After receiving the “Dear John” letter from Savannah, John throws himself into his work, and the next nine months pass full of stress, boredom, confusion, and sand. Eventually, John re-ups again and returns to Germany in February 2004. Germany is dull and meaningless compared to Baghdad. He has a new group of men—all his friends have been discharged—and he is the old Sergeant now. He devotes his time to his father and uses his leaves to visit his father. With his father now retired, a daily routine emerges for John and his father. They share meals, take walks, and spend most of their time talking about coins and researching them on the internet. John notices his father’s health isn’t back to normal, and the doctor explains that his dad’s heart suffered significant damage in the heart attack. John returns to Germany, realizing that he is just a grunt and that even though he had experienced so much, his life is on hold.

In March 2005, John’s father suffers another heart attack and has to stop driving, and shortly after that, he has to give up his daily walks. John asks a neighbor to look in on him, but as his condition worsens, the doctor suggests moving him to an extended care facility.