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 The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq by John Crawford
John Crawford was prior enlisted (3 years, 101st Airborne) and joined the Army National Guard to get some extra cash for school. In 2002--just married, 2 credit hours short of graduation, and his commitment to the Guard just about up--Crawford's unit (the Florida National Guard) got called up for duty by Uncle George and Uncle Donald. Instead of the standard 6 months, they ended up on active duty for 18 months (with most of that time spent in Iraq). There are a lot of books by Iraq War veterans on the market at present but there is something different about Crawford's that I can't quite quantify. Maybe it is the lack of ego (machismo) anywhere in his account. Maybe the "in the moment", disjointed haze quality to the work due largely to the fact that the first four chapters were penned while Crawford was still in Iraq. Maybe it is the quality of the writing; Crawford informs the reader not just of the sights but, also, the smells, sounds, tastes that he experienced along the way bringing Iraq closer to us (making it come alive) as one reads the account. Maybe it is the evolution of the man, the greater insight he gains over time into what he has experienced in Iraq. For example, on page 119, discussing his unit's extended stay in Baghdad: "[W]e sat in a city that seethed [with hatred] around us. * * * We were riding a crest of hatred two thousand years old in a storm that no one who hasn't experienced it can understand * * * I watched as we de-evolved into animals, and all this time there was a sinking feeling that we were changing from hunter into hunted."
Those looking for a warrior's account of battle should look elsewhere. This is a book about the daily life of an infantry man in a low intensity (yet dangerous) combat zone. Tedium and endless repetition are the order of the day punctuated by total exhaustion. Crawford quite matter-of-factly relates how the average soldier dehumanized the Iraqis (i.e., treat all locals as less than human) to carry on with the situation into which they were thrust. Americans have a long history of such in wars against native Americans, Mexicans, Spaniards, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and now the Iraqis.
Although he doesn't blatantly whine, I sense John Crawford sees himself as something of a victim, thus, the subtitle: "An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq". Yes, he was just married when called to active duty and his deployment blew up his marriage. Yes, he had to suck sand for over a year. It's probably not fair for me, a stranger and non-soldier, to venture an opinion on the topic but, what the heck, this is my blog so I'll do it anyway. Crawford was no innocent "accidental" soldier. Here is a guy who grew up in the south idolizing warriors. He voluntarily spent 3 years on active duty in a squared-away unit--the 101st Airborne--prior to volunteering to join the guard. He knew what it meant to be a soldier. The prior Gulf War of 1991 was within his living memory. Plenty of guard units had been called to serve in the first Gulf War. Thus, Crawford took a gamble that he could make some easy money for college in the guard without being called to active duty. Seemed like a safe bet but he rolled craps. Life sucks sometimes.
"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter trials and tribulations for they build character." James the Just (? - 62 CE), NT James 1:2-3. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900). John Crawford has lived to tell the tale and is a stronger man for the experience. Booya!
Here is a clip of John Crawford being interviewed by John Steward on Comedy Central. Steward loved the book as did my wife.
11-15-2005
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