My War: Killing Time in Iraq

My son is currently serving with the U.S.Army in the Infantry in Iraq. It's hard...on those serving our country abroad...and on their families and friends. I purchased this book to hopefully help with my coping...bring me closer to what he's going thru and also wanting to learn the military jargon that I'm unfamiliar with. I started reading and COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!! It is such a heartfelt, personal...in your face, up close look at what our troops are experiencing in Iraq. I learned so much...and could almost see my son reacting in some of the situations as Colby did. THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS BOOK! The surprise to me was that it displaced the anger and worry that I had with my son being deployed (ok, so I'm a mom....that's what we do) I was strangely comforted by the book...I felt as if I were there and could finally relate to what my son is experiencing. My son can't communicate to me what he is experiencing because of security reasons...I just hear..."don't worry I'm ok". So it was nice getting this prospective. I've never "reviewed" a book I've read but I felt compelled to review this one. If you want a true, honest look at what our troops are going through I highly recommend this read!!

I recently read Anthony Swofford's review of My War, by Colby Buzzell. Swofford, a former Marine sniper and Gulf War veteran, is the author of Jarhead, the successful memoir of his Gulf War experience, which has recently shown up on the Hollywood big screen as a top box office seller. All in all, I think Jarhead was a fairly good read. Criticisms abound regarding the manner in which Swofford portrays the Marines-which for the most part seem to stem from people who cling to the sentiment and disillusion that all things military must be John Wayne like. There is though, an annoying overtone of whining in his account, and an even more annoying hint of supplication to the cultured academic elite (which seems to be his intended audience), as if with a wink and a nod he readily validates that echelon's misguided and misinformed perceptions and stereotypes of the military, and in particular, all-male combat culture they so disdain. The most redeeming quality of his memoir, which was illuminated even better in the movie, is Swofford's honest portrayal of having never squeezed the trigger. In the first Gulf War, there was absolutely no substantial role for light infantry, let alone snipers. While Jarhead may be the defining account of a sniper's role in the Gulf War, it is not the defining account of the war-which will be better served by someone who directly participated in the armored blitzkrieg of a slaughter that it was (i.e., someone from the 1 out of every 14 Gulf War soldiers who actually did squeeze the trigger). I'm not here though to focus on Jarhead, I'll leave that to the sophomore at Brown or Amherst or Dartmouth...as a former dirt soldier of the first Gulf War, I'm here to zero in on My War. I found Swofford's review of My War to not only be, pardon the pun, entirely off the mark, but startlingly offensive. The crux of his review seems to be a critique that Buzzell's writing is not seasoned and is not "literary" enough, and comes off more like a collection of blog entries...again, more supplicating, or shall I say sucking up, to his Columbia Journalism Review audience. Buzzell's writing is indeed not seasoned, it is charred and sizzling meat plucked straight out of the fire-it'll burn you while it nourishes you. Buzzell's writing does perhaps lack some kind of literary flourish-but so what? Again, when I read Jarhead, I'm reading the witty, dry prose of a University of Iowa Writers Workshop project-when I read My War, I'm back on O.P., in the foxhole with a fellow two year enlistee dog, discussing life the way that only dirt soldiers do. When I read Jarhead, I'm sitting in a freshman creative writing class being forced to listen to a young professor read his own writing to the class in a painstakingly obvious effort to get into the pants of the freshman girls. When I read My War, its right after the last formation and I'm up on the third floor of the barracks, with my BDUs still half on but with a bottle of Mad Dog hoisted to my lips..

I'm a baby boomer from Colby's Dad's generation. a long-haired, small L libertarian in the Ted Nugent mold. I was a daily reader of his war blog. When he closed it down, I sent him an e-mail thanking him for his service. A few week's ago, Colby replied thanking me for my e-mail a year after the fact. That's it. Nothing about his book. I decided to try his old blogsite on a whim and that's how I found out about "My War". I read this book at my office. I didn't even put it down when my boss stuck his head in the door unless he needed something specific from me, immediately. As others here have said, Buzzell's writing style is unique. It's clear and concise, blunt at times. It's not a lot of fluffy wordsmithing. You really can't classify Buzzell or his writing. You have to experience it for yourself. I can't say I "enjoyed" this book because It's not fiction. I did learn from it. I feel better about the generation following mine if there are a lot of Colby Buzzell's in it.

Colby Buzzell has candidly written one of the most interesting pieces of work in print today about the real life war in Iraq. This is not some "view from the top" but a look at the war from someone who fought it as a young soldier with mixed feelings about the military establishment and with solid feelings for America and our purpose there. His writing is refreshing, his humor is laugh out loud and his insight is immediately identifiable from those of us who have served our country in the military. I served 4 years on active duty with the Marine Corps from 1970-74 and left the Marines as a newly promoted Captain. Mr. Buzzell was the kind of thinker I'd loved to have had in my platoon. When presented with the mission, he gave it 100% every time, never losing his humanity and morals. For those who want to know the truth (and can handle the truth), this book is highly recommended and will come to be recognized as one of the best books to come out about this war from an infantry soldier's viewpoint. He has my respect.

Wow! What a GREAT read! I laughed out loud and I cried. For me, this book made me feel like I am hearing the TRUTH about Iraq...not some twisted biased media report. Mr. Buzzell is a very unique, interesting, and colorful character. He is compassionate, hysterical, sobering, and blatantly honest. I read the book in a day and will read it again. I found his work to be educational as well at thought provoking...and inspiring. He brought to light what our men and women serving our country endure on a daily basis. An Interview with an Iraqi and in Service of the Queen were profoundly moving. If you like to read a good story and want to hear some truth about Iraq from a Soldier's perspective I highly recommend it. Thank you Mr. Buzzell for serving our country and for sharing your story with us. God Bless.