A must read.

This was a hard read. Some of it made me mad; some of it brought tears to my eyes. Those poor guys getting mortars dropped on their heads (even in their home base), wearing 80 lbs of battle rattle in 120-degree heat, never knowing if the next person they see is a suicide bomber, or getting cut to pieces from an IED. Plus--they were sent out with no armor on their vehicles in many cases. They could trust no one, not even the little kids.
The government would promise to help the people, and then renege on those promises. Is it any wonder that the people of the Middle East hate and distrust us?

Remains an excellent book, giving a forum to the views of soldiers and Marines who were sent to this war.

heavy read took me some time to go through each narrative with my own life going on but i think absolutely necessary for americans to understand what really is the price of what we call “freedom” bc obvi i didn’t pay for it . was a little difficult to get into it bc it really is a cluster fuck of everyone’s experiences delivered so authentically . but the more you sit and wade through it is really eye opening

mainly male pov but i enjoyed reading the one excerpt abt a female soldier/therapist in the field

Gives you a good idea of what the fellas on the ground have/had to deal with in Iraq. Not for the squeamish, but not overly descriptive either.

heartbreaking

Must read for anyone thinking of joining the military.

This book is a compilation of stories told by various servicemen and servicewomen who served in Iraq. If you want some idea what this war was really about, how unprepared we were to fight it, how terribly and thoughtlessly our government treated our troops, how many lives were destroyed, broken or damaged to no good end, read this book. It's an oral compilation, not a dissertation, but it is all from the gut and from the heart.

The writing is often raw and graphic. It's short glimpses into events of the past. The book does not have a political agenda, but when you are done reading, you will be asking yourself, "Why."

It's my personal belief that the United States, as a country, sent our people off to fight, so the least we can do is read what happened to them in their own words.

I appreciated the insight into the experience at the soldiers' level - some brutal reading.

Enjoyed the book, gives you a small glimpse into the heads of Iraq vetrans...Now I know why Dustin doesn't talk much about the war.

If you are sensitive to soldier's language, I'd skip this one. There are some interesting points but mostly great stories.

A raw take without much editing...straight from the people's mouths who lived it.