#Short stories Redeployment
FEBRUARY
24.
by 
Phil Klay
Finish date: 8 February 2022
Genre: Short Stories (12)
Rating: A+++++
Review:
Bad news: If you enjoy a SHORT story you can read in a few minutes….this is not your book!
50% = 6 VERY long short stories….but it is worth your readng time!
Bad news: NO glossary for terms often used in the military.
Bad news: Writing style…not my cup to tea. (first three stories…
Stories I would describe as helmet-cam fiction…jolting, graphic and dialogue is an alphabet soup of abbreviations, acronyms and brevity codes:
CASEVAC (casualties evacuation) – SITREP (situation report) – EOD (explosive Ordnance Disposal) – TQ (tertiary care surgical ) – UXO (unexploded ordnance) – FOB (forward operating base) – DFAC (the dining facility) – HUMINT (human intelligence)
Good news: Phil Klay’s intention was to build realism into his stories. He describes a leader and his decision making (narrator, the Sergeant) and gives us a taste of warfare at the platoon and squad level.
Good news: Klay tries to keep his book balanced. There are “touchy-feely” stories in which the reader can understand and empathize with the wants and/or needs of soldiers returning from combat. Klay uses scenes about letters from home while in boot camp, homecoming after a 7 month tour in Iraq, wife with tear streaked cheeks and a devoted Labrador to create impressive storytelling.
Good news: Just to give you an idea what the book is about…
Redeployment: Flight home….soldier remembers military operation…homecoming.
First story filled with shock and emotion….this is the hook to keep the reader reading.
I don’t know if I could take more of this type of raw fiction. It is not strange that so many soldiers suffer from PTDS.
Frago: (fragmentary order need to change an order) Urgent situation ….all torture, blood and guts It felt like I was watching a soldier’s body cam.
After Action Report: Soldier is guilt ridden after killing an the enemy.
Bodies: – soldier comes home and realizes he’s lost the love of his high-school sweetheart
….he redeploys and is moving on with life in the marines.
OIF: (code name for Iraqi war) – alphabet soup…just awful…filled with military abbreviations ad nauseam.
Money as a Weapons System: -long..indicating the idiotic attempts to change Iraq!
In Vietnam They Had Whores: – title speaks for itself
Prayer in the Furnace: best story!!
24.
by Phil KlayFinish date: 8 February 2022
Genre: Short Stories (12)
Rating: A+++++
Review:
Bad news: If you enjoy a SHORT story you can read in a few minutes….this is not your book!
50% = 6 VERY long short stories….but it is worth your readng time!
Bad news: NO glossary for terms often used in the military.
Bad news: Writing style…not my cup to tea. (first three stories…
Stories I would describe as helmet-cam fiction…jolting, graphic and dialogue is an alphabet soup of abbreviations, acronyms and brevity codes:
CASEVAC (casualties evacuation) – SITREP (situation report) – EOD (explosive Ordnance Disposal) – TQ (tertiary care surgical ) – UXO (unexploded ordnance) – FOB (forward operating base) – DFAC (the dining facility) – HUMINT (human intelligence)
Good news: Phil Klay’s intention was to build realism into his stories. He describes a leader and his decision making (narrator, the Sergeant) and gives us a taste of warfare at the platoon and squad level.
Good news: Klay tries to keep his book balanced. There are “touchy-feely” stories in which the reader can understand and empathize with the wants and/or needs of soldiers returning from combat. Klay uses scenes about letters from home while in boot camp, homecoming after a 7 month tour in Iraq, wife with tear streaked cheeks and a devoted Labrador to create impressive storytelling.
Good news: Just to give you an idea what the book is about…
Redeployment: Flight home….soldier remembers military operation…homecoming.
First story filled with shock and emotion….this is the hook to keep the reader reading.
I don’t know if I could take more of this type of raw fiction. It is not strange that so many soldiers suffer from PTDS.
Frago: (fragmentary order need to change an order) Urgent situation ….all torture, blood and guts It felt like I was watching a soldier’s body cam.
After Action Report: Soldier is guilt ridden after killing an the enemy.
Bodies: – soldier comes home and realizes he’s lost the love of his high-school sweetheart
….he redeploys and is moving on with life in the marines.
OIF: (code name for Iraqi war) – alphabet soup…just awful…filled with military abbreviations ad nauseam.
Money as a Weapons System: -long..indicating the idiotic attempts to change Iraq!
In Vietnam They Had Whores: – title speaks for itself
Prayer in the Furnace: best story!!
Psychological Operations: – soldier is back to school after deployment….too long, very anti climatic after pages and pages of war….not very interesting.
War Stories: – soldier tells friends what he’s been through (they want to know)..but no one really understands.
Unless It’s a Sucking Chest Wound: post Marines…now in law school
Ten Kliks South: soldier’s first kill…dog tags and a wedding ring. Story gave me goosebumps…so impressive.
Personal: It’s always hard to read about war and the crushing effect it has on the soldiers. I always have to force myself to open books like Redeployment.
It was a tough walk through all these stories. I will never forget this book when I watch the news about troops in a warzone. The last story Ten Kliks South …dogtags and a wedding ring. Story gave me goosebumps…so impressive. I needed a Heineken to numb my senses from the awful consequences of war. This book deserves ALL the prizes it has won…and then some.
#VeryVeryImpressed
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