Father of The Stranger: A Story of the Second Military Police Unit at Abu Ghraib

Three Soldiers. Three Days. Three Destinies. On March 20, 2003 the United States invaded Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from dictatorial rule. Insurgents, former soldiers and loyal extremists were captured on the battlefield and detained in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. By late 2003 an interim government had not filled the vacuum and the Iraqi people began to see the invasion as more of an occupation and less of a liberation. With tensions high and relations fragile, the worst news possible began to emerge, American soldiers had been photographed abusing Iraqi prisoners. An investigation would eventually explode onto world news. The unit on the ground needed to be relieved and replaced. That replacement unit was the 391st Military Police Battalion of the 16th Military Police Brigade, Airborne, still mobilizing in the United States. This is a small part of their story. "Father of the Stranger, a true story of the first wave of MPs to work at Abu Ghraib immediately following the well-known and disturbing allegations, examines what combat does to people—and what is required to hold on to the best in the worst of places. Wasserman’s page-turner is both troubling and heartwarming even with its dark backdrop." —Julia Dye, Ph.D. Award Winning Author of Backbone: History, Traditions, and Leadership Lessons of Marine Corps NCOs “As the first wave of MP’s to serve at Abu Ghraib in the immediate aftermath of the revelations of alleged abuses occurring there. They had nothing to do with the mess, other than to try and survive the consequences of it and do their best to clean it up.” From the Introduction by Terry Trueman, Award Winning Author of Stuck In Neutral.