When Dr. Heidi Squier Kraft's twin children turned 15 months old, the clinical psychologist in the U.S. Navy was deployed to Iraq.

Forced to set aside all thoughts of her family so she could do her job, she learned that the two tough lessons of war from an episode of M*A*S*H were accurate. "Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one."

While in Iraq, Kraft worked with Alpha Surgical Hospital to help units and individal Marines deal with the inevitable death, trauma and stress. She helps several quit smoking, talks down a soldier planning on shooting herself in the head and is forced to send mentally ill Marines home.

Most touching of all, though, is Kraft's description of when subsequent Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corporal Dunham entered their doors, severely injured. Although he later passed away due to his injuries, Kraft relates her feelings about the event and Dunham's heroism.

And while the Marines are most certainly heroes, Kraft and the rest of the Alpha Surgical team are as well. Regardless of one's personal feelings about the Iraq War, it is difficult to read Kraft's book and not feel the dignity and compassion she expresses. Setting aside any of her own political thoughts, Kraft's relays her experiences insightfully and conveys her emotions realistically, creating a thoughtful, at times humerous book about the way the military addresses combat stress.

- Ashley