Sean Naylor's "Not a Good Day To Die" and "Relentless Strike"

The Things They Carried and other works by that author (O'Brien?); Tom Ricks is good non-fiction. If you like newer-era stuff Ghost Fleet (cyber war).

Mitchell Yockelson, he's local and might be able to help you out.

Thank you all for these great recommendations!

I would visit the library and look for non fiction first hand accounts

He doesn't have any books, but read as much as yiu can about Grneral Barry McCaffrey. He was a soldier's soldier and is a wonderful man who understood and hated war. One of the people who made a lasting impression on me

Story Corps has a military section - those stories might be helpful to you.

https://storycorps.org/theme/military/

Hmm. Jeff Shaara, Ken Burns, Eugene Sledge (With the Old Breed). Try Vietnam novels as well- Matterhorn and The Things They Carried are both good.

I have NO military experience. I remember reading All Quiet on the Western Front in school. My understanding is that it was viewed as a fairly realistic depiction of WW I.

Also, I've never accessed material at the Library of Congress, but I suspect they might have diaries from American soldiers you could read for historic first-person accounts.

We owe our military and veterans such a great debt. I'm glad you're trying to portray them accurately and wish you well in your endeavor.

Happy New Year!

One of my goals for 2017 is to finish the first draft of a novel I've been working on. One of my main characters ended up being an army veteran, which is certainly not what I'd planned for him but it happened organically, so I guess that is the direction this story wants to go in. My problem now is that I don't know a lot about army culture, army men and the behaviors, attitudes, mindsets and habits that come with a life in the military. Everything I know would probably sound stereotypical.

I'm looking for some suggestions on what to read to get into the head of a soldier, preferably an officer. Even historical fiction would be great as long as it accurately depicts soldiers and officers of that era.

Thank you! I hope you all have a great new year.