![]() ![]() We shake hands and he gives me one of the coffees and we go to get my car. Now that he's out of the Army I'm supposed to call him Brendan, but I'm finding that almost impossible to do. He's put on twenty pounds since I last saw him and could be a laborer waiting for the gate to open at the construction site across the street. O'Byrne is standing at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 36th Street with a to-go cup in each hand and the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up. What passes through his mind is his own affair. ![]() Is a label we reserve for something a man does. LANGUAGE ADVISORY: The following excerpt contains language that some readers may find offensive.īy cowardice I do not mean fear. I found myself sometimes offended by but still rooting for these men, who've seen more action than the overwhelming majority of American veterans of Afghanistan.īut War fails to answer a basic question: Why was the mission of the 173rd - to help secure the Korengal Valley, arguably the most dangerous spot in Afghanistan - doomed to failure? Junger suggests in the book that even the soldiers didn't want to know. And yet he delivers their story without whitewashing their beliefs, actions and harsh reality. ![]() It's clear Junger won the respect and friendship of those he writes about: the 173rd Airborne Brigade, with whom he embedded intermittently over a 15-month deployment. And in my experience, Junger, best known for penning The Perfect Storm, is spot on in his characterizations of daily life for American troops who carry out their duties away from the comforts of a base. soldiers and Marines all over that country. Readers won't get any closer to the front lines in Afghanistan unless they enlist.Īs NPR's Afghanistan correspondent over the past 3 1/2 years, I've embedded with U.S. ![]() In his latest book, War, Sebastian Junger once more reveals his gift for riveting storytelling. ![]()
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