About anotherwarriorpoet
Mathew Bocian served as a Captain in the United States Army with the Stryker Brigade and was deployed to Mosul and Tal'Afar in 2004 - 2005, and to Baghdad for The Surge in 2007 - 2008. He left the Army in 2012 and now uses his poetry as a way to heal from the traumas of war, while attempting to express to readers the realities of war. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and holds a master's from the Graduate School for Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
I haven’t posted anything in over a month now. Though I had plenty to say and write about the Pages From My Pocket series, as well as other quips, tales and thoughts – life has just gotten in the way. … Continue reading →
TBOTB Blog sponsored by: Protalus Discount Code: ffvillage Support Wounded Warriors Publishing Contact. What is it? It’s a radio-call; it’s an event; it’s something you receive, not something you get to give (there are other words for that); it is … Continue reading →
Posted in War Poetry
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, military leadership, PTSD, Stryker, Tal'Afar, veteran, war, war vpoetry
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In this week’s edition of Pages From My Pocket: The Print Shop There were a lot of anti-Iraq force (AIF) support networks and facilitation cells in Tal’Afar. I remember that there were a lot of ‘shops’. A lot of businesses … Continue reading →
Posted in War Stories & Vignettes
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, military leadership, PTSD, Stryker, Tal'Afar, veteran, war, war vignettes
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In this week’s edition of Pages From My Pocket: Intel Every soldier is a sensor. That aside, there are a number of ways that battlefield intelligence can be collected. The very nature of our Cavalry Squadron was RTSA: reconnaissance, surveillance, … Continue reading →
Posted in War Stories & Vignettes
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, military leadership, PTSD, Stryker, Tal'Afar, veteran, war, war vignettes
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In this week’s edition of Pages From My Pocket: Reconciliation This one comes from our time in the Surge. Post-Baghdad the Regiment moved to Ba’qubah in Diyala province. Diyala was where Abu Al Zarqawi had been hiding before the U.S. … Continue reading →
Posted in War Stories & Vignettes
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, Iraq reconciliation, military leadership, PTSD, sectarian violence, sectarianism, Stryker, veteran, war, war vignettes
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In this week’s edition of Pages From My Pocket: QRF Ah – QRF; the Quick Reaction Force. I’ve written a few brief blurbs about being on QRF here and here. But as goes, there are hundreds of other stories about … Continue reading →
Posted in War Stories & Vignettes
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, military leadership, PTSD, Rawah, Stryker, veteran, war, war vignettes
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August 7th is National Purple Heart Day. It doesn’t seem to be a day on calendars, there isn’t a card for it, and there are no cakes – nor should their be, if you ask me. What today is, to … Continue reading →
Posted in War Stories & Vignettes
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, iraq, PTSD, Purple Heart, Stryker, Tal'Afar, veteran, war, war vignettes
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In this first edition of Pages From My Pocket: Change Notes on the changing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP’s) used by AIF (anti-Iraqi forces) Circa June, 2005. Upon returning from Tal’Afar, but before we moved down to Rawah, we had done … Continue reading →
Posted in War Stories & Vignettes
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, military leadership, neil santorilello, PTSD, Stryker, veteran, war, war vignettes
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I recently spent a weekend overhauling the storage space under the stairs leading down to the basement and furnace room. Doing so allowed me to get rid of some crap I had been keeping stored that was of no real … Continue reading →
Posted in War Poetry
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Tagged Army, combat, depression, Disgruntled Veteran, iraq, military leadership, PTSD, Stryker, veteran, war, war vignettes
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We had a sniper problem. Plain and simple, what began as opportunistic or harassment fire escalated into a full-scale issue. It all was at and around the Castle in Tal’Afar (the old Ottoman Empire fortification that ringed the central hill … Continue reading →
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