Customer Reviews

They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this book was a very difficult read, having been a part of this unit, 1-26 Blue Spaders. Everyone in this book was a friend and brother to me and reading this brought back my own fears. Kelly did a fantastic job painting the picture to everyone who reads this as to what exactly we went thru, what all combat soldiers go thru, things that don't get shown on the 5 o'clock news. Thank you Kelly for writing our story, and thank you to all the guys of 1-26

This book was very difficult to read, fighting back tears, and repressing memories better soon forgetten. I try everyday to remeber the "brothers" lost in combat, and everyday I try to forget the horror.
Kelly is a wonderful person, who wrote a wonderful book that vividly portrays the actuality of war.
Thank you, Kelly, for writing this. Thank you, 1/26...Charlie Company are Warriors...
Let us not forget that many were lost during that fifteen months...Much love to my fellow Blue Spaders!
"Doc" Roth

Outstanding book that takes a hard honest look at the realities of Soldiers in combat. It also shows the struggles that they faced after loosing so many of there brothers in arms. Amazing book. A must read for those who want to see what our Soldiers sacrifice every day.

I ordered this book as our youngest son served with this unit in Iraq during his first deployment there. A lot of the soldiers names were familiar to me, and some of the events were as well. I attended Ross McGinnis's burial service at Arlington National Cemetery, met the family and learned a lot about this 19 year old who sacrificed his life for his "brothers". Our son has "compartmentalized" many of the horrid things that occurred during his time in Adhamiyah, and I wanted to learn all about this hard hit group. I'm starting to read it a second time right now; my husband is also reading it. Learn about what they faced and how they lived; they were on patrol constantly.

I would probably give this maybe 4 stars for the actual writing, but it's a five-star book as far as what it brings to Iraq War literature and reportage. There are superior books - "Good Soldiers," "Black Hearts," among them - but as far as getting into the deep details of an infantry company's deployment to Iraq, this does an exceptional job. While it might not be the first book you should choose, it should be on your shelf.

It is never preachy and rarely emphasises overly-exaggerated heroics. The truth is good enough. And, it's a real accomplishment that Kennedy pulled so much of this reporting together, considering she was present for very little of it. It takes an enormous amount of organization to create a narrative like this, grafting numerous sources and timelines all together.

My only 'complaint' is that Kennedy herself is missing TOO much. She was present for SOME of the events, and it would have been a good shift to see her perspective a little more clearly - not as a biography, but just so we can get a more personal look at these events, rather than ALL reportage. And, since she's an Army war veteran herself, that perspective was one that could have brought an interesting new level to the story. It's her story, too, so why not utilize her own experiences and observations a little more? In David Finkel's great book, "The Good Soldiers," he never 'appears' in the narrative, but it's clear to the reader when he's actually present for events, and that style is something that might have worked for Kennedy as well.

At times, the entire book seemed a little too 'newspapery' and not literary enough. Which makes sense, since it began as a newspaper series. That's not a negative critique - just reality. This is still a book that those interested in Iraq War reporting and soldier's stories should still seek out.

In any case, I'm jealous...I've embedded three times, plus, like Kennedy, was in Desert Storm too...and all my notes and attempts haven't come close to the depth and breadth of her storytelling and reporting. I've written lots of good newspaper stories, sure, but nothing as strong and complete as what she's done here.

You should know this is all true. This book was written by my sister, who I watched go through hell as she researched. A fantastic woman that we worried for while she was in Iraq. Who we were terrified about, possibly more so, After she was home as we watched her recover from the whole experience. To know the truth. To know the trials of these men, the horrors of their reality. Their selflessness, courage and strength, is a huge eye opener.
Amazing.
If you have any desire to know what is REALLY going on over there, this is a must!

I was in Baghdad as part of the surge, arriving about six months after the Blue Spaders with a brigade from the Big Red One, so I certainly identified with those in the 2nd "Dagger" Brigade and kept tabs on what was going on in their sector.

We heard about Adamiyah and just about all of it was bad. Kelly Kennedy does a very good job of capturing how difficult an area of operations it was, while writing a poignant tribute that effectively tells the story of one particular company of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry.

I remember standing in our TOC and looking on in horror at the UAV feed both days when the Bradleys in Charlie and Alpha were destroyed. As a former armor officer, my greatest fear was being burned alive in my tank, and seeing that become a reality for those brave men kept me awake a night for days afterward.

Kelly is a brilliant author. She was supposed to embed with our brigade, but the schedule changed and she couldn't make it. I wish now that she had, because she brings great credit to her profession. Her own experience and understanding of military and medical topics makes her an ideal person to write this book.

Based on the positive comments from the Blue Spaders alone, she did her best and got it right.

It's a tough story, but these men and women continued to serve with honor even in the darkest of times. Not every unit can say the same, and unfortunately, I've experienced the depravity of men pushed too far that they snap and destroy their own lives as well as the lives of others to include innocents and their loved ones all in the pursuit of an "eye for an eye."

Thank you, Kelly for telling the Charlie Company and the rest of the Blue Spaders' story. Even those of us who were over there can't really comprehend how devastating those losses were, and how much strength and courage it took for those Soldiers to pick themselves up every day and continue to go out there when it all seemed so futile. I lost a good friend to an EFP and found myself questioning the mission a lot. But the book does a great job of putting it into perspective and making sure their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

Heroism under fire is the topic of THEY FOUGHT FOR EACH OTHER: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF THE HARDEST HIT UNIT IN IRAQ. It comes from a journalist who was embedded with Charlie Company 1-26 for her job - and placed her in the position of observing one of the worst neighborhoods in Baghdad in a unit that lost more men than any single battalion had since Vietnam. Her battlefield experiences create a gripping saga.

This is another fine book about the Iraq conflict around the time of the surge. I read this book right after reading the riveting Black Hearts by Jim Frederick. This book is a great comparison piece to that one. This book reveals the troops of the 1/26th, First Infantry Division, an infantry division just as legendary, if not more so, than the 101st Air Assault Division.

In this book, the leadership seems to have done things pretty much right. The author reports on a unit that, despite numerous deaths and woundings, maintains its cohesion in the face of near-daily casualites, and who manage to take decent control of their AO despite conflict between Sunnis and Shi'ites, Mahdists and the government, the insurgents, and between pretty much everyone and the Americans. The first thing is officers who give a damn about their troops, were committed to them and show it; next, the troops take responsibility for themselves. Good supply and support helped a lot. Having a place where they could retreat from the pressures of being constantly at risk, where they could depressurize a little (albeit not very much, but enough). Finally, the men were bonded with one another far better than Bravo Company of 1/502d in Black Hearts.

The men in the two books don't seem to have been all that much different, but the 1/26 seems to have had a more workable mix of men. The experiences of the two units seem pretty similar in intensity and difficulty, but the units each responded differently in ways critical to their well-being.

The recent publication of books about units in Iraq has been very eye-opening for me, and I think it should be for all readers interested in trying to get a flavor of the experience of our combat troops at war in these present days. They Fought For Each Other is an outstanding addition to that body of literature.

The book is fairly simple - a definitive explanation of war zones and local attitudes and absolute horror. When I wasn't intrigued with the complexities and politics of their mission, I was openly crying for their many, many losses, many of which remain hidden from view. Ms. Kennedy, at times, very eloquently stated what the public needs to hear, the only thing worth dying for is each other. This book should be required reading, especially for those whose mantra is, "Support the soldier, not the war." As for me, an Army Reserves nurse, I will take the thoughts and images from her writing with me into my work to better serve my brothers.