thedrifter
12-12-07, 08:12 AM
War stories: Author records soldiers thoughts
By L.E. CAMPENELLA
The Patriot Ledger
MILTON - Elise Forbes Tripp has an opinion about the war in Iraq, but she said it’s not reflected in her book ‘‘Surviving Iraq: Soldier’s Stories.’’
‘‘This book isn’t about me or what I think,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘It’s about what the soldiers fighting this war think.’’
Tripp, 65, a Milton native, interviewed 30 soldiers from across the U.S., including many from Massachusetts, who have completed tours of duty in Iraq.
They all have a story to tell.
‘‘I wanted to show that vets don’t just go over and fight and come home and not think about it again,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘It’s quite the opposite.’’
Published by Interlink Publishing, the book went on sale at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com last month.
Stories range from the patriotic to the horrifying to the humorous.
‘‘This is a very different war,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘Women are in combat, there is no front line, there is no battlefield, there are private contractors earning much more than our soldiers, and there are resident aliens fighting to earn citizenship.’’
The soldiers Tripp interviewed range in age from 18 to 60. She recorded their comments and made few changes.
‘‘It’s 95 percent their words,’’ she said.
Reviews have been positive. Renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns gave the book high praise.
‘‘This is a ‘bottom-up’ celebration of the trials and terrors of so-called ordinary soldiers brought to that most terrible and transcendent of all moments - combat,’’ Burns said. ‘‘What emerges is a shocking, moving and utterly heroic portrait of young men and women in impossible situations.’’
Tripp grew up in Milton and attended Milton Academy.
She is a member of the famed Forbes family, which, led by Capt. Robert Forbes, brought goods and trade from China to Boston during the 1800s.
After graduating from Harvard University, Tripp spent many years in Hong Kong, Japan and Tanzania.
She returned home and earned a master’s degree and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
She now lives in Sunderland, near Amherst, and is a professor of American history at Holyoke Community College.
Tripp said she decided to write the book after her nephew Torry Schoenfeld enlisted in the Marines and was shipped to Iraq after the invasion in March 2003.
‘‘I realized we really didn’t know the war from the soldiers’ point of view,’’ Tripp said.
She began to attend events that would have Iraq veterans at them. She mingled, talked and asked if any would like to be interviewed for her project.
‘‘I didn’t have any military ties,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘I picked people at random.’’
L.E. Campenella may be reached at lcampenella@ledger.com .
Ellie
By L.E. CAMPENELLA
The Patriot Ledger
MILTON - Elise Forbes Tripp has an opinion about the war in Iraq, but she said it’s not reflected in her book ‘‘Surviving Iraq: Soldier’s Stories.’’
‘‘This book isn’t about me or what I think,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘It’s about what the soldiers fighting this war think.’’
Tripp, 65, a Milton native, interviewed 30 soldiers from across the U.S., including many from Massachusetts, who have completed tours of duty in Iraq.
They all have a story to tell.
‘‘I wanted to show that vets don’t just go over and fight and come home and not think about it again,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘It’s quite the opposite.’’
Published by Interlink Publishing, the book went on sale at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com last month.
Stories range from the patriotic to the horrifying to the humorous.
‘‘This is a very different war,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘Women are in combat, there is no front line, there is no battlefield, there are private contractors earning much more than our soldiers, and there are resident aliens fighting to earn citizenship.’’
The soldiers Tripp interviewed range in age from 18 to 60. She recorded their comments and made few changes.
‘‘It’s 95 percent their words,’’ she said.
Reviews have been positive. Renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns gave the book high praise.
‘‘This is a ‘bottom-up’ celebration of the trials and terrors of so-called ordinary soldiers brought to that most terrible and transcendent of all moments - combat,’’ Burns said. ‘‘What emerges is a shocking, moving and utterly heroic portrait of young men and women in impossible situations.’’
Tripp grew up in Milton and attended Milton Academy.
She is a member of the famed Forbes family, which, led by Capt. Robert Forbes, brought goods and trade from China to Boston during the 1800s.
After graduating from Harvard University, Tripp spent many years in Hong Kong, Japan and Tanzania.
She returned home and earned a master’s degree and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
She now lives in Sunderland, near Amherst, and is a professor of American history at Holyoke Community College.
Tripp said she decided to write the book after her nephew Torry Schoenfeld enlisted in the Marines and was shipped to Iraq after the invasion in March 2003.
‘‘I realized we really didn’t know the war from the soldiers’ point of view,’’ Tripp said.
She began to attend events that would have Iraq veterans at them. She mingled, talked and asked if any would like to be interviewed for her project.
‘‘I didn’t have any military ties,’’ Tripp said. ‘‘I picked people at random.’’
L.E. Campenella may be reached at lcampenella@ledger.com .
Ellie