These authors, including Tom Clancy and Brad Pitt, held 50 on-base workshops for American troops and their families, inspiring them to write about their experiences since 9/11.

[2] Select short stories, essays, journal entries, poems, e-mails and photographs were collected into an anthology called Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S.

The NEA initiative, funded by The Boeing Company, is the first book of its kind, giving a rare voice to U.S. troops and their families - unfiltered and firsthand accounts of what it's like to serve during wartime.

With personal details and honest language, they show us the fear and rushing of heading into combat, the humor and boredom of daily life on the front lines, their relationships with Iraqis and Afghans, happy reunions at home, and mourning those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

[6] On January 22, 2008, Operation Homecoming was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of five films nominated for a prize in the "Best Documentary Feature" category.