The horrors of war, just what the members of the 2-16 live in everyday. The Good Soldiers describes what an average United States Army Battalion does everyday in Iraq.
The Good Soldiers takes place in an unsecure area of Baghdad, Iraq, called Rustamiya where the 2-16’s (Second Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the Fourth Infantry Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division) FOD (forward operating base) is located. The 2-16 was part of the campaign known as “the surge,” which sent an additional 21,000 troops into Iraq to lessen insurgent violence. The book is written in first person narrative where the author expresses his eight months in Iraq with the 2-16. Finkel writes mainly about Kauzlarich, the Lieutenant Colonel and commanding officer of 2-16, and the deaths of fourteen battalion members. Ralph Kauzlarich, a forty-year-old man who lives just outside of Fort Riley, has a wife Stephanie and three kids Allie, Jacob and Garrett waiting for him to come home after a fifteen-month tour in Iraq. Kauzlarich fought during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and is back for a second tour. The Good Soldiers talks mainly about the hardships soldiers go through everyday and how they overcome these obstacles such as suicidal thoughts and constant nightmares.
The Good Soldiers starts out in Iraq, the 2-16 has already been there for a couple of months and people are already renaming Kauzlarich “The Lost Kauz”. It then retreats back to January 2007, when George Bush announced the “surge” which sent the 2-16 to Iraq in the first place. We are eventually taken back to Iraq where the soldiers get their first glimpse of their new home of fifteen months. Through the various chapters of the book, Finkel describes the deaths of many soldiers such as Jay Cajimat, the first battalion member to die, and the heroic acts of Adam Schumann who saved Michael Emory after he was shot through the head by an Iraqi sniper. Emory lives because of Schumann’s heroic actions. These actions take its toll on Schumann; he is later sent home during his third tour in Iraq because of mental illness. Schuman states, “I could still taste the blood of Emory’s head months later.”
Finkel wants to show Americans what the war is really like. He mentions how soldier casualties are put in “other news” sections and are not always explained fully and correctly. For example, one soldier died in a roadside bombing. He was the driver and was trapped in the $150,000 Humvee. The other four soldiers, injured as well, could only lay on the road helpless as they watched Reeves burn to death. This proves Finkel’s powerful writing in his pursuit to achieve his purpose of explaining to Americans what our soldiers go through everyday.
Finkel’s presence in Iraq really makes a difference in the book and is a major strength. For instance if one who wrote the book had never been to Iraq, it would change the book completely. As Finkel said, people back in the US will never understand what the soldiers go through here. The only weaknesses of the book are the lack of edits. There are many instances where one must rearrange the sentence to make it sound right; this is the editor’s job, not the readers.
I have found The Good Soldiers very moving; I will never think the way I did before I read this book. It has given me an all-new level of respect for our soldiers over in Iraq; their lives are much harder and scarier than we all think. It has taught me the horrors of Iraq and the stupidity of many of its inhabitants. Many complain that they need material gifts along with chores from Americans and do not realize the true reason why the soldiers are there; to help Iraq make its own decisions.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone in high school or above. I do not recommend it to anyone under that age because The Good Soldiers is not censored, contains graphic details, and harsh language.
The Good Soldiers will inspire any reader to help aid American soldiers in any way possible. The Good Soldiers has taught me the horrors of war and what it really means to be a soldier in the United States Military.
What do you guys think about me doing book reviews? I know it is not tech related but, this book was great. Comments Welcome!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow. Good review, I might actually end up getting this book. Thanks alot!
Your review is accurate and thorough with the exception that the book is a campaign to discredit the honor that these men have earned. It is an obvious political commentary on President Bush. Finkel follows a few disgruntled soldiers, no doubt fueled by Finkel himself, in a desparate attempt to paint the entire Army as emotionally unstable and ruled by incompetance. Perhaps Finkel perversely yearns for another Vietnam debacle which thankfully is simply not the case. As a veteran I am embarassed by the book and the transparent exploitation of our soldiers by this carpetbagging author. I am proud of the soldiers on whom the book focuses, and I only wish they could have been given the privacy and respect to process their experience in the way only a soldier can know. I'm sorry I paid for the book.
Your review is accurate and thorough with the exception that the book is a campaign to discredit the honor that these men have earned. It is an obvious political commentary on President Bush. Finkel follows a few disgruntled soldiers, no doubt fueled by Finkel himself, in a desparate attempt to paint the entire Army as emotionally unstable and ruled by incompetance. Perhaps Finkel perversely yearns for another Vietnam debacle which thankfully is simply not the case. As a veteran I am embarassed by the book and the transparent exploitation of our soldiers by this carpetbagging author. I am proud of the soldiers on whom the book focuses, and I only wish they could have been given the privacy and respect to process their experience in the way only a soldier can know. I'm sorry I paid for the book.
I was a member of the 2-16 during that deployment. Ive tried reading the book but couldnt get through more then a few pages. LCDR is absolutely right. What happened over there, and the story that Finkel tells, are two completely different things. What a disappoinment that our story has been manipulated into such an awful hit piece.
First off, thank you for what you have done for our country and two, I am sorry that didn’t write an article about what really happened.