Squanderance

Operation Enduring Freedom (The war in Afghanistan): Letters written home by a U.S. Army Officer deployed to Afghanistan in 2011-2012. It tells a story of the day-to-day frustrations of building infrastructure for the rule-of-law; the dismal failures of the U.S. State Department, and of a bird feeder that seemed to be the only sane thing in the whole country. It also gives tribute to a military wife who carried the burden of three wars.
"Slowly, cut by cut, the Afghans bled us, and then smiled and called us their friend. This was all occurring while the folks back home were beaming at our accomplishments and our politicians were slowly binding our hands in order not to offend our new-found Afghan friends. We quickly became a willing victim of the Afghanistan Government's internal quagmire, where we naively rushed to squander our nation's youth and treasure on this undeserving nation. "
2011 was one of the bloodiest years of the war with 415 U.S. Service Members killed and over 5,000 wounded. The letters in this book were written during this period and serve as a salute to those who sacrificed much to give the country of Afghanistan a fleeting chance at freedom and democracy. God bless all of them.

Mark T. Martinez is also the author of "Dragons of Rashid" (Operation Iraqi Freedom)