Showing results by author "Carl ToersBijns" in All Categories

Written by Carl ToersBijns, former Deputy Warden with decades of experience in corrections, this book offers a thoughtful and comprehensive exploration of the unit’s origins, culture, operational challenges, and evolution over the years. Through a firsthand perspective blended with institutional knowledge and historical context, ToersBijns provides readers with a rare glimpse inside a prison environment shaped by high custody demands, complex mental health needs, and a tradition of rigid security. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, this work aims to illuminate the lesser-...

A True Short Story of Healing, Grief, and the Dog Who Helped Me Find Peace This is a true story—short, but deeply personal. For over fifty years, the author lived with the quiet, enduring weight of trauma. From the hidden scars of war to the heartbreaking loss of beloved companions, grief became a constant presence. Then came Maya—a small dog with a powerful gift: the ability to sense pain, to sit with sorrow, and to offer something no human ever could… unconditional love without expectation. This is not a war memoir. This is a story about what comes after—about surviving when ...

Book Summary: Under Fire, Under God: – the Medic, a reverent memoir chronicling the harrowing journey of a combat medic during the Vietnam War. From the intense training at Fort Sam Houston to the chaotic front lines of Chu Lai, Firebase Dottie, and LZ Baldy, the author recounts his year-long deployment with the Americal Division, tending to the wounded and dying while under constant threat. Written with unflinching honesty and spiritual introspection, this book sheds light on the mental, physical, and moral burdens carried by medics—soldiers without rifles but armed with courage, ...

Book Summary – The Ghost Remembers The Ghost Remembers is a deeply personal, spiritual memoir written from beyond the veil, narrated by a reflective ghost named Gordon who sits on a porch through Arizona’s monsoon season. In this hauntingly honest book, Gordon relives and reexamines the chapters of a life shaped by war, work, love, absence, and silent regret. Each chapter peels back the layers of memory, revealing the bittersweet truth of fatherhood, broken relationships, missed chances, and the quiet endurance of a man who bore more than he ever said aloud. Through poetic reflections, ...

Book Summary: The Courage to Be Unliked In a vast forest where strength often means survival, three unlikely creatures—a quiet hedgehog, a gentle deer, and a misunderstood wolf—face life alone, rejected by their own kind. Each carries scars of loneliness, misunderstanding, and exclusion. But when their paths cross by a broken creek, they find in one another a surprising bond built on courage, kindness, and the determination to stand true to themselves. As they unite to protect their home from growing dangers—both from humans who threaten the forest and from the judgments of others—...

God Walks With You is not a metaphor. It’s a testimony. In this gritty, honest, and soul-searching account, Carl ToersBijns opens his life to the reader—scars, doubts, and all—to show what it really means to walk with God through war, betrayal, prison walls, grief, and grace. Drawing from a life of military service, law enforcement, personal loss, and spiritual restoration, Carl doesn’t offer polished sermons or feel-good religion. Instead, he offers the truth as he lived it: raw, imperfect, and redeemed. Each chapter is a step along a path many are afraid to walk through PTSD, ...

A Life in Parables is a reflective and poetic memoir that weaves the timeless wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3 into the tapestry of one man’s life journey. Through intimate storytelling and vivid imagery, the author explores the many seasons of life—joy and sorrow, love and loss, growth and renewal—each chapter unfolding as a parable that invites readers to find meaning in their own experiences. Blending faith, vulnerability, and personal insight, the book captures how every moment, no matter how small or painful, holds purpose within the grand design of existence. With a voice both gentle ...

Book Summary – The Man Who Stayed in Ohio / The Man Who Left Ohio – Part II by Carl ToersBijns This powerful two-part story explores the haunting duality of one man's life, shaped by a single pivotal decision: staying in Ohio. In The Man Who Stayed in Ohio, we follow a troubled veteran haunted by war, trauma, and personal demons. Trapped in a decaying town and an unforgiving past, he spirals into violence after years of unresolved anger and disconnection. A fatal confrontation at his workplace leaves multiple people dead—including Frank, a man from his past—and lands him on death ...

In Veterans and Family Court, former corrections official and veteran advocate Carl ToersBijns exposes the silent crisis affecting thousands of military veterans across America: the uphill battle through the family court system. With searing honesty and firsthand insight, this book reveals how veterans—already carrying the invisible wounds of war—are often misunderstood, misjudged, and mistreated in family courtrooms that lack awareness of PTSD, trauma, and military culture. From custody disputes and false assumptions about mental fitness, to the misuse of service records and the loss ...

What happens when a soldier survives the war, but not the life that follows? The Man Who Stayed in Ohio is a powerful fictional journey through the mind of a Vietnam veteran haunted by betrayal, trauma, and the heavy cost of staying in a place that no longer feels like home. Trapped in a broken marriage and spiraling into addiction, he faces the ghosts of war and the wreckage of love. Told with brutal honesty and emotional grit, this story explores how one man’s quiet unraveling leads to a final act of defiance—and a desperate search for redemption. For those who’ve battled within ...

A Tapestry of Misery is a raw, unflinching journey into the soul of the correctional profession — a world few understand and even fewer survive unchanged. Told through the steady, wise voice of a seasoned prison administrator, this book unravels the hidden burdens carried by the men and women who walk the toughest beats in America — the control pods, towers, and cell blocks of New Mexico and Arizona’s prison systems. Each chapter pulls a thread from the invisible tapestry woven inside prison walls: the daily grind, the blood-stained riots, the emotional toll, the broken marriages, the...

Suspicious Minds- A Moral Sentinel is a haunting, gritty, and deeply human story of a man who thought he left the war behind, only to find a new kind of battlefield waiting outside his front door. Aelius Marcus “Champ” Cole is a Vietnam veteran, a retired corrections officer, and a man molded by decades of vigilance, discipline, and silence. Together with his wife, Mara—an equally formidable former intelligence officer—they live in a remote stretch of Arizona, surrounded by ten acres of dry land, watchful skies, and secrets buried beneath the sand. But peace is a fragile thing. When...

Living the Dream began as a sarcastic remark—something muttered under the breath while staring at rising costs, broken systems, and a culture that’s lost its compass. But it quickly became something more: a truth-telling journey through disillusionment, grit, and the unshakable belief that there’s still something worth standing for. This book pulls no punches. It challenges the modern narrative and exposes what’s been lost: decency, truth, faith, and common sense. It’s part memoir, part manifesto, and part warning flare—written for those who remember what the American Dream once...

In this book, veteran prison administrator Carl ToersBijns opens the gates to one of the most overlooked human rights struggles in America: the treatment of severely mentally ill (SMI) inmates within our jails and prisons. Drawing from 25 years of experience inside maximum security facilities—including Arizona’s SMU II (Browning Unit) and the Santa Fe Penitentiary—ToersBijns delivers a sobering, urgent, and deeply moral call to reform. This is not a policy manual. It is not a clinical guide. It is a witness. Through powerful chapters shaped by firsthand insight, institutional truth, ...

“Mercy: The Power That Changes Everything” is a bold and deeply personal exploration of one of the most misunderstood forces in human and spiritual life—mercy. Written by former prison administrator and combat medic Carl ToersBijns, this book is not a theology textbook. It is a lived testimony. Drawing from biblical truth, personal reflection, and hard-earned life experience, Carl leads the reader on a journey to the epicenter of faith, where mercy is not just received but embodied. Through powerful chapters that blend scripture, modern insight, and emotional depth, Mercy shows how ...

Living Life in Metaphors is a spiritually rich, poetic exploration of identity, suffering, grace, and healing. Through seven powerful chapters, Gordie uses vivid metaphors to uncover timeless truths about the human soul and the God who still speaks — not in noise, but in silence, fire, and shadow. With Scripture from the New King James Version (NKJV) woven throughout, this book is not a memoir or manual — it's a reflective companion for those navigating pain, purpose, and redemption. Each chapter offers a symbolic lens into life's deepest struggles and sacred moments. Written for the ...

This book was not written from a mountaintop. It was written in the quiet aftermath of storms. It was shaped in courthouses, prisons, battlefield memories, and sleepless nights. It was formed in the quiet moments of reflection, when a person looks into the mirror not to admire, but to reckon. Through Dust and Fire is a modern companion to ancient Stoic wisdom. It does not offer formulas or promises. It offers perspective. It is grounded in the real, the raw, and the reflective. Drawing inspiration from the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, it speaks to the soul of those who have known ...

This book is no ordinary book about two old grumpy men and a dog. In reading the book, you will soon realize that there are only two main characters that matter and the dog is center stage. The old man, his dog, and his friend are individuals who chose to take their lives on the run and live out of their cars. George is a cancer survivor and proud owner and handler of his faithful friend Hawkeye, a large German Shepard who serves him devotedly as a service dog and companion animal. The value that Hawkeye added to George’s life was immense and needs to be recognized as there are thousands ...

In July 1988, the still air above the New Mexico State Penitentiary split open with the thunder of rotor blades. A helicopter descended with surgical precision into a recreation yard, lifted three inmates to freedom, and exposed vulnerabilities far beyond razor wire and concrete. What followed was not only a statewide manhunt, but a reckoning. After the Sky Fell delivers a gripping, real-time account of the infamous helicopter escape through the lens of those often overlooked in historical narratives: the correctional officers. This book explores what really happens after the sirens wail ...

This is a self-help book. OSA or obstructive sleeping apnea is experienced by over 22 million people today if not more since many never report their sleep disorders. This writing is detailed with information that puts the entire process at your fingertips. Excellent source of information for spouses, family members and friends who know someone who has OSA. Some would say that choosing between a sleeping partner and a CPAP machine is pure hell. I agree and if the partner is annoyed or dissatisfied with the machine in the bedroom, your choices are limited. Remaining in compliance with CPAP ...