Elias Banales has lived in Oxnard since 1973. He has a large family with five brothers and three sisters. Banales is a 23-year military veteran with 18 years as a paratrooper.

He recently served a one-year deployment in central Iraq. Banales worked closely with the people and Army of Iraq. He writes about these experiences and the perceptions and opinions of the Iraqis he met along the way.