Soft Spots: A Marine's Memoir of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Clint Van Winkle has invited us into his life and into his nightmares. He'll be sitting in a bar sharing "normal" life with us but when the news comes on; the ghosts come out - and not just the dead ones.

The writing flows so smoothly between current events, nightmares and memories that it took awhile to get use to it. One minute we're sitting in the living room drinking a beer and the next paragraph we're sitting in Iraq. It happened that fast for him, it happens that fast for us.

This book taught me to be angry. If a minority of our Vets are treated this way, the whole system needs to be taken out and shot.

"Even the Jade Clinic's waiting room seemed inhospitable and cold. The staff's apathy fit right in with the surroundings and they show more seemed as if they had been specifically handpicked to dole out subpar service. Disheartening isn't a strong enough word to describe what I felt as I watched my fellow veterans being ignored.*"

He mentions some good people in the system but as a whole it leaves a lot to be desired.

This book also taught me appreciation. I've always thought of the military as a group, almost a single body where the feet are very important but still a single body. Now I know it is individuals. The military is made up of people that have the roughest job ever.

Is there a happy ending? Can there ever be a happy ending for a Marine with PTSD? I cried and I laughed and cried some more. Once the story sucked me in it was finished the next day.

Read it. Think about it. Share with your friends. Thank a Vet.

content warning: very realistic war memories

*pg 86 of the Advance Readers' Edition show less

This troubling memoir of a Marine attempting to live a normal life in the aftermath of a PTSD diagnosis highlights the need for more research into treating this dehabilitating condition. The author survived his tour in Iraq only to return home to a system unable to deal with his now fractured psyche. The memoir is hard to follow- dreams and real life blur, and there is no clear sense of time to give the reader an anchor, but the effect is to plunge the reader into Van Winkle's shifting reality.

I found this book powerful and moving, but a little incomplete. I would have appreciated more information about Van Winkle's wife Sara and her efforts to live with his PTSD. I also would have liked more information on Van Winkle's backstory to show more help highlight the changes he has experienced since the war. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent account of one man's struggle to rediscover himself in the aftermath of serving in OIF. Highly recommended. show less

[Soft Spots] by [[Clint Van Winkle]] is a partial memoir of Marine Sergeant Clint Van Winkle’s experiences during the initial invasion of Iraq and his experiences with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after his return to the States. I call it a “partial” memoir because it doesn’t tell the story as a complete picture – just brushstrokes here and there. It reads like a college writing assignment expanded to make it long enough to get published.

The memoir bounces back and forth between the present and the past with little transition between the two. I imagine this is to show how PTSD affects Mr. Van Winkle. He oftentimes finds himself in situations where his memories of Iraq are hard to distinguish from his current reality. show more I found his descriptions of how he was treated by the VA health care system frustrating for two reasons – first because of my anger and frustration for the military health system not taking better care of vets, but also because Mr. Van Winkle’s descriptions of his treatment are so sketchy. I was also left wondering why he left the Marines. Was he forced out because of his problems, or did he leave voluntarily?

Mr. Van Winkle mentions many other people in passing, most notably his wife, Sara. He makes himself out to be pretty hard to live with, so I was left wondering why she stayed with him. I thought he could have given us a better picture of her sacrifices (and by extension other military spouses who go through this), and her love for him.

Van Winkle’s descriptions of how PTSD affects him are good, because you do get a general sense of what it must be like to leave reality at unexpected times throughout your waking moments. However, there is a sentence in the synopsis of the book that describes it as revealing “the mind of a soldier like no other memoir of the Iraq war.” This is a little pretentious since the war is on-going and there haven’t been many memoirs published yet. For someone wanting a better account of war and it’s effects on men’s minds, A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a classic and much better written memoir. show less

A very personal glimpse of what it is like to have PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) once home from the war in Iraq. Clint Van Winkle's memoir is at first confusing until you realize what is happening in the telling of this story is what he can not help from happening. Flashes and memories all come unbidden when you least expect them to. Every aspect of his life revolves around the things he has seen and the things he has done in war and they haunt him now that he is home and in peace. This story is gut-wrenching in that you are not able to tell fact from fiction, memory or nightmare as the reader but you also know the author is having that same difficulty. It is a touching story and one that doesn't have an end yet nor might it ever.

This intense memoir provides insight into the life of a Iraq war veteran suffering from PTSD. It is an eye-opening read and one that I would recommend for everyone; especially those who have loved ones who served in Iraq. It provides a more realistic view to war than what we are used to, and while some details are grotesque and horrific to imagine, it is refreshing to get the perspective from someone who has known the reality of war and who is willing to talk about it and how it affected him.

This small but very readable memoir gives you a raw look into the life of combat veteran Marine Sergeant Clint Van Winkle. The author has done something that might be considered breaking an unspoken rule. But it has been over 200 years that our military veterans of wars have suffered without the understanding of the populace they fought for. And in today’s world it is worse for combat veteran when you can be on a battlefield and then home within a day.

This veteran in detail describes the adrenaline rush and the horrible sights of war. His raw honesty in this expose of his life after Iraq is one that though is not spoken of all veterans suffers to some degree or another. Hopefully by writing his limited accounts of the Iraq war and show more what he is presently going through at home will be cathartic and aid in his healing process.

Once a soldier has been to war he is a changed person and nothing will make you who you were before. I can attest that these stories are very similarly for every military personnel that faces ground combat in close proximity with the enemy and can see the results of what war does first hand and this book does a good job at a first hand view.

The language and description of wartime experiences are brought to life in this book and may not be for everyone. But the brutality of war and what is endured is one that this book offers a small glimpse into. The author also is honest enough to share the truth about the fog of war where you honestly cannot recall all that transpired. Plus the important realization that he needs help and though he is now in what he believes is a counseling program that is of great benefit to him, The author understands that he still suffers from the trauma and rush of the memories of what he has seen and done. show less

Combat veteran Marine Sergeant Clint Van Winkle has decided in this book to share with us the life of a veteran of a foreign war after he is discharged. This veteran in descriptively describes the horror and adrenaline rush of combat and its aftermath. The author in the language of a marine describes his of wartime experiences. For his first book and considering the subject matter I think the Sergeant has done an excellent job in brining his experiences to life. He explains the truth about the fog of war where it is hard to recall all that took place or what was real or imagined. He ends on an important note for other veterans, that despite his progress in dealing now with his PTSD he understands that he continues needs counseling. This show more book will help the reader understand a very small part of what a combat veteran has to live with. show less