ROADSIDE by Dylan Park-Pettiford (epub)(Nonfiction)

Roadside: My Journey to Iraq and the Long Road Home by Dylan Park-Pettiford (ePub) (Nonfiction)
Author: Dylan Park-Pettiford
Publication Date: June 3, 2025
Category/Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, War, Identity

Roadside is a powerful, unflinching memoir by Dylan Park-Pettiford, a biracial (half-Black, half-Korean) child of refugees and survivors who grew up feeling like an outsider in Campbell, California. After the September 11 attacks, swept up in a wave of patriotism, Dylan enlisted in the US Air Force and was deployed to Iraq—separating him from his younger brother Rory, his closest companion growing up.

The memoir chronicles Dylan’s year in Iraq, where days alternated between boredom and terror, and rare moments of connection came through his friendship with Brahim, a Kurdish teenager. Their bond—rooted in rap music and mutual survival—became a lifeline: Dylan brought Brahim food and supplies, while Brahim shared vital intelligence that kept Dylan and his unit alive. Their farewell at the end of Dylan’s tour felt final… but fate would have other plans.