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Elliot Ackerman served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, during which time, he says, he witnessed the absolute worst — as well as the absolute best — that human beings are capable of. Ackerman is also a journalist, novelist, memoirist and National Book Award nominee. This Veterans Day we talk about the lure of war, how war gave him a sense of purpose, the fear and heartbreak that went along with it, and the search for meaning when he stopped fighting. His Silver Star is for leading a platoon in the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq.