title: Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War
author:  Matt Gallagher 
description: While the grand, noble causes of the past wars continue to capture our collective imaginations, the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated with greater ambivalence. Fire and Forget, a collection of short stories by authors who are also military veterans (or, in one case, a family member), captures the messiness of soldiering when the mission and endgame are unclear. Though fiction, each work reads true, filled with tension, fear, and anger. Readers are transported to desert checkpoints, ride along with vehicle convoys, and return home from combat to face an uncertain future. Standouts include Andrew Slaters New Me, a sobering glimpse inside the mind of a soldier who has suffered a traumatic brain injury. In Tips for a Smooth Transition, Siobhan Fallon, an army wife, quotes from a manual that urges spouses to set up a security plan in the event that their husbands experience a vivid flashback. Its a stark reminder that war, for combatants and their families, never truly ends. Writes Gavin Ford Kovite: Heads they win, tails you lose. --Patty Wetli
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  ### [Copyright](../Text/part0003.html#d15132e422a59-d1e32)
  
  
  _Harper_
  
  
  an imprint of HarperCollins _Publishers_ Ltd
  
  
  1 London Bridge Street
  
  
  London SE1 9GF
  
  
  [www.harpercollins.co.uk](http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
  
  
  First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins _Publishers_ 2016
  
  
  Copyright © Harry Sidebottom 2016
  
  
  Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins _Publishers_ Ltd 2016
  
  
  Cover photographs © Stephen Mulcahey/Arcangel Images (Soldiers);
  [Shutterstock.com](http://shutterstock.com/) (dagger)
  
  
  Harry Sidebottom asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of
  this work
  
  
  This short story is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and
  incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical events and
  figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.
  
  
  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
  Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the n