The Deserter's Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away from the War in Iraq (Paperback)

by Joshua Key (Author), Lawrence Hill (Contributor)
Key Phrases: squad mates, platoon mates, house raids, Fort Carson, United States, Van Houten (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
*Starred Review* In 2002, Key, a good ol' Oklahoma boy with a wife and two children (but no money), enlisted in the U.S. Army so he could learn a trade and provide for his family. He was assured that he would be sent to a "non-deployable" military base: he would never see combat. Instead, he was sent to Iraq to hunt for terrorists, a mission that involved beating civilians, kidnapping innocents, and destroying homes and families (all of which he relates in precise, damning detail). Stateside, on a two-week furlough, Key decided he couldn't go back to Iraq, couldn't participate in what he decided were mindless atrocities being committed in the name of world peace. Thus, he did what so many Vietnam protestors did: he took his family to Canada, where he now lives, a wanted man in his own country. This memoir, which can fairly and accurately be called a searing indictment of America's "war on terror," is vividly written ("Hayes slammed her in the face with the stock of his M-16"), but as difficult as it sometimes can be to read, we respect Key's courage to tell the story without sugarcoating. The book is timely, important, and haunting. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

 “Destined to become part of the literature of the Iraq war . . . A substantial contribution to history.”—Los Angeles Times

Now in paperback, The Deserter’s Tale is the first memoir from a soldier who deserted from the war in Iraq, and a vivid and damning indictment of the American military campaign. In spring 2003, young Oklahoman Joshua Key was sent to Ramadi as part of a combat engineer company. It was not the campaign against terrorists and evildoers he had expected. Key saw Iraqi civilians beaten, shot, and killed, or maimed for little or no provocation. After seven months in Iraq, Key was home on leave and knew he could not return. So he took his family and went underground in the United States, finally seeking asylum in Canada after fourteen months in hiding. Detailing the grinding horrors of life as part of an occupying force, The Deserter’s Tale is the story of a conservative-minded family man and patriot who went to war believing unquestioningly in his government’s commitment to integrity and justice, and how what he saw in Iraq transformed him into someone who could no longer serve his country.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (December 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802143458
• ISBN-13: 978-0802143457
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #771,369 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a fraud, a scam, a hoax. The author is no soldier and never was., January 28, 2009

By	William C. Hicklin - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author of this great steaming pile of fabrication, if he ever wore a uniform, plainly never graduated from basic, and certainly never saw a combat theater. Preposterous inaccuracies drip from every page- the closest this clown ever got to a battlefield was on his X-Box. A "gunnery sergeant" in the Army? An "M-16 grenade launcher?" Setting off a fuel-tank explosion by shooting the ground leakage? This bozo has watched too many Die Hard flicks.

Of course the anti-war people are lapping it up, because it 'confirms' every anti-military hate stereotype they hold. But it's all crap. Just another product of the Great Leftist Lie Machine.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Steaming Pile of Lies, January 28, 2009

By	J3 Maccabee "j3" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Deserter's Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away from the War in Iraq (Hardcover)

When a person shows his utter lack of honesty, character or courage, by violating his oaths, deserting the military and hiding out in another country, only an imbecile would believe him capable of telling the truth. Yes, some Americans have been so propagandized into self-loathing that they will buy anything which reinforces their hatred for their country - but even these would, hopefully, have enough still functioning brain cells to recognize a crapfest of lies when they stumble across one.
In this case, the meaningless and inaccurate terminology, the complete ignorance of the simple names of everyday military armament, the lack of even a basic grasp of the titles of military officers and non-coms, is so pathetic that it is unworthy of even an unresearched Hollywood TV movie.
The garbage about a guy trying to commit suicide with a rifle grenade is hysterically funny, since anyone who even makes it out of basic knows that the grenade will not arm for detonation until it travels a set distance beyond the soldier... and it is NOT fired from an M-16.
Oh - and you don't have 'gunnies' in the Army.
The drivel about bloody fetuses scattered around the floor might make for entertaining reading for campfire stories told to brain damaged psychopaths - or brain-dead publishers - and the stories of the crazed US soldiers kicking around severed heads like soccer balls, is lifted directly from Hamas propaganda.
All in all, if a person is cursed with an IQ below 30, needs to get rid of some money in a hurry, and wants to help a scumbag deserter with no honor and no capacity for truth, then he or she could buy this book and gratify their America-bashing, military hating hearts in their own little corner of some demented universe. But a better buy would be a giant 12 roll pack of really nice toilet tissue. It would be softer, more honest, and more comfortable than the pages of this book, and suited for the same purpose.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lies, January 28, 2009

By	Andrew Brunetto "macbrun" (Joisey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Deserter's Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away from the War in Iraq (Hardcover)

I've been in the military for 20 years and what the author describes has no relation to anything I've ever witnessed or heard. In fact, take what he says and turn it around 180 degrees and you'd have more truth. What he says about the JAG briefings...out and out fallacies. The JAG briefings I've received make it very clear that we follow the Geneva Convention or we will be prosecuted and locked away.
What a sack of lying sh..!