War Experience and Trauma in American Literature (WIP)

[Lena]

Dear forum members,

I am currently working on my dissertation in American Studies. I am at the beginning of my third year and while I nailed out my question, I could use some advice, to see my trees more clearly so to speak.

I am researching military memoirs and fictional texts which focus on the experience of enlisted soldiers or junior officers (Infantry)deployed to Iraq. I've selected several texts which I am analyzing regarding the presentation of the Iraq War, strategies of fictionalization employed by the authors, the fictionalization of traumatic events and war experience, and the strategies used by the authors to address the reader.

While I've read Thomas Ricks's "Making the Corps," I am still searching for a comparable insight perspective describing the US ARMY. I am hopeing that some of you could give me some pointers.

Also, I am trying to nail down my final selections of memoirs and texts to include. The current list is:
Folsom, Seth "The Highway War"
Fick, Nate "One Bullet Away"
Buzzell, Colby "My War: Killing Time in Iraq"
Crawford, John" "The Last True Story I'll ever Tell"
Worksman, Jeremiah "In the Shadow of the Sword"
Bellavia, David "House to House"
Gallagher, Matt "Kaboom"
van Winkle, Clint "Soft Spots"

Novels:

Zimmerman, David "The Sandbox"
McCormick, Patricia "Purple Heart"
Larson, Luke "The Senator's Son"
Meyers, Walter Dean "Sunrise over Fallujah"

If you have any suggestions which texts I could or even should include, please don't hesitate to recommend!

Thanks!
Lena