Just including the word "soldier" in the same sentence as "Iraq" conjures up many images for most of us.
For Marine Corps veterans, the images are first-person. Phil Klay served in Iraq during the surge, and came home to finish his Master of Fine Arts degree.
Klay puts it to good use in a collection of short stories called Redeployment. He visits The Exchange to talk about the people and situations in his stories... and how close they come to what he saw in real life.