Enduring Freedom by Jawad Arash and Trent Reedy

Post date: September 16, 2021

Joe is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard and a college Freshman majoring in journalism. He has just started college when his unit is called to active duty and ordered to serve in Afghanistan. He believes that he is going to get revenge on the those who were responsible for 9/11. Baheer is an teenage Afghan boy who hates the Taliban, and he and his family are trying to survive the war. He believes that learning English and getting an education is the key to making Afghanistan a better place. He thinks that Joe is the person who can help him with his English. Working together, they spark and unlikely friendship that is put to the test. As time passes by, Joe realizes that Afghanistan and the Afghan people are not what he expected.

These authors met each other when Trent Reedy was stationed in Afghanistan as a member of the Iowa Army National Guard and Jawad Arash lived there. The story is loosely based on there experiences.