Ryan Smithson wrote Ghosts of War book for numerous reasons. One reason for the book was to expose the reality of the war and show how things actually are in Iraq. He didn't believe the news and media were accurately portraying the war in Iraq. So he made a point to change peoples views and show them the whole picture. In his book he really showed how dark war can be and how soldiers are getting by everyday through humor. Secondly, writing this book really helped his post-war life, relationships, and with his own health, this reason needs a little explaining. After Ryan returned from his last tour he had symptoms of PTSD. He woke up from night terrors consistently. He saw children starving, dismembered people, and things we couldn't imagine. The worst part about this was how slow he was to slow to open up and tell his stories. He had many problems after the war and didn't have a way to face them and resolve them. At first he didn't want to go to some one who had no idea what he went through and no idea what war was like, but eventually he found the solution to his problem. After his tour he went back to school, and one of his teachers gave him a paper describing "something they saw destroyed"(296-301 Smithson). This is what gave Ryan an escape from his problems. When he finished the paper he shared it in his college class and everyone was dumbfounded. With the encouragement of his professor he started writing on his experiences and sent them to a publisher to eventually be combined to make a book. This book is more than just personal stories, this was a solution to a life problem. Without this book his whole life could have been a lot different.