Brandon Friedman grew up near Barksdale Air Force Base, and dreamed of becoming a soldier and defending his country. Joining up as a second lieutenant in peacetime, he found how the dreams of being a warrior and the realities of warfare are very different. Engaged with U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, Friedman found himself facing an unknown enemy on unfamiliar terrain, in what appeared to be an unwinnable war. As platoon leader of the 101st Airborne - the famed "Screaming Eagles" - he and his unit struggled in the unforgiving mountain range of the Hindu Kush, attempting to find and defeat militants, then went to war in Iraq. A gripping, heartfelt memoir of a young soldier facing death and defeat, Friedman chronicles the terrors and disillusion of war as the insurgency in Iraq spirals out of control, and chronicles his experiences honestly and vividly, making this memoir a unique contribution to the understanding of warfare from a soldier's perspective.