Author: Sebastian Junger

Title: WAR

Publisher: Twelve

"War is Hell," explained Civil War General William Sherman as he succinctly described battle to group of graduating cadets from a military academy in 1879. Over 125 years later, author and special correspondent Sebastian Junger agrees with Sherman's short sentiments concerning the horrors of war but further expands on its complexities in his new book simply titled, WAR. Junger uses these three additional words: Fear, Killing, and Love, as the defining terms, and three sections of thought in his gripping treatise.

Junger (author of The Perfect Storm), and photographer Tim Hetherington, though both veteran war correspondents, were unprepared for the level of violence they experienced while embedded in a US Army platoon in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. They did not purpose to objectively cover the political aspects of the war, nor even report on whether or not the American war goals were being met.  These two journalists were there to capture, as honestly as possible, the experience of modern day war for an US Army soldier. Their efforts can be read in this new book and seen in their feature-length documentary, Restrepo (Winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for a Documentary).

Over the span of little more than a year (in 2007-2008) Junger and Hetherington spent 5 months on location in Afghanistan as they shot video, took pictures, and wrote pages of notes while living as a part of Battle Company's Second Platoon. They ate with the men, slept in their bunkers, and went on patrol with the platoon, often finding themselves in the middle of fire fights and under attack from the Taliban rebels. Though they didn't personally engage the enemy, or carry weapons for that matter, they did live their lives with the soldiers in such a way that they gained their respect and earned their trust.

This emotional position with the men, and the physical location in the Korengal Valley (the point of the spear in the Afghani conflict), makes WAR a terrifying book to read, yet one that you don't dare put down. Junger vividly describes the monotony and boredom that push the men to actually desire the thrill and adrenalin rush from the firefights. He describes the real reason that men rush to the aid of their fellow soldiers who have been wounded in battle, and how bravery isn't the romantic notion that we often think it is back home. He dissects the incredible bond between the men in a Company, especially within a Platoon, yet also depicts the terrible way that they speak, treat, and beat on each other as part of their community cohesiveness—violent acts that are seemingly core to their ability to survive together.

This fantastic killing machine that we've created with the spirits and bodies of our young men isn't without high cost to them personally, especially when their Army service is complete. Junger's story starts and ends with soldiers' lives on the other side of Korengal and it is even more terrifying than what they faced in Afghanistan. At least while in country they knew how to fight their enemy, what role they had to play, and who had their back. Outside of that conflict we have men that no longer struggle to survive, but struggle with how to live. For many, unfortunately, it is life outside of battle that has become Hell.

WAR is not a memoir that will be enjoyed, but it communicates a message that we must not fail to comprehend. Read this book, and for God's sake, pray for peace.

**This Article First Published, October 29, 2010