http://https://youtu.be/U1LaGN46yrI
Imagine: Your son has decided to join the Marine Corps during a war-fraught era. He survives two tours of the deadly turmoil of Iraq and returns home. Except, in fundamental ways, the young man who left Quantico is not the same young man who returns home to his family. He’s hyper-vigilant, paranoid even of his parents, suffers hallucinations, and, after countless attempts to heal the wounds of war, disappears.
Patrick Smithwick’s War’s Over, Come Home is an untraditional and heart-wrenching war memoir that captures a father’s relentless search for his son, Andrew, a Marine veteran whose two tours in Iraq left him suffering from severe PTSD and homelessness.
Crisscrossing the country, searching through city shelters, tent encampments, and streets where the lost go to survive, Smithwick experienced what so many veterans’ families have endured—the complete severing of their loved ones.
But Smithwick is quick to say that it’s not only about the missing son or daughter, the book is also about the family wounded by PTSD and how they navigate through the uncharted territory of trying to help a son, a veteran with traumatic PTSD.
Smithwick captures both the urgency of the search and the love that sustains it to render an image of what so many military families endure as they try to help loved ones returning from war while showcasing the urgent need for mental health and housing for veterans.
The Bookplate is continuing their 2024 season of author events with author Patrick Smithwick on Wednesday, November 13th. Guests are welcome to join Smithwick and the Bookplate staff for a reading and book signing at 6pm at The Kitchen at The Imperial.
The Spy recently caught up with Patrick Smithwick to talk about his experience and the book created out of it.
This video is approximately seven minutes in length.
