The Long Walk : A Story of War and the Life That Follows

Acknowledgments

This book was written while running, much of it on the broad avenues of Grand Island, New York: Stony Point, Huth, East and West River Roads, Whitehaven, and Ransom. Thank you to those that ran with me as well, while working on the road in Texas, Washington, and Tennessee: Jimbo, Bill, Chris, and Schmatt.

I’d also like to thank several others for their influence along the way. Jaime Herbeck, for encouragement that got the ball rolling. Ben Hoffman, for being my first and best reader. Matteah Reppart, for constant love and unconditional support. LaDeane Palmar, for bravely and honestly sharing her story. Ryan Bowers, Ethan Cox, and Josh Tyler, for diligence and thoughtful feedback. Dave Pinkham, for timely input. The writer Stephen Phillips, for providing the big break. My four sons, Virgil, Martin, Samuel, and Elijah, for understanding while Daddy was locked away with the computer in the side room. My agent, Bob Mecoy, for encouragement and sound advice, and (more important) knowing when each was needed. And my editor, Gerry Howard, for masterfully helping me craft a better book.

Let me end by noting that throughout the writing and publication process of this book, my thoughts have never left the EOD brothers we have lost since the war began. When I started writing, in the summer of 2010, that too-large number was eighty. It is currently one hundred and eleven.