Seriously Not All Right
Five Wars in Ten Years
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
For more than a decade, Ron Capps, serving as both a senior military intelligence officer and as a Foreign Service officer for the U.S. Department of State, was witness to war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. From government atrocities in Kosovo, to the brutal cruelties perpetrated in several conflicts in central Africa, the wars in both Aghanistan and Iraq, and culminating in genocide in Darfur, Ron acted as an intelligence collector and reporter but was diplomatically restrained from taking preventative action in these conflicts. The cumulative effect of these experiences, combined with the helplessness of his role as an observer, propelled him into a deep depression and a long bout with PTSD, which nearly caused him to take his own life. Seriously Not All Right is a memoir that provides a unique perspective of a professional military officer and diplomat who suffered (and continues to suffer) from PTSD. His story, and that of his recovery and his newfound role as founder and teacher of the Veterans Writing Project, is an inspiration and a sobering reminder of the cost of all wars, particularly those that appeared in the media and to the general public as merely sidelines in the unfolding drama of world events.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Capps served as an army officer for nine years then became a Foreign Service officer documenting war crimes in Kosovo, Central Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq and Darfur. This searing memoir recounts the horrors Capps encountered and their devastating effects on his psyche and soul. "This book tells the story of how I got to the point in my life when I was sitting alone in a pickup truck in the middle of the African continent ready to end it all, and how I came back from there." Capps does an admirable job of painting a picture of war for those who know little about life in the military or the Foreign Service. In 2002, Capps received a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, though obtaining any help for his condition became another battle: "The government that sent me to war, that encouraged me to return again and again, dropped me as soon as I stumbled," Capps writes. After returning home, Capps attended a graduate writing program at Johns Hopkins University. He founded the Veterans Writing Project, which provides tools for veterans to communalize their experiences through the telling of their stories. Capps's telling of his story of war and bearing witness is vitally important for "the 99% of Americans who sat out the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
