The Warrior — A Mother's Story of a Son at War

Hardcover, 84 pp.Copyright 2008 Frances Richey Proceeds from this book sale go towards the AUSA Scholarship Fund Frances Richey's son, Ben, whom she raised by herself, graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1998. He became a Green Beret, and then went for two tours of duty in Iraq, often on missions that were so secret that he had to remain incommunicado from everyone, including his mother. The Warrior is an urgent and intensely personal exploration of what a mother is feeling as her only son goes off to war, as she says goodbye to him, misses him, prays for him, and waits for him to come home. At the book’s heart lies a mother’s love for her son—a son from whom she feels distant, both literally and metaphorically, for she is opposed to the war in Iraq, but nonetheless realizes that she needs to understand, support, and accept the choices her son has made in his life. A poignant, accessible, and emotionally arresting book told in twenty-eight poems, The Warrior speaks to the