http://slow.writerscafe.org/rguttersohn The original writings of author Robert Guttersohn en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776002077 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 Here is an excerpt from the first draft of my manuscript "When Medals Fade." I set this up as a short story for Veteran's Day. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/820135/ Here is the entire chapter of Crossroads of the World. Figamore learns to say goodbye. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/805771/ We fast forward, for this chapter, to two years after the paratroopers return from Iraq. Baylor sits outside a VA hospital in Detroit. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/798965/ Here, the paratroopers finally leave Iraq. But the mood is much more somber as they leave the refinery, their home for nine months. It is also the last chapter in the second part .... http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/798943/ Here, I reintroduce Marco and Anthony. The fall has turned into winter, and the foreshadowing storm over the Atlantic at the beginning of the book comes into play... http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/798941/ Our characters reflect on home and one of them is surprised to hear he is being sent home on leave for two weeks. But is home what it used to be? Or have only the paratroopers changed? http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/794803/ In this chapter, the characters confront the complexities of a counterinsurgency. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/794801/ This chapter, one of the hardest to write, examines the difficulty of a counter insurgency. We also follow the life and death of RTO Clark, who dies during one of the many riots throughout Baghdad. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/791980/ The last time we saw the two men, they were left guarding the oil refinery in Baghdad. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/791978/ Paratroopers are introduced to the cruelty of the Hussein regime. This leads one of them to contemplate life. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/791977/ With an embedded journalist as the narrator, readers are brought into the battle over the Highway 8 bridge crossing the Euphrates River in As Samawah http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/791976/ Here, the American-led invasion begins from the viewpoint of my character Nazir, the engineer working at an oil refinery in Baghdad. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/791974/ Joey returns to his mother after graduating Airborne School. This is also the last chapter in the first part of my book and the last chapter before the war begins. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789699/ Readers are introduced to SFC Troy, the platoon sergeant of second platoon. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789697/ Joey and his fellow trainees graduate from Infantry School http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789696/ Baylor reminisced to a time when he was happy, a girl he loved that was taken from him. Here he is introduced to the patriarchal system of the military. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789694/ Nazir, an Iraqi Christian engineer, refuses to believe the rumors of an American invasion. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789693/ Trainees told stories of home, often exaggerated. But they were good stories and soldiers would gather for them. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789686/ Paratroopers: crazy and anxious to fight http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789684/ Joey confronts an older trainee as he escapes Fort Benning. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789678/ Two men are award the most basic of medals the Army offers yet feel proud. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789674/ The relationship between a trainee and his mother through letters http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789669/ Introduction to the daily life of paratroopers in the raunchy town of Fayetteville, NC. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789666/ Warning: foul language. We are introduced to one of our other main characters who has just joined the military driven by the 9/11 attacks. He is 18 and straight out of high school. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789665/ Introduced to Baylor, a team leader in the 82d Airborne. We join him while in the middle of a training jump. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789663/ Two new soldiers, young men of color, escape the life of inner city ghettos by joining the military at the turn of the 21st Century. Life, for them, has a greater outlook now. Or so they think... http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789661/ A novel on war and humanity http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/789660/ Readers are introduced to Travis' recurring dreams (see if you catch the song reference in the dream). And readers also find out more about the jagged scar running down Ned's cheek. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/786950/ Travis and Ned settle into Cassopolis http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/786947/ Travis and Ned board a train to Cassopolis, a city in western Michigan that is a haven for escaped slaves. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/786946/ Travis convinces lifelong friend Ned to join him on his trek south. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/786945/ Here, we go back six months earlier when Travis Ardon first announces his intentions of infiltrating the underground railroad at his brother's engagement party. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/786936/ Here is a section of a chapter I am piecing together while writing my third novel When Medals Fade, a fictitious look on the Iraq War and humanity. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/781576/ In the first chapter, Travis Ardon seeks a body buried on Belle Isle with a secret to Detroit's past. He also reexamine the months prior that brought him to the island, searching for a corpse. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/781536/ Before the American Civil War, a young, ambitious journalist seeks fame by infiltrating and writing about an abolitionist militia in northern Kentucky. On his journey, he finds links to his own past. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/rguttersohn/781527/