War - the embedded perspective

War by Sebastian Junger is a new favorite in this genre. Many people feel this way with the reviews noted in the front pages of the paperback published by 12.

Junger, a journalist reporting for Vanity Fair, is embedded with troops in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan between June 2007 and June 2008. The results include this book and the documentary Restrepo, produced and directed by Junger & Tim Hetherington. 

Junger speaks to the reader about the soldiers - their experiences,  brotherhood, the strategies of war, the interplay of military and community leadership.  He opens with O'Byrne, a soldier who is a constant throughout the book, and I was immersed in the book immediately,  This is the first book I read of the "embedded" perspective, and it made a difference. 

There is always a human side to war, and Junger emphasizes this side, as the theme of brotherhood resonates throughout the story, as the book opens with an introduction to O'Byrne, a soldier Junger returns to throughout the book.  Because Junger is involved on a day-to-day basis, the reader gets a glimpse into their work, their "down-time," their living conditions, the risks they take, and their "wins" and  tragic loses.   The reader can begin to understand the war these soldiers are fighting, and what the soldiers must do to survive - both physically and mentally. 

 While we must understand, or at least try to understand, their experiences, Junger includes the conflict of one soldier to return home to civilian life or to re-enlist.  It is part of his writing and reporting. This last dose of reality is one more message of the human side of military and war, and what I sensed to be a significance message. Or, maybe it's just not common in the war genre.  We - civilians and the government - must also be sure that they be able to survive upon their return home. Junger leaves us to wrestle with this and many other responsibilities.