By Lewis Nelson
Life After Loyalty
A War Writers’ Campaign Novel
The emotional costs of the War on Terror on the lives of the U.S. service members and their families will likely take decades to fully understand. So many Americans who have directly supported combat operations in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11 came home changed. Life After Loyalty explores the often lesser visible effects of deployment on combat support personnel, the ones who may not believe their experiences were traumatic enough to warrant attention. The ones who believe their general lack of excitement and motivation after returning home is just a normal part of readjustment. Most importantly, Life After Loyalty explores how these subtle changes can wreak havoc on family and life satisfaction for those that have served.
About the Author
Lewis Nelson
Lewis Nelson grew up in Manassas, Virginia, and Hayward, Wisconsin; he is a 2000 graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a B.A. in history and a 2017 graduate of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business (MBA). After America was attacked on September 11, 2001, he enlisted in the US Army and served seven years active duty as a Korean cryptologic linguist. Lewis deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004 with the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 101st Airborne Division and again from 2005 to 2006 with the 506th Regimental Combat Team (Currahee), 101st Airborne Division. Lewis spent the following eight years as a defense contractor and Department of Defense civilian employee before leaving government service in early 2016.
Lewis Nelson authored a book on his accounts of FOB, Loyalty, east Baghdad, Iraq as an intelligence soldier. Very little of the book was about Loyalty, but rather the affects his time there would shape the path of his mental health.
Lewis clearly wrote from an honest and oftentimes criticized point of view about combat support soldiers suffering trauma and his experiences. In typical Lewis fashion, he exemplifies what a lot of are thinking but can’t so eloquently put into words.
If you have 3 hours and a few bucks to spare to read another human’s journey of self-reflection, you will not be disappointed.
– Amy M – via Amazon
Life after loyalty blog
Follow Along
Podcast Interview on Hazard Ground
In 2017, I had the opportunity to share my story with Mark Zinno on the Hazard Ground Podcast. The episode published in April of 2018. It was honor to be able to share my story on the same platform as Medal of Honor recipients and true combat heroes. I'm thankful that...
Preface
I've been dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for nearly eight years and only recently acknowledged it. In those eight years, I was not the husband and father I set out to be in life. I love my children and they love me; I don't think I've been a bad...
Forward – by Kayla Williams
When I began speaking publicly about my husband’s struggle to recover from post-traumatic stress disorder, people occasionally asked, “Why didn’t people used to get PTSD?” They labored under the misconception that since veterans of World War II did not discuss their...
Published by the War Writers’ Campaign
in partnership with IAVA
lewis@lifeafterloyalty.com