Customer Reviews

Boots on the Ground: A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm squad leader assigned to Company D 3-325. I was there all the the way from Camp Champion, through the prep for the jump in the airport and the last minute scrub. My Anti-Armor platoon was attached to A troop 1-17 Cav for the move to Talil and to A 2-325 for the push into Samawah proper. I was shot through the left hand while we were trying to seize the bridges over the Euphrates.
This book does my men a great justice. I kept a journal out there and this book mirrors my experiences. I'm extremely thankful that our story has been told, and heard. All the men who were there and who still patrol Bagdahd are MY heros. I've never served with a finer group of paratroopers than my platoon. This book serves as a journal for all the men of 2nd Brigade.

Wow, this book is a rarity. I love action-filled war novels. But I also love serious histories and current affairs books. I just finished this book and can say it combines the best of both worlds. As racing, tense, thrilling, and vivid as a Clancy or Mark Bowden story. (And when describing life with the troop surprisingly funny, and at times very moving and emotional.) But at the same time a deeply serious, wise, careful description and analysis of the Iraq war.

You want to know what real combat, war zones, and fighting men are like? Here's your book. You ARE THERE. And that's before you even get to the incredible photos. The downside: I wish it was longer. I got hooked and had it read in a day.

I'm giving this one for Christmas.

A lot of the war journalism I've read is much too heavy on "I" "I" "me" "me" and discussion of what the journalist is thinking, feeling, wanting. The tremendous strength of this book is that you really get inside the lives of the soldiers. It's about them, and brings them to life in a full and amazing way.

I met a huge range of characters: medics, special forces soldiers, a medal-winning sniper, men who get shot, pilots, generals, Iraqis, civilians caught in the crossfire. Crisp and simple and unadorned portraits you won't forget.

I thought I was sick of Iraq War discussions, but I heard this author on the radio and he sounded interesting. He is. I'm super-glad I got the book. This is a very different, very fresh perspective on the war, and a type of "up-close-and-personal" reporting on combat you rarely get. I found it gripping.

P.S. I'm really not sure what book the reviewer who described this story as lacking action read. It sure wasn't the one I read. The action in this book has invaded my dreams.

The moment I began to read this incredible story that Karl Zinsmeister has written, I was attached. The story is vivid and personal which involves the reader to a point where they can't put the book down. This journalist ate, slept, and drilled with the soldiers. Their struggles were, in turn, his struggles. Their triumphs were his triumphs. I think this is what makes the book so interesting and heartfelt. It wasn't written by a TV newscaster who was only involved in the military camp life. It wasn't written by a reporter who lingered in the rear lines. Karl Zinsmeister was willing to risk his life (and did a few times) to give Americans the true story of what's going on in Iraq, from the point of view of someone who really appreciates our county's military. By the end of the book I felt so proud to be an American. I felt grateful that I wake up free every morning. I felt grateful for journalists such as Karl Zinsmeister who are willing and able to give such a powerful and moving account of an important event in our nation's history. This is a must-read story of freedom that will give you a new appreciation for all the men and women who are willing to fight evil so that we can live free, everyday.

After wiping away my tears at the end of this book, with pride for the American troops, I have to thank the author for such a clear picture and tribute to Operation Iraqi Freedom and the professionals at all levels who participated. I only wish the author would follow up with another book about the still-ongoing efforts in Iraq. We could use more clear thinkers like Zinsmeister reporting to the general public.

I just returned from Iraq with the unit featured in this book (2d Brigade Combat Team 82d Airborne Divsion). I was there from Kuwait City to Baghdad and back. Zinsmeister's account of the events which unfolded during that month he was with us were right on. I read the book in Baghdad seven months after the battle discussed in "Boots on the Ground" and it took me right back to As Samawah. If you want to read about what really happened during the liberation of Iraq, Read this and turn off CNN (they don't leave their hotels)

In his book "Boots on the Ground" the author chronicles his journey from the time he was informed that we would be an imbedded reporter, through thirty days of the campaign, to his eventual homecoming. During this journey Zinsmeister details a lot of the sights and sounds of a combat unit in action, but more importantly when they are off the line. In this respect this book gives the reader a genuine feel for what goes on in a combat unit.

Finally, he give a cogent aregument that the reporting of the news from Iraq was biased and self-serving by a number of embedded journalist, and by a few who feld they did not need to be close to the action to render their "expert" opinion. This section only reinforces what Bernie Goldberg wrote in "Biased".

In all, this was a well written book that deseves attention by the public at large as it represents the first rough draft of history.

If the book has any shortcomings it would be in the area of its length. I assume the the author had considerably more material than he used; I would have preferred he used it as the subject warrents expanded coverage.

This was highly recommended to me by some pilots and soldiers I know who actually served in Iraq, so I decided to try it.

Now I see why they like it. A dynamic read. Rich in information. Tremendously interesting and inspiring. And, they tell me, accurate.

So now I'm passing on the recommendation to others. I'll also be giving this book as a gift. Especially to people who think Americans have become nothing but self-absorbed couch potatoes, wimps, etc.

Meet some bold and brave souls.

I had hoped that this book would give me a "fly on the wall" outside-in look at the lives of troops in Iraq. I hoped that I would be able to see the war through their eyes. Sadly, Mr Zinsmeister's right wing political and social opinions aflict most of his book, to the extent that it reads more as a piece of propaganda than a piece of objective journalism. He pontificates at length to the reader on a variety of subjects before we even get to the Iraq War. If you like Fox News, being spoon-fed your world politics in good guy and bad guy pieces, you'll love this book - for everybody else, I suggest you look elsewhere.

As a Brit, I was surprised to find almost no mention of our troops involvement and casualties, in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and elsewhere. In fact, to read Mr Zinsmeister, you would think the US is the only county who can be bothered, going it alone with these various wars, just like Mr Kerry accused George Bush of not so long ago.....

For the record, I am not a liberal, support our troops, didn't go to an Ivy League College, and am an Army veteran.

I was in 1-17 Cav and got to know Karl during the time he was with us. The book doesn't give a soldiers account of the invasion, it give a reporters, who slept in the same tent as the soldiers, ate in the same chow hall, and actually took the time to meet the guys he was around. Very few of the reporters over there really took the time, or even tried, to get to know the soldiers they were around. Most were going out on the town in Kuwait City or huddled in their tent talking on their sat phones to friends. He did a great job capturing the story, which for me and what I experience wasn't that exciting, except for the terrifying parts.