civilians whose preconceptions about what veterans must be like make real communication impossible. Also powerful are sections on comrades who died in combat and on the author’s son following in his footsteps and signing up to become a Marine. Perhaps the strongest chapter is “A Long and Incomplete List of Some of the Things You Can’t (Don’t) Talk About,” in which the author gives graphic, unblinking pictures of the big and little facts of military life, from basic training to combat to the inescapable memories that flood back after discharge.

Powerfully written, unflinching accounts of life on active duty—essential reading for anyone who cares about our veterans.