17 August 2008

Chasing Ghosts


From the Soldier side: I just read a good book- Chasing Ghosts. LT Rieckhoff writes so well that I thought I had actually been there...oh, I was.

Now, keep in mind that each solider, Marine, Sailor and Airmen will have a different point of view from this war....oh, not too much unlike some of our last wars. The LT did what few of our officers did--he lead from the front, not from the FOB. Now this dude was so pissed off when he got back that he started a Vets group. I may have run across it before, but didn't pay much attention until I read his book. Check out: http://www.iava.org if you are a Vet of OIF or OEF but not one who just went for a good OER. Check it out even if you're not a vet of one of them crappy places because you can still sign up to be a supporter. Ain't the internet great! I still remember what a pain in the ass it was to call home from Germany in the 1970's. Maybe I need to retire soon.

If you have a weak stomach, don't read the book. If you want to know the crap some troops had to put up with, read the book. I think the LT has the same complaints I have--- not just bad leadership in so many cases, but leadership that gets troops killed---starting from Rumsfeld and the rest of them knuckelheads. You go to war with what you have UNLESS YOU'RE THE DUMBASS STARTING THE WAR.

2 comments:

Consul-At-Arms said...

I've quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2008/09/re-chasing-ghosts.html

SAM said...

I strongly recommend you to read a book named Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death by Jim Frederick. It is a very good book, it talks about bad leadership that caused men life and how a platoon fall apart in Baghdad Iraq.