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MERRIMAC Merrimac Public Library will host University of New Hampshire English professor Nathan Webster for a program called To Iraq and Back at 7 p.m. on June 22.

As a freelance photojournalist and U.S. Army noncommissioned officer during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Websters reporting on Iraq appeared in dozens of newspapers nationwide.

As a UNH graduate student, he was embedded alongside U.S. soldiers of the 82nd Airborne and 25th Infantry in Iraq several times spanning the summer of 2007, with its last-ditch surge strategy, to 2008 (reconciliation with former Iraqi tribal foes), and the 2009 slow march to the finish line as soldiers handed the mission over to Iraqi government forces.

Webster will share the photos and stories from his book, Cant Give This War Away: Three Iraqi Summers of Change and Conflict, which documents the time he spent with soldiers overseas, some of the missions they experienced, and perspectives they attained.

Webster says of his freelance work, When soldiers return from overseas, they take off their uniform and blend back into society; maybe it will be hard to remember what these men and women looked like when they were young and at war in a place very far from home.

I hope these photographs and stories help an audience appreciate and understand what it looked and felt like during these three summers in Iraq where the temperature rarely dipped below 125 degrees and a stubborn enemy rarely stood and fought.

Anyone interested can stop by the library at 86 W. Main St. or call978-346-9441 to register for this program.

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'To Iraq and Back' at Merrimac library - The Daily News of Newburyport