Army veteran and author William Yeske will discuss his book “Damn the Valley” in a lecture on Veterans Day at the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum.
Yeske will discuss his first-hand account from a lower-enlisted perspective in the 82nd Airborne Division’s Bravo Company during Operation Enduring Freedom from 2009 to 2010, according to a news release.
“Damn the valley” was a phrase used by troops deployed to Afghanistan’s Arghandab River Valley with Task Force 2 Fury. Three members of the company were killed in action, more than a dozen suffered life-changing wounds, and half the company earned Purple Hearts. At one point, the prosthetics ward at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was full of the men who patrolled that deadly area of the world.
Since their return, many of the survivors have struggled to move on with their lives, and the unit has been declared at “extraordinary risk” by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “Damn the Valley” shares the perspective of the troops who were on the ground for that deployment in 2010.
Yeske is a combat veteran who served 11 years in the Army. He currently attends Columbia Business School while running business projects and parenting two children with his wife, who is also a military veteran.
The lecture is at 1 p.m. Saturday at the museum, 100 Bragg Blvd. in downtown Fayetteville. Admission for active-duty service members is available upon registration. To reserve a spot, visit bit.ly/yeskeevent
