Florida war veteran’s experiences produce hit book
Added: (Tue May 17 2022)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
A Florida-based veteran of three combat tours of duty has brought the realities and fallouts of war into the book charts.
Hartley Barnes served in Vietnam and twice in Iraq during his distinguished military career. Now, the 73-year-old great-grandfather has relived his jungle warfare experiences against the Viet Cong and fighting in the deserts of the Middle East. Also, he has relayed the encounters of many of his brothers in arms in his riveting new book.
A Veteran Speaks already reached number one in Amazon’s history charts.
Hartley said: “A Veteran Speaks is a compilation of short stories based on veteran experiences. Some of the stories are memoirs, and some are based on conversations with other veterans. Some are opinions. This book tells the story of the veterans and the price they pay to serve their country. It touches on the senseless killing and destruction of families, babies’ cries, and the old. It’s about the pain after the wars.”
Mr. Barnes emigrated from his native Jamaica to Brooklyn, New York, at age 11. He served in the US military for 27 years after retiring from the Army–he returned to Iraq and then Afghanistan to work as a civilian contractor for six years.
Hartley’s retirement in Royal Palm Beach now consists of painting and writing, for which he has won the creative writing silver medal awarded by the Department of Veterans.
While Hartley’s first full-length book is a gripping account of warfare, it is also a thought-provoking insight into the psychological scars that most veterans face.
Hartley doesn’t shy away from the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with which he was diagnosed, and he hopes A Veteran Speaks will explain the long-term effects war has had on our veterans for many years after the gunfire has ceased.
Hartley added: “The message that I hope A Veteran Speaks gives is that you go to war as one person and come back as a different person. My book demonstrates the mental transformation soldiers bring home and the agony of finding their way to normality. Veterans cry in silence as their family helplessly watches.
“Spouses cry aloud as husbands’ and wives’ relationships decay - children ask questions, and if the answers are not satisfying, they ask more questions.”
Presently, Hartley belongs to and is supported by the Royal Palm Beach Writers group.
For more details, visit Amazon and search for Hartley Barnes, where A Veteran Speaks’ paperback and Kindle formats are available.
Notes to the editor
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