Gulf Warrior - by Ryan H Kell (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A war story about one combat veteran's quest through twenty-five years of the Gulf Wars to find peace for himself and other returning vets.

This book recounts four years of combat operations, patrols, and logistics. Gulf Warrior is about the time, energy, lives, blood, and money that must be spent to defend the freedoms of this world, while at the same time finding a balance between warfare and warfighter care. This is not a book condemning war. This is not a book about how war destroys young men or how war is a waste of time, energy, lives, and money. This is a book about reality.

This is a war story that includes decades of deployments and homecomings, years of navigating the disastrous VA healthcare system, political juggling of veteran's needs, and the destructive power of young Americans returning home traumatized by war.

About the Author

Ryan Kell enlisted in the Army for the first time in 1988, at the age of eighteen. He volunteered for and was deployed to Operation Desert Shield and Storm in 1990-1991, after which he was honorably discharged. Following an almost fifteen-year break in service, he reenlisted in 2006 and was deployed to Iraq during the 2007 Surge and again in 2009. After his final combat tour, this time to Afghanistan in 2014, he was medically retired in late 2017.

Ryan has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from the University of Oregon and a master's degree in social work from Portland State University. He now lives peacefully with his wife Mary in Honolulu.

His combat awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, and two Meritorious Unit Commendations. Ryan has earned the Gold (expert) German Army Shooting Award: the Schützenschnur, and The US Army Expert Marksmanship (rifle) Award, the US Army Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, as well as Foreign Army Jump Wings.