Baghdad, 2006. Every patrol could be your last.
In 2006, a Marine infantry platoon is thrust into the violent streets of Baghdad during one of the most dangerous periods of the Iraq War.
Inspired by the author’s combat deployments, Bury My Heart in Baghdad places readers alongside young Marines fighting a determined insurgency while navigating the chaos, uncertainty, and moral complexity of urban warfare. Every patrol carries risk. Every decision carries consequences. In a city where danger can emerge from any alleyway or crowded marketplace, leadership becomes the difference between life and death.
This is not a story about politics or grand strategy. It is a story about Marines, young men and women asked to make impossible decisions under extraordinary circumstances. It is about courage, sacrifice, loyalty, and the burden of command when everything begins to fall apart.
Drawing on firsthand combat experience from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Colonel Byron Owen delivers an authentic and unflinching portrayal of war that captures both the intensity of combat and the leadership lessons forged under fire.
Then-1st Lieutenant Byron Owen deployed to Iraq in 2006, where his Marine infantry platoon was attached to the 10th Mountain Division during the surge into Baghdad. He is the recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.
This book is inspired by this challenging deployment. Most of the things you will read about are based on events that actually happened.
This is not a biography, however. It is a fictitious story about young people wrestling with a challenging combat deployment to Iraq. The characters in this book are not based on real people, and the events depicted here did not occur the way they are written. They are merely plot devices created so that readers could experience the chaos and moral complexity of urban warfare for themselves.
War is a terrible event that corrupts everyone who touches it. There is no way to escape its corrosive nature, but you can mitigate its effects through engaged leadership and discipline. This is the central theme to this story. You can order the book here. I hope you enjoy it.
Semper Fidelis,
