The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Where the hell is Aguero?" Captain Troy Denomy had been in Iraq only four days and already he was irritated with his soldiers..." (more)
Key Phrases: stranded platoon, casualty collection point, aid station, Sadr City, Camp War Eagle, Fort Hood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Violent resistance in post-invasion Iraq kicked into high gear on April 4, 2004, when American troops in Sadr City faced a massive assault that claimed eight soldiers' lives and wounded more than 70 others. Raddatz, an Emmy-winning correspondent for ABC News, clearly aims to equal the storytelling in Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down in her account of the battle, and hits the mark with distinction. Extensive interviews with the commanding officers of the army's 1st Cavalry division and the soldiers pinned down in the streets provide a clear narrative of how U.S. troops, prepared for "a babysitting mission," found themselves in a bloodbath, as efforts to rescue the first soldiers fired upon met with even greater resistance from Mahdi militiamen who did not hesitate to use small children as frontline attackers. Heroic moments abound, like Casey Sheehan's volunteering to take another man's place on the rescue team, which resulted in his death. Raddatz touches upon the reaction of his mother, noted antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, but this is just one of many perspectives from families on the home front. The gripping account eschews politics and focuses squarely on the soldiers and their sacrifices. (Mar. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post

The chief White House correspondent for ABC News, Raddatz was in Baghdad when she learned about a platoon of 1st Cavalry Division soldiers who had embarked in April 2004 on what they thought would be a routine community-outreach mission (they were assisting with sewage disposal, to put it delicately) in the massive Shiite slum of Sadr City. Without warning, the once pro-U.S., Saddam Hussein-hating enclave erupted into an anti-American shooting gallery. The 1st Cav platoon was pinned down by members of the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army -- hundreds of them. The Long Road Home details the increasingly desperate and unquestionably heroic attempts to save the troops and reclaim order in an impoverished district that's home to some 2.5 million Iraqis. There isn't a hint of political bias in the book, but by focusing on this pivotal firefight, Raddatz illuminates a key moment when Iraq's sectarian strife mutated into the ferocious, unrelenting insurgency it is now.

Fraught with life-and-death drama as combat intrinsically is, writing a compelling war story is actually quite difficult. The challenge is to capture the kaleidoscopic chaos of battle, keep the reader oriented and humanize the soldiers caught in the maelstrom. Raddatz does all of this impeccably well. The Long Road Home moves at a breathless pace, vividly conveying the suffocating terror of being surrounded in a maze of city streets by an enemy that is seemingly everywhere and nowhere at once.

Raddatz doesn't flinch at depicting the carnage of war; the book contains descriptions of violence so graphic they are literally gasp-inducing, but the bloodshed is not gratuitous. At one harrowing point, Raddatz relates how a young soldier was shot in the head with such force that the round slammed through his Kevlar helmet and ricocheted several times through his skull. The soldier, a devout Christian and Humvee mechanic named Casey who volunteered to help the trapped platoon, also happened to be Cindy Sheehan's son.

What distinguishes The Long Road Home from other war books is that Raddatz seamlessly shifts from the troops in the crossfire to the anxious souls who stand watch over the loneliest post in any conflict: the spouses, parents and children on the home front. (Cindy Sheehan makes a relatively brief appearance as Casey's grieving mother, but the future antiwar activist is hardly a central character.) Far from interrupting the flow of the story, the profiles of the loved ones back in the States give us a richer understanding of the soldiers in Iraq and infuse the narrative with greater tension.

Stephen "Dusty" Hiller, a 25-year-old specialist, had recently learned that his wife was pregnant with their first son. The night after he charged into Sadr City with one of the lead rescue teams, the doorbell rang at his home back in Fort Hood, Tex. His wife, Lesley, went to answer it, and the exchange that followed is as gut-wrenching as any battle account:

"She opened the door and saw an army chaplain. Another officer in uniform was with him. There wasn't a chance for either visitor to say a word.

" 'No!' Lesley yelled. She was frantic, panic-stricken. 'You all got the wrong house!'

"She slammed the door.

"The officers stayed outside and began calling her name softly.

"After a moment she opened the door a crack.

" 'Are you Mrs. Hiller?' one of them asked.

"She shook her head. 'You have the wrong house,' she insisted.

" 'Is your name Lesley?'

" 'No,' she said again. 'You got the wrong house!' Then she started to scream."

This is storytelling pared down to its essentials. To her great credit, Raddatz knows when a scene is potent enough to get out of the way and let it unfold without heavy-handed embellishment.

Which is not to suggest that Raddatz is simply a stenographer here, mechanically recording an inherently riveting story. Whether it's the image of an Iraqi family casually waving at a passing convoy of American troops dodging a torrent of bullets or a lone soldier drawn to the sight of a sparrow "arcing low and untouched beneath the gunfire," Raddatz provides arresting and lyrical moments throughout the book that are clearly the result of a reporter's meticulous research and a poet's eye for detail.

One hopes that The Long Road Home will further spotlight the sacrifices made by U.S. troops and their families. But this book should not be read out of a sense of obligation to these men and women, and it won't succeed merely because of Raddatz's prominence. No, this is a book that will last, and it will do so for the same reason that any great work endures -- because, through the strength and grace of its prose, it pulls us into a world that is simultaneously foreign and familiar and makes us care about the individuals who inhabit this place long after we have closed the covers. And because, one by one, we will pass the book along to others with the only words of praise that really matter: "Here, you've got to read this."

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399153829
• ISBN-13: 978-0399153822
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,504 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read For All Americans, March 1, 2007

By	Military Wife (USA) - See all my reviews

I found this book to be a very thorough and accurate description of the unrelenting bravery of our military, the hell our soldiers go through during combat, and the emotional strain that the families back home endure. The Long Road Home is very well written and should appeal to a variety of audiences, both male and female. It is important for the American public to fully understand what going to war means for our military and its families, and Martha Raddatz has captured this impeccably in her book.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo Martha....., March 7, 2007

By	Chris Mclaughlin "teamsheltie" (Hawley, Ma USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are prepared to know firsthand what our troops and the people who love them are facing day in and day out while we go about our lives in the safety of our borders read this book. It'll break your heart and make you proud...yes, we have gotten ourselves in a mess but that does not minimize the sacrifice our soldiers are facing everyday...and their families...such courage in the face of overwhelming adversity. Thank you Martha for one of the most, if not THE most important book about the Iraq War/Civil War.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last word in the book (on pg 310) is a reminder for us all: "Remember.", April 3, 2007

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

One of the problems in understanding what is happening in Iraq is in understanding what our soldiers are facing there. Too often, we forget that understanding of World War II and Korea came many years afterwards. It is always dangerous to think that news sound bytes or third hand analysis will provide for you what you need to know. Martha Raddatz had done some especially important reporting in this book that I believe everyone should read. At least everyone who cares about what is actually going on over there.

I want to emphasize the quality and style of the reporting. It is rare nowadays for a reporter to not also telegraph their own politics and opinions of the events they describe. Raddatz has higher standards. It is impossible for the reader to be sure about her thoughts about the events. Oh, you might project some onto her words, but if you carefully read what is on the page you cannot honestly infer her views. This is all one can ask of a reporter and Raddatz delivers.

The book centers on the battle that took place in Sadr City on April 4, 2004. A platoon that had newly arrived in Iraq was assigned the glorious daily detail of cleaning up the rivers of raw sewage the run in the streets. It isn't that the sewage runs because of wrecked sewers. There just are not any. This is normal life for these folks. One would think these folks would be grateful for the help. Instead, the Shia Muslims that made up the local population decided to declare their independence by attacking this maintenance detail. Hundreds of militia began firing at them.

The vehicles used for such work were not all armored and while they were armed they were not prepared for fighting on this scale. They quickly found an alleyway and commandeered a house and set up a defense. One of their number was killed and many were wounded before they set up the defense. They called for help and it was sent right away.

However, the help sent did not really understand the scope of the difficulty and brought humvees with canvas tops and opened backed troop carriers. They, too, suffered tremendous injury and death from the rooftops and doorways. It took a number of efforts over the next three hours to rescue the first platoon.

There are many scenes of heroism, loss, and horror. Many questions are raised. However, one should not play the awful bureaucratic political game of looking at what actually happened and then criticize the actions taken as if what happened could have actually been known beforehand. I will leave you to read about these incidents for yourself, but at the end of that day's battle eight soldiers had died and more than seventy were injured.

One of those who died in the efforts to pacify the city after the rescuer was Casey Sheehan. He was a humvee mechanic who was recruited to go out and help the wounded because he had some training in dealing with injuries. When all the random lead was flying he took a high powered round through his helmet and into his brain. I mention Specialist Sheehan because of the notoriety of his mother not because his sacrifice was any different than that offered by every other soldier on that day.

One of the most dramatic parts of the book is comparing Cindy Sheehan's reaction to hearing of her son's death (pg 261) with that of Diane Ibbotson when she heard about the death of her son, Forest (pg 262). I am not criticizing one over the other, but I am sure you will have a reaction to them. One moves me more with the quiet and selfless dignity, but you will have your own thoughts about these events.

Raddatz also shows us the families of these soldiers and what their support of their soldiers ON OUR BEHALF cost them. It is heart warming and heart breaking. The author achieves a great deal in making the soldiers real people with real wives, real children, parents, and siblings. The friendships among the soldiers also matter. However, in a fight you are comrades with the soldiers all around you whether you know them or not. Your survival depends on that trust and sacrifice.

This is a very moving book that I am glad I read and firmly recommend that you read.