Vanessa May Miller was a strong, independent Army woman. The female Army private was becoming part of the 2003 Iraqi invasion, while also enjoying an affair with a married sergeant. However, in the historical, Christian fiction story by author Steve Herzog, Under the Ancient and Modern Sun, Vanessa's strong will covered over her unfulfilled needs as a woman and the scars left by an absent father figure. Her life was about to be changed for the better after the defeat of Saddam Hussein and the army's discovery of rare antiquities that needed to be transported to the National Iraqi Museum. Among the treasures was an ancient story about a woman named Gomerah (based on the Bible's Hosea and Gomer) who lived a life of sinful pleasure but was in need of God. The story caused Vanessa to wonder if Gomerah's story resembled the same longings of her own heart.
