Customer Reviews

Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

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I found myself in a bookstore today, somewhat perturbed with myself that I had sat at the DMV for an hour wondering why it wasn't open on time and therefore couldn't serve my immediate needs, but moreover because it had to be explained to me, an Army veteran, that it would not be opened at all due to the observance of Veteran's Day. I thought it was yesterday, but I don't work in a DMV or a bank, so what do I know.

Anyway, I'm milling around near the magazines with nothing catching my eye at all. I'm about to buy an overpriced coffee I can't easily afford and call it a morning, when I spot this book placed Front Toward Consumer on a nearby shelf. It was the keyboard being nearly consumed by sand at the bottom that caught my eye first, and made me pick it up.

I have to admit that the Doonesbury connection was a hair of a put-off at first, as I doubted much good intent towards our current operations could be displayed within. I was still compelled to scout around the quotes on the back, the description in the front, and the explanatory Doonesbury cartoons on the inside cover. And then I read one of Roy Batty's (who's seen things you people would not believe) blogs. And then I immediately bought the book.

I have been reading and crying all day; tears of rage, and pride, and joy, and heartbreak and hope and humor, all in quick, closed-throated bursts. With no more than five to ten minutes between each to soak in how proud and privileged I am that I can share these stories. I am overwhelmed that American men and women so deep in harm's way can find such beautiful expressions of their own rage, and pride, and joy, and heartbreak and hope and humor -- each retelling a unique and individual experience that are in fact the shared nightmares of millions, and older than desert sand.

I also am a firm believer in the idea of this collection's value as a trove of insight for the soldier who has not done his or her tour yet, as I believe it speaks volumes to buffer the experience. I say I believe, as I am scheduled for my first mobilization into the sandbox at the end of the year, so I don't yet know. But, I know soldiers, and am familiar with steeping myself in cultures at first alien to my experience, and I feel I'm already over there with the ones who have reported here. Invaluable and frustrating and moving, all at once.

So today I thank David Stanford, Garry Trudeau, and of course the Sandbox milbloggers and veterans everywhere, for their service, and this fantastic book. There are experiences in these pages that if paid enough mind could save lives, and have definitely shaped them. The Doonesbury FOB has allowed American servicemen a forum that is spilling over with dignity and soul, and created a modern social science and military classic that will be important and relevant for decades. Always Forward.

I found out about this book from the Doonesbury comic strip. Its is a collection of posts from a blog or forum created by Gary Trudeau to give soldiers in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan a place to post their thoughts and stories. After seeing it mentioned in the comic I picked up a copy and flipped through it at a book store out of curiosity. I normally don't read books like this but as I read through a few of the shorter pieces I found I couldn't put it down.

This is the real stuff from the people there. No agenda, just real stories and experiences both funny and tragic. Many capture the absurdity of war often funny and surreal while others are more serious. Each entry is a personal window on what life is like "over there" without Washington spin. I found it very moving and very well written. I highly recommend it. It really opened my eyes.

THE SANDBOX will appeal to all readers who want to know what it really means to lay your life on the line, to support the troops and be supported by them. A good number of today's young adult readers may someday enlist or, God forbid, get drafted. For that reason alone, THE SANDBOX may well be one of the most important books of our time. It's a boot camp experience for the uninitiated, arming readers with foxhole-level knowledge about the realities and consequences of war. To be sure, it touches on some adult content, and the language isn't muted. But war is hell, uncensored, and this book isn't any different.

In raw detail, these essays describe what it's like to lose your personal independence, to become a rank-and-file entity in a foreign land, fighting battles much larger than yourself. It's for those who'd rather hear the authentic voices of "boots-on-the-ground" than the rhetoric of those who would manipulate the facts to their own advantage. And it's for those who believe (or may come to know) that supporting the troops means listening to them, that supporting the war and supporting the troops can mean far different things.

THE SANDBOX offers a mosaic of differing perspectives, written with varying levels of intensity by people from many walks of life. Although each individual essay is compelling, the real power and meaning is written into the collective body of work.

"I think the wars are just too remote for people's minds," Trudeau said. "They see two, three minutes on the evening news, maybe, if they don't look away." Written into these unflinching essays is an unprecedented opportunity for discovery and introspection, for young adult and mature readers whose hearts and minds are truly open.

You do NOT have to be a Doonesbury fan to like and appreciate this book.
You do NOT have to be a history or military buff to understand and appreciate all of what is written in this book.

You will NEVER forget these men and women, their voices, their tears, their laughter, their anguish, their fears, and most importantly their most honorable sacrifices.

DON'T MISS THIS BOOK!

When I saw Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury name attached to this book, I thought it was going to be a collection of his cartoons from Iraq and Afghanistan. Nope. The Sandbox is a website for military bloggers to provide history as it is happening from those who are making it. It's one way for the average person to connect to those serving.

This is a collection of 93 different blogs (some are by the same writer/soldier/sailor) sharing their experiences and observations while serving in the Global War on Terror. As stated in the intro, some of these posts are from service members who were writing and some were from writers who were service members.

The blogs are at times, funny, sad, depressing, adrenaline pumping, but always fascinating and well written. I found the most interesting were the stories of interaction with the Iraqi or Afghani people. Very insightful reading, very moving. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in what is happening in the trenches in the war on terror. You may think Trudeau's Doonesbury is too far to the left, I do not think this book is pro-anything, other than a way to hear stories that need to be heard.

Amidst all the books that detail the violence and mistakes that have been made in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars this book stands out. These are stories told by soldiers in the field (and loved ones back home) that are personal and raw. Thank you Gary Trudeau for making this book and [...]possible.

Dispatches from The Sandbox describes what our troops are experiencing
on many levels while attempting to secure Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a civilian and U.S. citizen I have always supported our military
and the men who are doing all the work. Their dispatches are
fascinating funny and informative.

I am better informed about what they are experiencing.

Who are these Marines and Soldiers whose courage and tenacity is so glorified and politicized by those who never served ?

Editor David Stanford brings us the daily stories of those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in their own blunt words. An Gary Trudeau-inspired addition to his 11-year old Doonesbury.com website, Trudeau and Stanford invited the warriors overseas to write back so the folks back on the homefront could stay informed about the war. They weren't looking for strategy and tactics, but rather the daily routine - ranging from boring to mundane to kinetic - that the troops experienced.

And write they did, as "mil-blogging" increased in popularity, the writing skills of a few of the blogging Marines and Soldiers brought the wars back home in a visceral fashion that often leaves the reader with damp eyes. No slick writing here, but rather just the honest words of your son and daughters and husbands at war.

1st Sgt Troy Steward, New York Guard, writes of his time in Afghanistan as part of an Embedded Training Team (ETT) with an Afghan National Army Unit. Sgt Roy Batty, stationed in Baghdad, writes of the boredom associated with living on a FOB and then later segues into problems with an Iraqi Police unit that shot and killed an old man. "They are our buddies," he writes,"our comrades in arms with whom we are supposed to bring Jeffersonian democracy and security to this wonderful country..." . 1st Lt Stefan laments the death of a fellow officer, 2nd Lt Scott Lundell, with whom he attended OCS. "Rest in peace,"Stefan grieves on his keyboard,"...a brother in arms who is loved and missede. The debt will not go unpaid..."

Stanford has sifted through the hundreds of articles posted on the more popular milblogs such as bouhammer.com, sackiniraq.blogspot.com. and traversa.typepad.com, and posted a few of the best. "The Sandbox" has articles from men and women, officers and enlisted men, and warriors, chaplains, and corpsmen. These are unforgiving wars where the combat zones start at the border, and Stanford lets those doing the fighting talk about how it affects them. In an environment where the media is criticised for playing politics by wanting to show photos of coffins being returned to the United States, one can instead read SPC J.R. Salzman's (jrsalzman.com.weblog) blunt description of having his arm blown off "...the tast of blood in my mouth, realizing that the bottom half of my arm was missing with nothing left but a couple of fingers and part of my hand hanging off by some skin and tendons and realizing how much pain I was in."

The value of "The Sandbox" is that it lets the reader forget the petty politics of the last few years and instead get to know something about the Marines and Soldiers who are doing the fighting and dying. Republicans - Democrats are unimportant when one reads 1st Sgt Stewards reports from Afghanistan, or SPC's Salzman writing about how "the last time I saw my wedding ring was when it was being snipped off with a pair of bolt cutters at a hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad." Thank you, Gentlemen, for what you are doing, and thank you for sharing it with us; "The Sandbox" should be read by every American.

This book is a compilation of e-mails from men and women
in the army, navy and marines stationed in the middle East
war zones. It gives a true picture of what is going on
over there and how it affects our military personnel; how they
feel and what they think. I bought it to give to the people that
I know who think that George Bush was right to go into Iraq
and that the war is just fine. I hope that it will help them to
change their minds about the war and vote for peace on Nov. 8.

The reports from individual soldiers, Matines and Seals in Afghanistan and Iraq are invaluable.