About the Book:
“Look around,” the drill sergeant said. “In a few years, or even a few months, several of you will be dead. Some of you will be severely wounded or so badly mutilated that your own mother can’t stand the sight of you. And for the real unlucky ones, you will come home so emotionally disfigured that you wish you had died over there.”
It was Week 7 of basic training . . . eighteen years old and I was preparing myself to die.
This searing memoir chronicles the experiences that change one young soldier forever. A seasoned veteran before the age of twenty-one, he faces the truth about the war—and himself—in this shocking and unprecedented eyewitness account.
About the Author:
Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born. The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of whom joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military.
After graduating high school, he joined the Army Reserves, went through basic training, and then went through job training to become an Operating Room Medic. One year later he returned home and enrolled in college to begin his first semester. Almost immediately upon finishing his first semester he was shipped off to Wisconsin to train for four months before he would leave and spend his next year in Iraq. Michael is now back in the States and working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in creative writing.
You can visit his website at www.masscasualties.com
My Review:
Raw. Emotional. Tragic. Heroic. These are just some of the words that describe this book. Michael Anthony’s story is strong and truthful, giving us an insider’s look at life in Iraq.When we think of soldier’s deploying, we think about them fighting for our country, and when they will be able to come home, or we hear about how the military is a good form of paying for an education, and while all that may be true, we over look an important factor and that is: what’s really happening in Iraq and to our soldier’s over there? Through Michael Anthony’s memoir, we get a first hand look at life in Iraq through the eyes of a medic. Through his eyes, we learn of what happens to the soldier’s in combat, how they talk and what they feel.
If you are an overly emotional or sensitive person, then I don’t recommend you read this book. But if you are interested in learning the true happenings of war and our soldiers, then I highly recommend you read this powerful memoir of innocence lost. Four stars to a young American hero!
You can purchase your copy of this memoir by visiting Amazon.com here.
*This book was provided by the author for a Pump Up Your Promotion blog tour*
Cover To Cover Cafe Loves Comments!