Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq [Hardcover]

Jason Christopher Hartley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2005

The Iraqi war is distinguished by something new in the annals of armed conflict: soldier bloggers. Jason Christopher Hartley was one of the first to write a blog and his blog, Just Another Soldier, was one of the first to be written about (mentions in Time, the Wall Street Journal and an AP story). Now in book form, this is one soldier's view of the war... from the ground up. Jason Christopher Hartley, born in Salt Lake City, raised Mormon, joined the National Guard at age 17 and had been a career weekend soldier for 13 years. Then in 2003 his unit was deployed to Iraq, where he spent 11 months in the Sunni Triangle. Rather than resent that his weekend service has suddenly put him in harm's way, he's elated to be doing the real business of soldiering. From K-rations to dead civilians to extreme boredom punctuated by moments of extreme fear, Just Another Soldier takes the reader into the day-to-day experience of the Iraqi war. In addition to putting a human face on the Iraqi soldier, Just Another Soldier puts a human face on the country of Iraq; its culture and its people.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's not that the Army cared he had a blog, surmises Hartley in his candid tell-all about life as a National Guardsman in Iraq, it's that they objected to the blog's content. Had he blogged in vague terms about his battalion's missions, he may never have faced the threat of a court-martial. Instead, Hartley's blog entries are typical of the medium: honest, conversational, self-effacing, critical and loaded with references to pop culture that simultaneously flew over the heads of his commanders while hitting them square in the gut. Philosophical at points and scatological at others, Hartley makes no effort to romanticize soldier culture, or to validate any political viewpoint, and it's this absence of agenda that makes his memoir such an original, if frustrating, work. Readers will naturally look for a directive on what to think about America's ongoing military effort in Iraq, but Hartley offers no trite conclusions, defending Operation Iraqi Freedom almost as much as he mocks it. A soldier in a shapeless war, he elaborates on raids and missions and music and masturbation as though each is an equivalent aspect to the overall infantryman experience. The transition from blog to book is not entirely smooth, however, especially when Hartley describes the drama that unfolds when he and his superiors duke it out over his blog. It's not surprising that his blog landed him in hot water, nor is it as interesting as the acerbic ruminations on day-to-day events that, fortunately, make up the bulk of Hartley's arresting narrative.
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Review

“Exposes the tedium of war and the slow disillusionment of a veteran infantryman” (People )

“Profane, insightful, funny, exasperating, occasionally philosophical, usually down and dirty and a book to be remembered.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch )

“Often emotional, always full of vivid description and, above all, compelling.” (Charleston Post & Courier )

“This is, in Hartley’s words, ‘something honest and raw.’” (Deseret News )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060843667
• ISBN-13: 978-0060843663
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,371,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Was there... Great book.., October 28, 2005

By 

Justin R. Marshall "J.R.Marshall" (Queens, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq (Hardcover)

I was there with Jason... And he captures everything to a T. Reading the book I can laugh cause when he gets into things I remember I just start laughing cause to be being over there is mostly a blur and I'm so happy that he has captured it for all to read. Great Job Sgt. Hartley, I remember it took me a month to get the internet to work steady. It was like routing a 56k to 18 people but I got it done and you were able to get your site out there and work on this book while it was happing rather then trying to remember which the reason I think this book is is so truthful. Happy to go there and come home with you Sgt. Hartley, - Spec. Justin Marshall A Co. 2/108th INF

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars National Guard Soldier to Patrol in Iraq., October 15, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq (Hardcover)

This semi-diary format book about a soldier's year in Iraq provides an insight into what the average front line infantry goes through. It doesn't cover the big picture. It doesn't cover the issues that the news media talks about. It's what the rifle carrying soldier sees, does, thinks as he goes through is deployment.

His story sounds a lot like stories of other veterans. In fact I remember a book by a fellow named McBride from World War I. 'I didn't mind the war, but I hated the hell out of the Army.'

The book is a good mix of stories of the day to day life, going out into bad guy country, and the view from life at the bottom of the Army. I can certainly say that life in the Army hasn't changed much from my time in it (which was from before the author was born.

The web site contains a large collection of pictures.

Well written, very interesting. I'm not so sure what it all means, it's just part of a life of a soldier.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read: Informative, Funny, Truthful, December 28, 2005

By 

Robert Lamb - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq (Hardcover)

I picked up this book because I wanted to read a first-hand account of what's going on in Iraq. If you are looking for a book full of combat and killing people, this book is not for you. There is combat and gunfire in the book, but it is much more than that. Hartley talks about things as trivial as getting lost in Humvees to difficult issues such as dealing with the death of a friend. The book is what you would expect from an infantryman but at the same time rather philosophical at times. A good read.