How a Former Hippie and War Protestor Became a Fierce Soldier Supporter by Living in Iraq’s Combat Zone

“The fact that I, a retired Air Force officer and pilot, am strongly endorsing the written work of a woman who once tried to shut down Wright-Patterson Air Force base is delicious irony. Ali’s perspectives on the war are the same as my own, and we could not have come from more disparate backgrounds. I love this book.” ― Lt. Col. Robert “Buzz” Patterson, USAF (Ret.) End Quote

(1888PressRelease) December 04, 2008 - Ali Elizabeth Turner is a self-described “recovered feminista/socialista” who grew up in Seattle during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement, the Hippie Movement, and the Women’s Liberation Movement. A vocal protestor of the war in Vietnam, her life radically changed in the early seventies as a result of the Jesus People Movement, and she began a journey which led her from believing that soldiers were “baby killers” to being an ardent soldier supporter.

In A Ballad for Baghdad: An Ex-Hippie Chick Vietnam Protestor’s Three Years in Iraq, she chronicles the years she spent on several Coalition military bases, where her job was to help run Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Centers as well as fitness centers for both the Coalition and Iraqi forces. These remarkable stories as well as Ali’s own firsthand account of a civilian woman’s life in a combat zone proves once again that our U.S. military, regardless of our feelings about Operation Iraqi Freedom, deserve our gratitude for maintaining the freedoms most Americans take for granted.

Ali Turner was in Baghdad for the return of Iraq to the Iraqis, Saddam’s ongoing antics in court, all three Iraqi elections, and Saddam’s trial and execution. From 2004 to 2007 she heard the stories of hundreds of Iraqis, Coalition soldiers, interpreters, Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, and contractors from around the world which she recounts in A Ballad for Baghdad. Interwined are Turner’s own observations and experiences which she chronicled in her journal, all of which transcend the cutthroat politics of this presidential election year.

Inside are stories that go well beyond politics—stories of courage, compassion, miracles, and humor. She also shares the soldiers’ frustration with what the media are and, perhaps more importantly, are not saying about the what is occurring in Iraq. Readers will discover:

• What happened when Saddam found out his air conditioner was being repaired by a man whose grandfather was from Israel;
• How a Sunni Muslim stood up in a Christian church service and thanked the U.S. for invading his country;
• The day the media reported that an action figure doll had been taken hostage;
• The demoralizing effect that Terri Schindler Schiavo’s court-ordered death by starvation/dehydration had on U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.

A Ballad for Baghdad is filled with the stories that Ali Turner promised to share, her own transformation and gratitude for her freedoms as an American, and her chance to say “thank-you” to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians that continue to fight for our basic human rights and for future generations—at home and abroad.

To hear or download a free a copy of the song, “A Ballad for Baghdad”, written and performed by Ali Turner, go to: www.BalladForBaghdad.com

For interviews or media review copies, contact: Ali Turner at Ali ( @ ) AliTurner dot com or via phone at 256-468-9425 dot

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