This Man's Army: A Soldier's Story from the Front Lines of the War on Terrorism

Rating:
Summary: A Face inWar
Review: In this book, Andrew Exum succeeds in doing what 24-hour news coverage cannot; he puts a face on this "war on terrorism." Exum's narrative style is personable, as if he's sharing a story at the bar. While reading, I often got the feeling that he was including information specifically directed at me, as if it weren't too much of a stretch to imagine myself performing the same tasks.

Exum makes his internal personal struggle the meat of the book. While the substance is there, his viewpoint lacks freshness - perhaps a comment that, despite military advances, war has not changed so much over the years after all.

As news sources continue to bombard the airwaves with images of this war, Exum's voice reminds us of the people who do the dirty work on the front and the psychological struggle they face when they have served their time.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of sizzle, but little steak
Review: My main gripe with this book has to do with the publisher's desicion to promote and market it as a first-hand account of Operation Anaconda as seen through the eyes of a young platoon leader. If this is the type of book you're expecting, then you're best forewarned that out of the 230 pages or so, its not until the last half of the book that the story finally shifts to Afghanistan and once there we're treated to a single first hand account of frontline combat that results in one Taliban KIA. As far as action goes that's pretty much it and author, Andrew Exum, gets as much mileage out of this single incident as he can muster in that the final third of the book deals with musings on what it is to kill a man in time of war and recollections of the ensuing 'media barrage' that makes him a hometown celebrity after articles of his units battle makes publication in the Army newspaper, amongst others. While the book is of mild interest as a memoir on the makings of an Infantry officer in today's military methinks that the reading public would've been better served if the dish on the menu actually resembled what is ultimately served on the table. If page after page of razor sharp prose recollecting the heat of combat is what you're after then its safe to say that your reading time would best be spent elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: A Soldier's Story And A Must Read!
Review: OK! I'll admit it. I'm a girly-girl. War, fighting, killing, wounding, battles, tactics, strategy, weapons - these things do not turn me on. I'd rather have my nails done. I do live in Manhattan, however, so my interests and priorities changed on 9/11, to put it mildly. But, I still could never picture myself reading nonfiction about war - novels like "From Here To Eternity," Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead," and "The Thin Red Line," of course, but not a firsthand account of war from a soldier's point of view.

The other day I was watching one of my favorite TV programs, C-SPAN's Book TV, and was fortunate to hear, (and see), Captain Andrew Exum, the author of "This Man's Army," discuss his book and answer questions from the audience. I was riveted by the recounting of his experiences in Afghanistan and Kuwait, and by his thoughtful, serious points of view on the current political and military situations. He really impressed me. (Unlike war, I am into politics). I was fascinated and wanted to read his book. So I bought it that afternoon and read it in a day and a half. It's that good!

Exum was an active-day army officer whose identity was not disclosed until this book was published. He is certainly not a war correspondent, so I cannot compare his writing to Seymour Hersh's or John Burns'. However, as he points out, he is in a position to give the reader a unique perspective of war on the ground, part of the story of combating the War on Terrorism, and this is what makes his book so fresh and interesting. He was a participant, responsible for getting men to do their jobs effectively and efficiently, and for returning them safely home. Captain Exum, is able to tell why he, a man of privilege, educated at the best schools, risked everything to become an Army Ranger in a time of great danger. He was there from the beginning to the end of an experience, from planning to execution to the aftermath. He does intersperse his narrative with references to Shakespeare, Graham Greene, Walker Percy, Don DeLillo, etc., which enriches the book even more.

From his early ROTCE beginnings, to various Army training programs culminating in the rigorous Ranger program, the hurry-up and wait period of his initial deployment, to the struggles in Afghanistan's Shah-e-Kot Valley with the 10th Mountain Division, this 25-year-old officer, (a Lieutenant at the time), details his life and missions as a 21st century warrior. A member of one of the 1st units to deploy to Kuwait, less than a month after September 11, 2001, he began his tour of duty by supervising escort convoys. Then, he was sent to Afghanistan, where other members of the 10th Mountain Division took heavy casualties. He takes the reader with him to the field of battle and the fight against bin Ladin's al Qaeda recruits. In one instance he faced, fought and killed one of these terrorists. His platoon, the top-rated unit in the battalion, went on missions to recover sensitive equipment and destroy enemy caches. There are light moments also. I cracked-up at his account of a discussion with a Navy SEAL about Nabokov's "Lolita." And he also discusses his not-so-easy childhood, growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The book ends with his return to the US, the difficulties of readjusting to life in the civilian world and his reaction to the media's distortions of the war and his experience. His thoughts and memories of war, and those who fight wars, are much with him. There were periods when I was deeply moved...and then there were the super macho parts, which I think are fun!

In a time of great troubles, Andrew Exum has given me a better understanding of life on the ground, and in battle, for the men and women whose job is to defend America. "This Man's Army: A Soldier's Story from the Front Lines of the War on Terrorism" is excellent - a must read!
JANA

Rating:
Summary: One Man's Puffery
Review: Try as I might to finish this book, I could get only halfway through before before growing extremely weary of Andrew Exum's boasting. I don't know exactly how many references there are to his physical prowess, but I think my personal, final straw was reading how he "packed dense muscle" onto his frame in the gym at Camp Doha, Kuwait. Gag me, dude. Get over yourself and give us more legitimate military insight. Do readers really care that you dubbed your Humvee the "General Lee" and gave each other stupid "Dukes of Hazzard" nicknames? It's just depressing to read.

I would also request that Amazon.com not group Exum's book with Evan Wright's far superior "Generation Kill," perhaps one of the best accounts ever written of soldiers in combat.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Too Soon
Review: While I certainly regard Exum's book as more credible than Anthony Swofford's "Jarhead," I think the book's author had no right to write and publish this book. This guy was nothing special. He graduated from college, went in the Army, graduated from Ranger school and went to Afghanistan as part of the 10th Mountain Division. His entire tour in Afghanistan sounded like a cakewalk. Why did the publishers pay for this guy's experiences? All he did was shoot one Taliban and blow up weapons caches. Couldn't the guy who authorized this book at least ask a special forces soldier who went in there and actually recruited the warlords? Someone who actually did some fighting, and not just cleanup work? Why not someone who made the army their career, and not their means to pay for law school? I'm astonished that he actually left the army like one or two months before the book came out!

Exum mentioned he used to write for the UPenn newspaper and had several friends from the school. I have no doubt one of them hooked him up with a publishing deal. No offense to the author, but he wrote "This Man's Army" way too soon. He talked badly of some people in the book, not maliciously, but enough to hurt feelings. The way he wrote this book, I think he should have waited twenty years or so to do so. I certain his dad wouldn't have liked his son to bring up his debts and that Vasquez, "Fat"quez, soldier wouldn't have appreciated that nickname to show up.

But hey, the book could be a lot worse. Exum could be a raving liberal and use every excuse to bring down the US Army somehow. While I did somewhat appreciate his honest denunciations of college liberalism, especially in regards to that "prep school girl" that called him "David Duke," I did not like the awfully pretentious and unwarranted use of quotes from classical authors, and the name-dropping of other intellectual novels. Seems like he was trying to prove he was smart. If he didn't come across as a nice guy, his pretentiousness might have made me hate the book even more.

In summary, the author is a nice guy, but not qualified to write a recollection of Afghanistan.