Brass & Unity

One Woman's Journey Through the Hell of Afghanistan and Back

By: Kelsi Sheren

Narrated by: Kelsi Sheren

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the story of a woman who witnessed the worst in the War in Afghanistan, was confronted by demons of post-traumatic stress, and fought for her life to become stronger than ever.

Fresh out of high school, Kelsi Sheren, a diminutive nineteen-year-old woman, sought to join the military to help liberate those oppressed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. While she was often the smallest person in basic training, she proved she had the biggest heart and often the most energy. She made it to Afghanistan and joined a British military unit for house-to-house insurgent patrol. What she saw there was unimaginable death and destruction—including the killing of a brother-in-arms. Devastated, Kelsi was sent home to get her head straight, but even therapy and medication couldn't clear her mind—or let her sleep. When two others who served with her later took their own lives, she feared that was the only way out. Clinging to life and the love of her husband and child, she knew she wasn't ready to give in. Finding respite in a jewelry business that utilized spent shell casings, and with the help of innovative grief therapy, Kelsi not only survived but continues to thrive—and works tirelessly to spread the word and help others.

©2023 Kelsi Sheren (P)2023 Tantor

Amazing

Inspiring book with such a great story. I couldn’t stop listening to it once I started.

A good read for female combat veterans

After hearing Kelsi interview by Dr. Peterson, I was intrigued enough to listen to her book. I'm also a female combat vet who served in Afghanistan around the same time she was there. Our experiences were vastly different but similar in the PTS and the continuing quiet suffering that takes over your life after being put into uniquely horrible situations the 21st century human mind isn't conditioned to comprehend.

One review labeled her writing as sophomoric, but I very much appreciated the stilted, unsettling simplicity of the voice of PTS that followed her throughout. That voice isn't sophisticated or eloquent. It's viscous and taunting, and irrational and that knowledge makes it even harder to ignore.

As far as the rest of the book-- we're listening to the narration by a 19-year-old thrust into a situation that can and has killed many because it's unfathomable. She's straightforward and doesn't play with flowery descriptors and I appreciate that as Afghanistan is a concrete desert void of color and safety.


I appreciate her sharing her journey to heal and i encourage other females who have shared combat experiences like this to give it a listen or a read.

Being respondible

Spunky, likable main character. Sophomoric writing and predictable plot. Warfare, however, is not some little thing, so when we wage it and risk lives, we retain the responsibility to hear out the testimony and try to learn from it.