Tomas Young’s War is the tragic yet life affirming story of a paralyzed Iraq War veteran who spent his last ten years battling heroically with his injuries, while courageously speaking against America’s wars.
Based on hours of interviews with Young and those close to him, the book puts the reader alongside Young as he struggles with life as a paralyzed veteran, suffering frustration and humiliation as he attempts to reenter society and resume as normal an existence as possible. It shows his fight to balance his precarious health with his drive to speak out for veterans care and against the war, and the impact his catastrophic injuries had on his family and his relationships.
This emotional and powerful book sheds light on many crucial but often overlooked issues such as veterans’ care, public attitudes toward the disabled, medical marijuana, and the terminally ill.
Tomas Young’s War shares everything, as unflinchingly honest as Tomas himself: the depression, the pain, the love, and laughter . . . the
life of this man whose world was turned upside down by an Iraqi bullet more than ten years ago. Throughout, it serves as a powerful testament to the true cost of war.
Table of Content
Chapter 1 – Growing Up 10
Chapter 2 – 9/11 & Beyond 16
Chapter 3 – Shipping Out / Black Sunday 27
Chapter 4 – April 2013: 112 N. 113th Street, Kansas City 41
Chapter 5 – Mom Gets the News / Waking Up at Walter Reed 53
Chapter 6 – Back Home 68
Chapter 7 – Purpose / Body of War Filming 78
Chapter 8 – May 2013: A Tribute to Tomas / A Glimmer of Hope 100
Chapter 9 – Living Solo / Activism / Body of War Rollout 120
Chapter 10 – Clot / Embolism / Claudia 141
Chapter 11 – Gut Pain / Darkness 160
Chapter 12 – Deciding to Die 172
Chapter 13 – Letting Go / Embracing Life 188
Chapter 14 – April 2014: A Visit to Portland 205
Epilogue 221
References 225
About the author
Mark Wilkerson: Mark Wilkerson spent eight years in the U.S. Army as an AH-1 Cobra & UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew chief with the 3rd Infantry & 101st Airborne Divisions. He was deployed with the 101st to Mogadishu, Somalia, for six months in 1993. Mark has three children, Alex, Nick and Sam. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Melissa.
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