thedrifter
05-21-06, 09:33 AM
LOVE LETTER TO GRUNTS
By RALPH PETERS
May 21, 2006 -- BLOOD STRIPES, THE GRUNT'S VIEW OF THE WAR IN IRAQ BY DAVID J. DANELO STACKPOLE BOOKS, 352 PAGES, $29.95
GET this book. Get it and read it. "Blood Stripes" is exactly what the subtitle claims: a grunt's view of combat in Iraq. You'll never get a better one.
There already have been plenty of books about our recent wars - most written by (and, of course, starring) generals and journalists. "Blood Stripes" isn't about the generals' war. It's about the Marine corporals' war: bare-knuckles-close and brutal. Author Danelo served as a USMC junior officer in Iraq, commanding convoys and studying his comrades. He doesn't write about himself, but about Marines he knew - the men who did the fighting in the tragic First Battle of Fallujah, in Ramadi and Husaybah, and along the Sunni Triangle's deadly roads.
This is an intense account of war, raw as a wound, that reads as swiftly as a novel. Following a half-dozen young infantrymen through their encounters with fanatical enemies, roadside bombs, savage house-to-house fighting and, finally, the uncomprehending world back home, "Blood Stripes" captures the terror, the miseries great and small - and the elation - of combat.
Certainly, there have been other fine recent books about our young Marines and soldiers. Nathaniel Fick's "One Bullet Away" is an impressive and thoughtful work, worth any reader's time. Yet, "Blood Stripes" is the raw, street-brawler, blood-on-the-floor account that captures the way Marine grunts live, talk and fight.
There are two splendid qualities to Danelo's work that particularly impressed me, both as a former soldier and as a writer: Combat action scenes are notoriously challenging to write - how do you convey the confusion of squad-level firefights without confusing the reader? Danelo handles it deftly, making each of the dozens of engagements distinct and powerful. The victory canceled by a political surrender in First Fallujah could never be more wrenchingly described than through the eyes of the young Marines who actually fought in its streets day after day.
The second great thing about "Blood Stripes" is that it shuns false piety and phony "Oh-war's-just-so-awful" moralizing. This really is a grunt's book, irreverent and blunt, and there's no attempt to comfort the politically correct.
Vets will love it. Wimps will cringe.
Ultimately, the most impressive thing about the Marines whose stories are told here isn't that they're extraordinary men. Instead, we meet ordinary young Americans who, as Marines, do extraordinary things and share experiences that will forever separate them from those who remained at home.
Not all of the stories end happily. Some of the Marines featured in "Blood Stripes" died - because of mistakes as well as bullets. Many were wounded; although most headed right back into the fight (these Marines despised Purple-Heart-chasers, a la John Kerry, as the lowest of the low). Some stayed in the Corps after their combat tour. Others returned to "the world." But all of them deserve our gratitude for what they did.
And author Danelo deserves our thanks for writing this honest, honorable book.
Ellie
By RALPH PETERS
May 21, 2006 -- BLOOD STRIPES, THE GRUNT'S VIEW OF THE WAR IN IRAQ BY DAVID J. DANELO STACKPOLE BOOKS, 352 PAGES, $29.95
GET this book. Get it and read it. "Blood Stripes" is exactly what the subtitle claims: a grunt's view of combat in Iraq. You'll never get a better one.
There already have been plenty of books about our recent wars - most written by (and, of course, starring) generals and journalists. "Blood Stripes" isn't about the generals' war. It's about the Marine corporals' war: bare-knuckles-close and brutal. Author Danelo served as a USMC junior officer in Iraq, commanding convoys and studying his comrades. He doesn't write about himself, but about Marines he knew - the men who did the fighting in the tragic First Battle of Fallujah, in Ramadi and Husaybah, and along the Sunni Triangle's deadly roads.
This is an intense account of war, raw as a wound, that reads as swiftly as a novel. Following a half-dozen young infantrymen through their encounters with fanatical enemies, roadside bombs, savage house-to-house fighting and, finally, the uncomprehending world back home, "Blood Stripes" captures the terror, the miseries great and small - and the elation - of combat.
Certainly, there have been other fine recent books about our young Marines and soldiers. Nathaniel Fick's "One Bullet Away" is an impressive and thoughtful work, worth any reader's time. Yet, "Blood Stripes" is the raw, street-brawler, blood-on-the-floor account that captures the way Marine grunts live, talk and fight.
There are two splendid qualities to Danelo's work that particularly impressed me, both as a former soldier and as a writer: Combat action scenes are notoriously challenging to write - how do you convey the confusion of squad-level firefights without confusing the reader? Danelo handles it deftly, making each of the dozens of engagements distinct and powerful. The victory canceled by a political surrender in First Fallujah could never be more wrenchingly described than through the eyes of the young Marines who actually fought in its streets day after day.
The second great thing about "Blood Stripes" is that it shuns false piety and phony "Oh-war's-just-so-awful" moralizing. This really is a grunt's book, irreverent and blunt, and there's no attempt to comfort the politically correct.
Vets will love it. Wimps will cringe.
Ultimately, the most impressive thing about the Marines whose stories are told here isn't that they're extraordinary men. Instead, we meet ordinary young Americans who, as Marines, do extraordinary things and share experiences that will forever separate them from those who remained at home.
Not all of the stories end happily. Some of the Marines featured in "Blood Stripes" died - because of mistakes as well as bullets. Many were wounded; although most headed right back into the fight (these Marines despised Purple-Heart-chasers, a la John Kerry, as the lowest of the low). Some stayed in the Corps after their combat tour. Others returned to "the world." But all of them deserve our gratitude for what they did.
And author Danelo deserves our thanks for writing this honest, honorable book.
Ellie