From Mountains to Deserts

This is a memoir written by R.L. Joey Johnson, who was a National Guard soldier deployed during the onset of the Iraq War in 2003. It is written in the form of short stories that are comical, deeply reflective, or simply amusing in nature. It includes a chapter written by his son, who was an 18-year-old regular Army soldier who was deployed at the same time to the front lines of Baghdad.

We were "Good Ole' Guys and Good Ole' Gals" from the the backwoods of West Virginia. We were normal, everyday people deployed to the Iraq War in 2003 doing our best as National Guard soldiers. These memoirs are my recollections and thoughts that came from the heart. It includes a chapter written by my son, who was an 18-year-old regular Army soldier deployed to Baghdad. He and I provide the story of our meeting in a still vulnerable Baghdad. Come join me on this interesting adventure from the mountains to the deserts!!

R. L. Joey Johnson is a twice-retired (military and Department of Veterans Affairs) author from West Virginia. He earned Bachelor's degrees in both Business Administration and Resource Management from Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1989. He went on to earn a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia in 1999, all while serving in the Air Force and full-time Army National Guard. He received a Bronze Star Medal in 2004 for his service in the Middle East. He is currently a part-time sportswriter for the Charleston Gazette Newspapers, Huntington Herald Dispatch, and other HD Media affiliates.