Jarhead

The book I read was “Jarhead” by Anthony Swofford. It is a memoir of his life, and experiences as a marine sniper in the first Persian Gulf War. “Jarhead” shows the events of this conflict not from the perspective of a civilian, war correspondent, or diplomat, but from that of a jarhead (jargon for marine) who was supposed to be on the front line of the ground conflict, except there was no front line. The air attack so devastated the Iraqi army that no one was left to wage an effective battle. So when the marines went in, they were left with mop-up duty. Many of these men, despite being trained as killing machines, left without firing a shot.
I honestly very rarely read, I guess because I’ve put myself to sleep many nights over the years reading various textbooks. However, I had little trouble keeping interest in this book. It is refreshing to read accounts of these conflicts which are unmolested by our media.