Tenders' Wars

Abstract

Michael Tenders had an ideal upbringing. Loving family, Midwestern values. In 2005, he joined the army. This loosely linked set of stories follows Tenders through his childhood, deployments, and civilian life afterward. His years of service and experiences challenge his beliefs, his relationships, and how he moves through the world on every level. Tenders struggles to identify with the military, but also with the civilians when he leaves the structure he desperately craved as a child. He wonders, is this experience typical?