In this memoir, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel reflects on his difficult childhood, his service in the Middle East, and fatherhood. As a child, Bill Riley was raised in an unstable and violent home by a mother struggling with mental illness. An absent father with a firm belief in tough love left him with only his sister to understand or comfort him as they faced a home full of harshness, resentment, and physical abuse. As a man, he braved the war-torn landscapes of Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Having learned early from his father that only the strong survive, he enlisted in the Air Force after high school and began an impressive military career in intelligence analysis, communications, and supporting special operations, meeting incredible individuals along the way. Baghdaddy is Bill Riley’s journey through a turbulent youth and into a challenging adulthood. This very human account of living in some of the least humane environments shows that no matter how different we may seem, we are all trying to make the best of life and learn how to be the best versions of ourselves. Praise for Baghdaddy “Riley’s prose is exact and features moments of unexpected beauty… As much an account of America’s involvement in Kuwait and Iraq as it is a personal narrative, the book provides a humanizing insight into the individuals who fight the nation’s wars, and the deeper motivations that explain why they do so. A compelling and well-crafted combination of history and autobiography.” —Kirkus Reviews “An amusing, often exciting war memoir that readers of the genre will enjoy.” —Publishers Weekly
