Soldier's Heart
An Inspirational Memoir and Inquiry of War
by
Book Details
About the Book
The history of the government's treatment of returning combat veterans has been long absent from the public's awareness. Lately, a plethora of documentaries presenting the wounded veterans' plights are currently making their way into the American public's consciousness. After their initial treatments, the wounded service members from the wars in
A book most relevant to the current situation of our government's treatment of the homecoming warrior is Soldier's Heart by Lee Burkins. This book is possibly the most honest inquiry of war and its consequent trauma ever written by a combat soldier. Burkins, a former Green Beret, writes with the emotional firepower of an automatic weapon. Novelistic in nature, Soldier's Heart weaves and braids the grime, blood, and guts of the experience of war with the world's past historical treatment of the warrior returned home. He humorously reveals the uncompromising assault he and a handful of pugnacious veterans made upon the bureaucracy's neglect of the combatants. Sit in a Veterans rap group, walk the jungles with the tribal warriors Burkins led in combat and follow the inner world of a warrior's struggle to comprehend the reasons behind humanity's penchant for war and the government's reluctance to acknowledge the trauma now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (
A story from Soldier's Heart was presented as a documentary on the History Channel
About the Author
Lee Burkins served with the 5th Special Forces and the top secret organization MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam - Special Operations Group) in Southeast Asia. While attending the University of Colorado, he worked for the National Bureau of Standards conducting research in the ‘Time and Frequency’ Division. He became involved in Veterans’ politics and for ten years worked as an advocate for disabled veterans. He has also had the good fortune of being a pilot, janitor, ditch digger, honey-dipper, carpenter, surveyor, teacher and exotic flower farmer. He spends his time writing and insulating himself from the madness of society by practicing the esoteric internal arts of Taoism.