Search - Jarhead : A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles

This is a raw book but a well-written first-hand chronicle of Swofford's time served in the Gulf War. It allowed me to see what really happens during war time...no glamour in it! Refreshing honesty...

Anthony Swofford spares the reader nothing. I actually found myself cringing while reading this book.

I remember this war, this conflict, this whatever. I was glued 24/7 to CNN like the rest of the world. I really felt like I was 'supporting' the troops and the like. My dad was in Vietnam and I was absolutely militant about the troops. Any whiff that someone was less than enthused and I was like a rabid terrier. So while I was reading his account of the war, I was comparing in my head how I felt at the time with his actual experiences. In comparision, I was a real ass.

This book is a must read. Especially now. There are hundreds of thousands of Swoffords right now deployed. Read this book.

A witty, profane, down-in-the-sand account of the war many only know from CNN, this former sniper's debut is a worthy addition to the battlefield memoir genre. There isn't a bit of heroic posturing as Swofford describes the sheer terror of being fired upon by Iraqi troops; the elite special forces warrior freely admits wetting himself once rockets start exploding around his unit's encampment. But the adrenaline of battle is fleeting, and Swofford shows how it's in the waiting that soldiers are really made. With blunt language and bittersweet humor, he vividly recounts the worrying, drinking, joking, lusting and just plain sitting around that his troop endured while wondering if they would ever put their deadly skills to use. As Operation Desert Shield becomes Desert Storm, one of Swofford's fellow snipers-the most macho of the bunch-solicits a hug from each man. "We are about to die in combat, so why not get one last hug, one last bit of physical contact," Swofford writes. "And through the hugs [he] helps make us human again." When they do finally fight, Swofford questions whether the men are as prepared as their commanders, the American public and the men themselves think they are. Swofford deftly uses flashbacks to chart his journey from a wide-eyed adolescent with a family military legacy to a hardened fighter who becomes consumed with doubt about his chosen role. As young soldiers might just find themselves deployed to the deserts of Iraq, this book offers them, as well as the casual reader, an unflinching portrayal of the loneliness and brutality of modern warfare and sophisticated analyses of-and visceral reactions to-its politics.
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