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Minefields of the Heart: A Mother's Stories of a Son at War Hardcover – July 1, 2010

by Sue Diaz (Author), Jim Frederick (Foreword)

23 customer reviews

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How do combat veterans and their loved ones bridge the divide that war, by its very nature, creates between them? How does someone who has fought in a war come home, especially after a tour of duty marked by near-daily mortar attacks, enemy fire, and roadside bombs? With a journalist’s eye and a mother’s warmth, Sue Diaz asks these questions as she chronicles the two deployments to Iraq of her son, Sgt. Roman Diaz, from the perspective of the home front.Sergeant Diaz’s second deployment put him south of Baghdad in the region aptly termed the Triangle of Death. There his platoon experienced extraordinarily heavy casualties during the height of the Iraqi insurgency. That unit has since become the focus of considerable media attention following events that made headlines in the summer of 2006: an insurgent attack at a remote outpost on three of their own―one killed at the scene, the other two kidnapped, their bodies found days later; and a terrible war crime committed against an Iraqi family by four soldiers from First Platoon.Minefields of the Heart adds a very personal dimension to the larger story of this Bravo Company platoon from the 101st Airborne’s 502nd Infantry Regiment, a unit known since World War II as the “Black Heart Brigade.” Diaz recounts the emotional rollercoaster her family and other soldiers’ families experience during and after deployment. She explores this terrain not only through stories of her son’s and family’s experiences connected to the Iraq War, but also by insights she’s gained from other veterans’ accounts―from what she calls “the box” that soldiers returning from any war carry within. This added layer gives her narrative broader meaning, bringing home the impact of war in general on those who fight and on those who love them.Minefields of the Heart is a story of innocence lost, understanding gained, and hope reaffirmed. In addition to veterans and their families, this book will appeal to anyone who wants to understand war’s impact on individuals as well as on the fabric of our society.

Minefields of the Heart: A Mother's Stories of a Son at War

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“San Diego author Sue Diaz’s gentle voice rises above the fray and begs our attention—not with glennbeckian outrage, not with self-righteous bombast, not with armchair general postulating, but with the tender and sorrowfully sane tale she tells. [The book] is wondrous and eloquent in its intimacy, in its simplicity, in the unquestionable stories of a mother and a son entwined in a war that will be debated for generations.”—North County Times

(North County Times 2010-10-15)

“[An] absorbing and intimate memoir…unblinkingly determined to dig deep, to ask big questions and move toward the answers. Diaz’s emotional honesty is matched by her stellar writing: her prose is polished and, at times, achieves a quiet, soaring lyricism.”—Christian Science Monitor

(Christian Science Monitor 2010-09-03)

“Minefields of the Heart is an honest, thoughtful, and heart-warming account of a mother’s love for her son and the many great veterans like him. Sue Diaz takes the reader through a personal account of the emotional burden so many shoulder while loved ones serve in harm’s way. Her understanding of the struggles of veterans and their families after deployment is genuine, accurate, heart wrenching, and healing. This book spoke to me as a psychologist, father, husband, and veteran.”—Bret A. Moore, author of Wheels Down: Adjusting to Life after Deployment and Kevlar for the Mind, www.militarypsych.com

(Bret A. Moore 2010-10-01)

“This is a book to break your heart, and to heal it. Diaz writes to and for her son, to and for the veterans she leads in writing workshops. The larger gift of this book is its generosity, allowing the reader to take the journey of a mother whose son carries the wounds of two deployments to Iraq. Minefields of the Heart teaches us what we might rather not know, but knowing, we are deeper and better human beings.”—Pat Schneider, founder, Amherst Writers & Artists, and author of Writing Alone and with Others

(Pat Schneider 2010-01-15)

“Minefields of the Heart is a brilliant, beautiful, and compelling book. Sue Diaz writes as the mother of one soldier and the daughter of another. She traces her son’s transition from a boy to a combat-wounded veteran of two tours in Iraq. She lets him speak for himself through emails, letters and conversation, all the while growing in her understanding of him and of war. She weaves together her family’s history with the larger events through which they have passed. Though intended specifically ‘for all who have served and those who love them,’ the book should be read by any American who wants to understand what war really does to those who endure and to their families. As a bonus, the book is a real page-turner. You can’t put it down until you finish it.”—William P. Mahedy, author of Out of the Night: The Spiritual Journey of Vietnam Vets

(William P. Mahedy 2010-01-19)

“Harrowing, hopeful, and beautifully written. Ernie Pyle meets Anne Lamott.”—Sharon Bray, author of When Words Heal: Writing Through Cancer

(Sharon Bray 2010-04-16)

About the Author

Sue Diaz is an award-winning journalist who writes frequently for the Christian Science Monitor and contributes to National Public Radio. Since 2007 she has conducted writing workshops for veterans at the San Diego Vet Center. At her web site, www.warriorswall.com, Diaz provides a place for veterans from across the country to write and share their stories. She lives in San Diego, California.

Hardcover: 162 pages
Publisher: Potomac Books; 1st edition (July 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159797515X
ISBN-13: 978-1597975155
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 23 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,705,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #814 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > Afghan & Iraq Wars > Iraq War
- #9316 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > United States
- #20399 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships

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Limited viewpoint creates superficial treatment

ByWizkidon March 30, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I wanted very much to like this book, as it was written by a woman who seems intelligent, warm, and compassionate, a housewife and mother who now teaches writing to veterans. I'm sure she is a good and very encouraging teacher. And I think she must be a wonderful mom.

However, the character she develops for the narrator of this memoir--that of a more or less ordinary, middle-of-the-road, patriotic but stay-at-home mother of a son who suddenly joins the military--produced a piece that, to me, provides little insight into the causes, nature, or consequences of the events.

Where I want to know about her son's experience as a warrior, she provides only a superficial sketch. For instance, her son is wounded by an IED (several of his comrades were killed by it). But because the military will not disclose details and because her son is a stoic Latino who wants to be "a buffer" for his mom from the horrors of Iraq, we can only experience the same blankness that the narrator conveys with the "news blackout from the unit." Similar limitations block any insight into the alleged retribution against American soldiers, leading to horrific mutilations by Iraqi "insurgents."

Instead of insight, we get sentimentality. Almost every section ends with a cliché: "Against the backdrop of that spring's gruesome headlines and investigations, the lines between right and wrong, good and bad, seemed to be blurring more than ever. But I still believed the vast majority of our fighting me and women in Iraq were decent human beings, doing an impossible job as best they could in circumstances worse than most of us could have ever imagined."

The author is against the Iraq war from the beginning. But instead of analysis of its causes and developments, she is restricted to providing only headline blurbs revealing the lack of substance in the supposed reasons for invading or one-line numbers of American casualties in the war.

The book reveals a kind-hearted and likely representative person in the narrator, someone we are bound to like and respect. But, to me, it was not a compelling or revealing book.

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A heart warming story told as only a mother could

Bypam coonon December 21, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Sue Diaz is a wonderful author and her story of her son's journey through the military during a heightened dangerous time is thought provoking and even a little unsettling. She has a wealth of wisdom in dealing with her son's journey -- combining humor (those sponge bob letters are priceless) with respectful distance. Roman's tour is over, but the war lives on in his life as he copes with PTS. Although not a page turner, Minefields of the Heart is a must read for anyone who has family or close friends involved in the Middle East wars.This book will give you tremendous insight into what our young people face when on tour, and what lingers on in their lives after they come home.

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A Book for Every Mother

ByJana McBurney-Linon January 19, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I'm not drawn to soldier stories. However, as I was asked to panel a discussion of this Silicon Valley Reads choice, I searched out this book. Sue Diaz is a journalist and Mother, and she was nominated for a Pulitzer prize for her musings/concerns/prayers while her son was stationed in Iraq (The "Triangle of Death" where 20% of soldiers did not return.) The book represents a compilation of these articles. The book also represents the struggle of every Mother trying to let go of her child, but never really accomplishing that Herculean task. While I do not have a child in the services, I found that with each turn of the page, I was nodding, smiling, crying. It's a lovely book.

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Fellow Army Mom

ByMary L. Everitton February 11, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

My son was 15 months in Iraq.....2007-2009......but many times you wrote about things I thought or said or did. When he got hurt he called his wife and said "don't tell Mom". I was told 6 months later...Thank you for putting into writing what could have been my own story. My son returned for 12 months in Afghanistan last year...more stories that I will never hear...all I can do is stay strong...Army Strong.

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One of the best I have read

Byannella michaelson November 28, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This story is a story for any female. The way it is writtne captivates your soul and heart. You do not need to have a son, brother, or husband in the service to know the feelings expressed In this book. Recommend it highly but be prepared to cry or at least feel the anxiety and the love.

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A Moving Memoir

ByJanon September 6, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a wonderful book that made me both laugh and cry! It is a moving description of parenting that will touch anyone who is a parent themselves. At the same time, it gives anyone who is an American an insight into the way this, or any war is impacting not only the lives of those who are on the battlefield but those who are waiting for them at home. I didn't want to put this book down.

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war viewed through a mother's lens

ByConnie Kennemeron September 15, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Diaz "multi-tasks" in her fine book, "Minefields Of The Heart". She tenderly but factually tells her son's story while her own voice is heard within each essay. For any parent or any person who has suffered trauma of any sort, this book will resonate and tug at your heart. "Minefields" is a deep well. Your soul will be enlarged as you read!

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The reality of war through a mothers eyes

ByMercedes Heglandon May 2, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I heartfelt story from a mothers point of view. Humor makes the hard truth of the reality of war somewhat easier to read. Sue Diaz is an amazing woman, full of compassion and understanding.