Gene Bennett, aka Mickey Severson is the author of "We Did Not Deserve the Crapper" and is an Iraqi Freedom veteran (two deployments). After being discharged in 2011, Gene returned to his home state of Wisconsin. He now lives in Salisbury, North Carolina. From 1994-1998, Gene served in the USMC 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment; the same unit that so bravely defended Afghan civilians until the last minute as US troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2021. From 1998 to 2001, he served in the Army National Guard as a mechanic, keeping tracked vehicles defensive and operational. From 2001 to 2011 Gene served in the US Army Reserves, doing two deployments in Iraq, doing his part in the Global War on Terror.