Iron Bravo [Paperback]

Carsten Stroud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1995

First Sergeant Dee Crane, a Vietnam Eleven Bravo, recounts his experiences alongside his men, his duties at the National Training Center in the Mojave Desert, and his most recent encounters in the Persian Gulf.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The traditions, culture and spirit of the U.S. Army are here embodied in the person of First Sergeant Dee Crane, a "lifer" in the First Infantry Division. In pungent, whiplash prose, Stroud (Close Pursuit) chronicles Crane's experiences in Vietnam, peacetime duty at Fort Riley, Kans. ("Home of the Big Red One"), on maneuvers in the Mojave Desert and in combat during the Gulf War. The history of the division is skillfully woven into the narrative, including the WWII victories in Europe and the 1943 defeat at the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, where General Erwin Rommel taught the inexperienced GIs a valuable but costly lesson in tactics. Because First Sergeant Crane is smart, thoughtful, funny, skeptical and articulate, his views on such matters as volunteers versus draftees, commissioned officers, female GIs, race relations, courage in battle and killing the enemy are consistently interesting and informative.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

With the best-selling Close Pursuit: A Week in the Life of an NYPD Homicide Cop, Stroud established himself as a top chronicler of dangerous jobs. Iron Bravo, a portrait of a U.S. Army infantry sergeant, continues in the same vein.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (February 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553762583
• ISBN-13: 978-0553762587
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,566,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The face of battle as seen by the NCO, January 1, 2001

By 

Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iron Bravo: Hearts, Minds, and Sergeants in the U.S. Army (Mass Market Paperback)

In a modern high-tech army, where officers move from one comand to another as they move up the ranks, it is the NCOs who have become the repositories of the history and tradition of the military. Iron Bravo is a semi-fictional account of the history of the US infantry as seen and understod by one NCO- a lifer named Crane- through his knowledge of unit history, his memories of Vietnam and his experience in returning to war in the Gulf. Stroud spent a year with the 1st, and this book is a compilation of the experiences of various soldiers, retold as the story of Sgt. Crane.

There have been a great many books written about the experience of the infantryman through history, many of them excellent; what Carsten Stroud brings is a perspective over time. He's a combat veteran of Vietnam and a student of history, and he understands what it is that is common to the experience of the foot soldier throughout history. He takes pains to show how it it is that experiences of individual infantrymen through history constitute an unbroken thread across nations and through time. Stroud's description of the advance of the US 1st Armored Division through Iraq and his parallels to the WWII battle of the Kasserine Pass is particularly illustrative.

While not a scholarly history, neither is this the typical I-was-there story. It's a unique way of telling the infantryman's story, and as such, of interest to readers of both combat stories and military history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost got it right., March 9, 2000

By 

Paul Graham (Kalispell, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iron Bravo: Hearts, Minds, and Sergeants in the U.S. Army (Mass Market Paperback)

For the reader with military experience, this book is a tough read. The concept was good-tracking an NCO through his career from Viet Nam to Iraq- was right on the money. However, Stroud could have benefitted from an editor with military experience. There were so many technical errors, the storyline often gets lost. Wannabes will like like it. Soldiers won't.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An uncensored look into the life of the combat infantryman, January 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Iron Bravo: Hearts, Minds, and Sergeants in the U.S. Army (Mass Market Paperback)

Carsten Stroud does not glorify war nor does he belittle the sacrifice and dedication of the men who have to fight them. Honest, revealing and uncompromising, Stroud shows the reader through the eyes of a seasoned combat soldier what life is like for the American soldier. It is a life one cannot understand unless he has lived it. Stroud helps the ordinary civilian realize this and learn to appreciate the deep sacrifice that men and women in uniform are sometimes required to give.