Keri Jackson's Comments

I presently am honored to be able to serve our military veterans as a member of the Veterans Healthcare Administration, committed to "Care for him who shall have borne the battle, and his widow and his orphan" (President Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address).  I also have the honor to have served as a Medical Officer with the US Army from 1983 to 1993, participating in Operation Desert Shield/Storm as the Brigade Surgeon for the Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Armored Division.

My kinsman,  the son of my sister, LCPL Travis T. Babine, USMC, along with 3 members of his fire team, was KIA in Farah Province, Afghanistan, on August 6, 2009, killed in an IED attack.  His USMC unit from Kaneohe, HI was among those sent to Afghanistan in support of the "surge" of 2009 to pacify western Afghanistan.

"Restrepo" came to my attention thanks to one of my contacts with a veteran of the 503rd Infantry some months ago, on the very day that Tim Heatherington lost his life in Libya.  I acquired a copy of the documentary but I must admit it was some weeks  (perhaps  months!) before I could watch it.

Since then, however, I have discovered that the documentary "RESTREPO" is a pearl - a very real and true depiction of the life of a combat soldier in that particular, but somehow general, experience.  I value it for it's earthy truth - it's not a "made up story", an "adaptation" of a published work, a "screenplay" somehow based on a previously published work.  It is what it is...an observation of the reality of one unit, a small group of warriors,  in one place in time.  It is, at least in my world, jsimply real.

I have just today completed my second "listen" to "WAR" thanks to the availability of the work via Audible.com.  I am certain I wlll take advantage of the experience again and again and in the meantime purchase both hard copy and Kindle versions.  This work will be an important addition to my personal reference library about combat related PTSD. 

Perhaps, most importantly, I can recommed both "RESTREPO"  and "WAR" to combat veterans as resources to help them share with their families and friends published works that may be able to show and express what they themselves often can not - the effects of their military experiences on "why they are the way they are"......

Thank you to all who have participated in this labor of love.

Keri Jackson MD

C&P Examiner, Knoxville TN

Former US Army Medical Officer with service in Operation Desert Storm/Shield with the Combat Aviation Brigade of the 3rd Armored Division, Frankfurt,  Germany

First I would say that Dr. Jackson was a US Army Medical Officer in Desert Storm/Shield, but she was also more than that.  She was our Flight Surgeon, our being 2/227 AVN.  I say this to recognize her service, in combat, to us the Aviators.

Thank You for the recomendation on Restrepo. 

dean