‘Bravo Company’ Explores the Aftermath of the War on Terror on Veterans

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Kesling’s new book, “Bravo Company,” tells the story of one Army regiment’s deployment to Afghanistan and their struggles on their return home. Bravo Company was a group of paratroopers who experienced a large number of deaths, lost limbs and other injuries while serving in 2009 and 2010. Kesling, who served in combat zones as a Marine in Iraq Afghanistan, explores veterans’ complicated experiences with deployments, combat, and healing. As we approach Veteran’s Day, we discuss the harsh realities and aftermath of the War On Terror and what it means to serve your country. Guests: Ben Kesling, Midwest correspondent, Wall Street Journal; author, "Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and its Aftermath" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Key QBD Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
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0:32.2	From KQD in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:48.8	Tomorrow is Veterans Day, a complex holiday for people who've served in the military and those who have not.
0:54.9	So today, we talk with Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Kessling.
0:58.0	He left Harvard's Divinity School for the Marines and was deployed to the theaters of the so-called global war on terror.
1:06.0	Kessling has a new book, Bravo Company, that tells the story of one team of 82nd airborne paratroopers,
1:12.7	their deployment to Afghanistan, and their struggles on their return home. We're going to talk
1:17.5	about the wars, about the unknowables of combat, and what new possibilities for healing
1:22.6	might exist when veterans come together in community. That's all coming up next.
1:35.9	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:42.9	As with previous wars, many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have struggled to return to civilian life. Some were grievously injured in
1:45.9	IED attacks. For others, the scars of combat are more internal than external. The difficulties
1:52.1	did not fall equally on all those deployed. Some outfits like the group of Army paratroopers
1:57.9	profiled in Ben Kessling's book, Bravo Company, took severe
	...

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