(Host) A new book details the lives of Vermont National Guard soldiers who served in Iraq as part of Task Force Saber in 2005 and 2006. 

The author spoke on VPR's Vermont Edition, and Jane Lindholm has the details.

(Lindholm) Thomas Middleton never thought he'd be a published author.  He just wanted to be a fireman.  But then, he never thought he'd go to war either.  He signed up for the Army Reserve when he was 17 years old and two decades later found himself in Ramadi, Iraq, with Task Force Saber.

(Middleton) "It was the worst, most violent place at the time, according to CNN ant Time Magazine.  It really was.  We had our hands full. The National Guard wound up right there on the front, doing the heavy lifting, if you will.  We had our hands full."

(Lindholm) Sergeant Middleton wrote his memoir, "Saber's Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq," as a way to get his thoughts on paper-and perhaps out of his head-and to recognize the achievements of the soldiers he served with.

(Middleton) "In my role as a combat medic I was traveling from one platoon to the next, giving a different combat medic a day off each day of the week.  So that made it interesting to write about the accomplishments of the entire battalion, because I got to see a slice of everyone's action.  But it also made it a little bit more challenging to write a book because I had a shifting cast of characters around me."

(Lindholm) Historically, medics were classed as non-combatants, and only carried weapons for self-defense.  But Middleton says in this war medics are gunfighters too, and need to be.  And he embraced that role.

(Middleton) "It's not common for a firefighter to want to stay on the outside of the building and watch it burn.  Firefighters want to take the hose to where the flames are and that's sort of who I am.  So yes, I volunteered to be assigned to the infantry.  I wanted to be part of the fight." (0:24)

(Lindholm) For Sergeant Middleton, one of the most difficult aspects of serving in a war zone was reconciling his Catholic faith with the killing that was going on around him and that he had to participate in.

(Middleton) "I went to the chapel; I talked it over with our chaplains at length.  And I eventually found peace."

(Lindholm) In fact, Sergeant Middleton found his faith was strengthened by his time in the war zone, and continues in his civilian life today.  Sergeant Thomas Middleton is still a member of the Vermont Guard, and though he doesn't expect to be called up in the next guard deployment he would be willing to go if needed.  His new book about serving in Task Force Saber is called "Saber's Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq." 

For VPR News, I'm Jane Lindholm.