WELCOME TO THE SAND
MIRAGE IN THE SAND
A story written from the ground level of history.Mirage in the Sand is a firsthand account of a young infantryman thrust into the early years of the Global War on Terror.Told through memory, letters, and reflection, the book explores what it meant to grow up inside a war that few understood and many would never see. It is not a tale of distant legends or polished narratives, but of real soldiers navigating heroism, dysfunction, loyalty, loss, and the quiet moments in between.This is a story about service, brotherhood, and the cost that lingers long after the sand is gone.
Inside the book
• Fort Benning’s Infantry School and the making of an infantryman
• Deployments to Iraq, Korea, JRTC, and FLETC
• Life on patrol, in checkpoints, and combat operations
• Letters written home in real time
• Interviews and reflections years later
• Brotherhood, loss, and the long return home
Voices from the book
During my deployments, my grandmother wrote often. This letter arrived when casualties were mounting and uncertainty filled each day.Undated – Letter from my grandmother, Toni Harstad
About the cross: When your G’Pa and I were married a long time ago, our minister gave Bill and me a cross to carry anywhere we pleased. I carry mine in my purse, but now I would like you to carry it. God watch over you and your company.
About the author
Jeff Harstad served in the U.S. Army during the opening years of the Global War on Terror. Years later, he began revisiting letters and memories from his time in uniform.Mirage in the Sand is his attempt to give shape to those experiences as they were lived and remembered. The book reflects on service, brotherhood, and the ways war continues to echo long after the uniform is set aside.
