No Time for Ribbons

War-weary Army Sergeant Gus Warden kills an Iraqi civilian on the final mission of his year in Iraq, mistaking the man for a terrorist. Returning home to Texas, guilt-ridden and unable to turn off the war, Warden struggles to rejoin a family and society where he no longer fits.

When Warden's manipulative unit commander, Colonel Burr, uses the shooting as a self-promoting publicity stunt by nominating the Sergeant for the Silver Star, Warden is caught between becoming a fraudulent war hero, or betraying the wartime buddies who covered for his mistake.

No Time for Ribbons explores the irony of a prosperous society enthusiastically embracing the martial trappings of our foreign military campaigns, but distastefully turning from the root violence and sacrifice underlying such wars when they become too personal or inconvenient.
No Time for Ribbons is the second installment in the 'One Weekend A Month' trilogy that explores how the 'War on Terrorism' is changing America. Standing alone, or read with its predecessor, One Weekend A Month, the story follows the convention of Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five that the most searing truths of war are often revealed in fiction.