| Product: |
My War: Killing Time in Iraq - Colby Buzzell |
| Date: |
29/05/07 (123 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Easy to follow, heart warming, he doesn't get killed, an unspun version of events in Iraq
Disadvantages: Describes an ongoing brutal war
My War - Killing Time in Iraq is the first book I have taken the time to read relating to the experiences of US forces in Iraq. The book written by Infantryman Colby Buzzell follows in detail his 12-month tour of duty in Iraq in the months following the official end of the Iraq war.
The book itself follows a 3 year period in the life of Colby Buzzell, a punk rock loving Californian living in the San Francisco area in his journey from relative obscurity to the streets of Mosul as part of the Stryker Brigade, a light infantry unit deployed as part of the peace keeping mission in Iraq. Starting with an outline of his life before joining the army, Buzzell pulls no punches when he describes himself as something of a waster, drifting from job to job, a habitual drug user and alcohol abuser.
Bored with the day-to-day grind of trying to make ends meet as a $15 an hour data inputting clerk in a dead end temporary job, a chance meeting with a retired Marine plants the seed in his mind that joining the Marine Corps would be an adventure, particularly after September 11th, would provide him with a steady income and plenty of associated benefits such as free healthcare. With this in mind, Buzzell attempts to join the Marine Corps only to be told that they have filled their recruitment quota for the month and to try again at a later date. Detracted he leaves the recruitment office to be accosted by a recruitment officer for the US Army who promptly sells the army life to Buzzell and the story then follows him through his basic training, assignment to the Stryker Brigade and eventual deployment to Iraq.
Buzzell whilst in Iraq wrote an online "blog" which over time became very popular with Internet users and his entries on this blog form a large part of the book interspersed with sections of army guidance notes and lyrics from his favourite songs.
My first impression of the book itself was that it was rather funny! Buzzell tries to write everything as he sees it, there doesn't seem to be any artistic licence used. There is very little of the macho "I fear nothing" approach that you would expect from someone who joined up to go and fight. The views expressed are brutally honest and at times just down right frightening, but this aside it does provide an amazing insight into the lives of soldiers deployed in Iraq, what it is like to lie in bed and hear mortars falling on your base, to sit in an armoured car that has just been hit by a rocket propelled grenade and to engage what seem to be invisible non-compliant forces when ambushed.
Broken down into short punchy chapters the layout changes into more of a journal and then back to chapters. This layout helps the story flow, with chapters (usually with amusing titles) being used to provide background that is clearly written from memory, with the daily entries actually coming from the blog and handwritten journal giving this a rugged, very real feel.
Overall I found My War a very frightening book, in addition to giving his version of events, Buzzell includes official press releases that vary wildly from what actually happened. Stories of the Iraqi army and police officers running away from the battle leaving only coalition forces to face fire, but gaining the credit made me angry at times but ultimately this was a warm book at left me feeling that Buzzell had come a long way from the dead beat Californian who enlisted at the drop of a hat, went through a life changing 12 months and returned home to continue his life.
There is a quote from the book that will stay with me until the day I die, and is written after his first open encounter with non-compliant forces where he clearly believed that he would be killed.
"I've put the events of that day in shoebox, put the lid on it and I haven't opened it since".
This is the unofficial version of what is currently happening in Iraq and regardless of your views on the war on terror I would highly recommend this to all.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Published by Corgi Books
ISBN 0-552-15437-7
R.R.P £6.99
Thanks for taking the time to read and rate.
Steve :o)
Summary: The best book I have read about the second Iraq war....
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