The Desert Warrior

The Desert Warrior is an extraordinary memoir of trauma recovery and resilience, while providing a fascinating look at one soldier’s return from the early, grisly years of the Iraq War. After losing her money, possessions, and fiancé, a soldier returns to the U.S. from war feeling disconnected from family, friends, and everyday American life. When she encounters rejection from her compatriots and the VA as a female combat veteran, she decides to embark on a global odyssey to find her own true meaning of “home.” While she may appear different than most as a multiracial woman who was one of the first women who served in direct combat operations in the U.S. military, this wandering soldier explains how we all share the universal desire for acceptance, love, and a secure place to call home. The Desert Warrior drops the war-glamorization cliché and compassionately addresses the personal, practical, philosophical, and identity issues surrounding trauma survival. Delving into a surreal world of art, spirituality, and wanderlust, Dallocchio invites readers on an intimate journey around the world where they will gain an understanding of one soldier’s life while uncovering truths about their own. Through childhood abuse, generational trauma, combat exposure, failed relationships, microaggressions, and violence, Dallocchio sheds light on the numerous ways pain complicates everyday life while illuminating a path toward passion, purpose, and a life worth fighting for.