Total Page : 336
Publisher : Da Capo Press
Publication Date : 2010 03 23
>> I didnt want the book to end
The author has and further gains an understanding throughout the book of the COIN strategey as well as the burdens and joys of being a platoon leader He presents this to the reader through a vivid account of his deployment in Iraq Gallagher s words provide more than an inside look at moder war they bridge the very large gap between the American populace and the American solider
>> finishes the story
Kaboom the blog had my attention from the first post to so sadly the last entry I am not family I just read dozens of blogs daily and I know what I want to read Honesty is the first thing I look for and I don t want my war sanitized Capt Gallagher writes the way he thinks and the way he sees things That is on the ground level My eyes on what is going on in this complicated and convoluted war The soldiers the larger army the third world nationals the power brokers of Iraq those of Iraq who are assisting as translators and the poor and displaced are taken in by his eyes and translated to me so I can understand We are a country at the mall while our soldiers are at war I work in the medical field and there are shortages of many medical supplies Every one of the people effected by this ask the question Why When they are informed that There are two wars on men and women are coming home in pieces and doctors and nurses are using supplies They look surprised Oh yeah they say blinking like they hadn t thought of it That is the America that these men and women are putting their lives on the line for One of Capt Gallagher s men was severely injured and brought back to the U S for very involved treatment Those not injured by bullets and road side bombs can be injured by accidents that are all to easy in an environment not controlled with good roads and rules of civility This book is the way it is on the ground through the thought and mind of one soldier and one fine writer I highly recommend it House to House An Epic Memoir of War s The Sandbox Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
>> a war memoir for everyone
Though Gallagher s book is at times hilarious at times brutally honest and at other times completely random it always had my full attention
I m not a war buff war historian and generally am not a fan of movies or books about wars but this is a book I would recommend to anyone who claims to have read/seen it all about the Iraq war It s a constant reminder that every veteran s experience is different and no one person can tell the story of the whole war only his/her story It was also informative While the author isn t and doesn t claim to be an expert in Iraqi history or the on the ground strategies enacted there he takes care in explaining the ins and outs and the whos and whys of his and his platoon s everyday lives and duties in Iraq You hear terms like the surge COIN and Sons of Iraq on a regular basis in the media but this book gives these words a meaning by attaching names faces and personalized anecdotes to the people whose lives in Iraq move beyond terminologies and buzz words
The author is divorced from the raging politics of the war back home but clearly not immune to an intensely bureaucratic and political military structure and he expresses as much several times It is an insightful engaging read and doesn t attempt much of the high minded philosophy and introspection I have come to dread from memoirs Instead Gallagher s voice is like any other twenty something He sounds like someone you know someone you talk to on a regular basis An actual real person This is the most attractive part of the book It is very well written and highly recommended
