Where Cowards Go to Die

Special Operations combat hero Benjamin Sledge fought to keep his humanity amid the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But war never leaves its participants uscathed. In Where Cowards Go to Die, the Purple Heart recipient reveals an unflinchingly honest portrait of war that few dare to tell.

Stationed on a small base on the border of Pakistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, the young warrior returned home shattered after embracing the barbarity he witnessed around him. Haunted by his experiences overseas, he began a 15 year odyssey wrestling with mental health, purpose, and faith, that eventually drove him to volunteer for another combat tour in the deadliest city of the Iraq War--Ramadi.

In his memoir, Sledge vividly captures the reality of the men and women who learn to fight without remorse, love each other without restraint, and suffer the high cost of returning to a country that no longer feels like home.

"In life or war, you'll die a coward by refusing to live and act selflessly. Or you can kill your inner cowardice for something greater to emerge. But either way, a coward dies."
-Benjamin Sledge