Book Review: "Our Time" by Josh Seefried

This month marks an important time in American history. Not only was it the 10-year anniversary of 9-11, a time we each remember all too vividly, but it is also a time of a great equalizer for the United States military. What am I talking about, you wonder: the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

A legislation passed in 1993, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" gave homosexuals the right to serve in the military--if they keep mum about it. A bogus law if I ever heard one. Sexual preference has no bearing on one's ability to protect and defend. Pure and simple.

Soldiers have suffered in silence for years, though, treated as if the disparate nature of sexuality and dedication isn't so disparate at all. Our Time: Breaking the Silence of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (Penguin Press, October 2011), a new book of essays edited by Josh Seefried, finally gives those soldiers a voice. More than 45 active-duty LGBT soldiers share their first hand accounts in this powerful and gracious collection. Seefried explains why in his Introduction:

These soldiers are an example for service in the post-"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military. They are a reminder that respect and professionalism is already a part of our culture. What we need now is leadership. Gay service members must lead from the front openly and straight colleagues must help create an atmosphere of acceptance and respect. This is the message that the men and women who contributed to t his book are sending with their stories. It's now our time. (Our Time, 5)

It was enlightening as I began to read Our Time. I personally have a great deal of respect and am in full support of the LGBT community at large. But even so, I guess I never really understood exactly what people go through when they're unable to publicly recognize who they truly are. It's something that the hetero population can't grasp--who we feel attracted/connected to, who we love, who we want to spend our lives with is just allowed to be. It's unquestioned and natural, making it difficult to imagine what it'd be like if we couldn't just be. Reading these soldiers' stories gave me a perspective I otherwise wouldn't have really seen. I could spout my thoughts about equality and same-sex marriage and all the things, but until now, I hadn't sincerely understood the disgrace, the fear, the loneliness that so many people are forced to deal with every day, in and out of the military.

While some of the accounts may feel repetitive at times, I think that's part of the point. This is not discrimination that only rare cases deal with--it's a common occurrence that needs to stop. One particular essay, though, by Tania Dunbar, touched me very deeply, sending literal chills through me as I read:

Tania Dunbar is a warrant officer in the U.S. Army. She was deployed in Iraq at the time of writing this, and is currently stationed in Georgia.

I have been in the Army for almost twelve years. My very first day in basic training, I knew I had found my calling. I also knew that I was gay, and I wasn't supposed to be there. My recruiter had made me sign a piece of paper saying I was not gay, have never had sex with anyone of the same sex, and had never attempted to marry anyone of the same sex. I signed it because I did not understand the extent to which the Army was going to make me hide a part of myself.

For the past eleven years I have had to conceal my family from my friends. Soldiers, with whom I sweat, bleed, and cry, can't ever meet the woman I love. Soldiers who depend on me for sound judgment and advice can never know who I myself go to when I need advice or solace. Friends who would die for me can't ever meet the person who makes me want to live. Don't get me wrong--there are a few soldiers who know I am gay, but it takes a long time to learn if you can trust someone with a secret that can ruin your career. So I don't make friends easily, I never have get-togethers at my home, and I don't go to military functions very often. For me, home life cannot mix with work life.

I am in Iraq now, separated from the love of my life, and I can't share that pain with anyone. If I am hurt or I die while in combat here, my girlfriend will not be notified. She wouldn't even be able to visit me in the hospital. We have to depend on an intricate web of lies and code words to get us through a year of separation. I find it strange to think that I am in a foreign country, making sure that other people are able to exercise their democratic rights, ensuring that they get their basic civil rights--to life, liberty, and happiness--while I don't get those same basic rights. And yet our allies allow homosexuals to serve openly in their militaries; they are deployed with us, and enjoy full rights.

Department of Defense Directive 5120.36, issued in July 1963 by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, clearly states: "Every military commander has the responsibility to oppose discriminatory practices affecting his men and their dependents and to foster equal opportunity for them, not only in areas under his immediate control, but also in nearby communities where they may live or gather in off-duty hours."

That directive was issued to deal directly with racism in areas surrounding military communities fifteen years after Executive Order 9981, in which President Truman ordered the military to integrate. It was an obvious example of the military righting a wrong, just as the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be. The message--that military leaders have a responsibility to create an environment of tolerance and equality---is the same.

I love the Army and I love my girlfriend, and I should not have to choose between them. I volunteered to sacrifice my life for this country, but I can't even hug my girlfriend good-bye before I deploy. You have asked me to deploy twice to protect other people in other countries. You have asked me to stand vigil against terrorists in our country. I am asking the same from you now: I am asking you to treat me equally, protect me from injustice, and help me when other try to hurt me.


(Excerpted from Our Time: Breaking the Silence of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by Josh Seefried. Reprinted by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copyright (c) Joshua David Seefried, 2011.)

When I finished this essay, I spoke aloud in my empty apartment, "Wow. I get it now." Obviously, without experiencing it myself, I'll never fully "get it," but if each and every one of us can get just a tiny bit closer to really understanding, imagine what the world could be like.

While the repeal is certainly a step in the right direction, we all know old stigmas and biases still remain. We can only hope that the discrimination and harassment that so many soldiers have dealt with prior to and under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" decreases as homosexuality begins to be acknowledged--and hopefully embraced--by all.

The Last Word: An inspiring collection shot through with a chilling hopefulness about the things we're all capable of if we truly open up to one another.

Love of Reading Pouring Out Overseas

The death of Osama Bin Laden has been on everyone's minds this week at one point or another. The incident has also sparked a lot of recognition for the U.S. Military, of course. One way this recognition has been communicated is through the encouragement of donations to our troops overseas, whether it be monetary, letters, supplies, or even books.

I've donated books in the past to the troops through Operation Paperback, but there are a number of great organizations that will help you to send books overseas.

GalleyCat did a nice round-up earlier this week:

As the world comes to terms with the death of Osama bin Laden, we should all take a few minutes to remember American soldiers serving overseas. We’ve collected seven different ways you can share books with our troops.

1. E-Books for Troops will help you share your used Kindle with our troops overseas.

2. Operation Warrior Library connects writers with military personnel.

3. Books for Soldiers mails books to troops.

4. Operation Paperback sends paperbacks overseas.

5. Books-a-Million will let you select and purchase Books for Troops in a special program.

6. Operation eBook Drop focuses on eBooks.

7. Follow this Google search to find many more options for sharing books with soldiers.

See the original post HERE

Well-deserved Accolade for "The Good Soldiers"

David Finkel's The Good Soldiers, which I reviewed last month, was just announced as the winner of the 2010 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, beating out his fellow nominees with books ranging "from oil to women’s rights to the financial crisis" (The Daily Beast).

I have to admit I'm not surprised. I was super impressed by Finkel's account of the 2-16 Battalion, to the point where I've been recommending it to people left and right.

Here's what The Daily Beast had to say about the memoir:

While Washington bickered over the merits of George W. Bush’s surge, David Finkel headed off to Iraq for The Washington Post to see what was actually happening there. The result is one of the most compelling books on war since Michael Herr’s Dispatches. There is no better example of why great journalists matter than to be taken into Finkel’s devastating, harrowing, and moving account of one battalion’s efforts to turn the tide in their bloody section of Baghdad. It takes spirit and an admittedly slightly perverse sense of self-preservation to do what he did and insert yourself into the middle of a war, but as he spoke on Tuesday night it was clear that he did it for the soldiers as much as for us readers.

Click HERE to read about the other nominees

Congrats, David! (not that he readsmy blog lol)

Book Review: The Good Soldiers

So, get ready...this is big...for the first time ever, I'm reviewing a nonfiction title!

I don't typically read nonfiction, as I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, and this particular book--The Good Soldiers by David Finkel--fell into my lap via a freelance project. I was excited when it did though because I know I'm not the most well-versed person in current events. I know bits and pieces here and there, usually enough to hold a relatively intelligent conversation, but details? No way do I know those. I also have a tendency to shy away from military-related topics for a variety of reasons, both political and personal. So, I took the opportunity to force myself to confront my discomfort.

The Good Soldiers is a memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Finkel, chronicling his time spent with a U.S. Army batallion in Iraq during the early months of the surge. Finkel takes readers inside the 15-month deployment of the 2-16 (Second Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the Fourth Infantry Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division) by sparing no detail, no matter how vivid or grotesque. Readers get to know Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich (right, on his return home to his family) and his soldiers as they were stationed in one of the most violent areas of Iraq, in the city of Rustimiya.

Published by Sarah Critchon Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company, in September 2009, Finkel's memoir stunned reviewers. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review saying, "Finkel’s keen firsthand reportage, its grit and impact only heightened by the literary polish of his prose, gives us one of the best accounts yet of the American experience in Iraq." Kirkus also gave it a starred review calling the memoir "excellent study of soldiers under fire" and "A superb account of the burdens soldiers bear."

Even The New York Times Book Review was wowed:

Finkel brilliantly captures the terrors of ordinary men enduring extraordinary circumstances. [...] [a] ferociously reported, darkly humorous and spellbinding book. [...] Finkel has made art out of a defining moment in history. You will be able to take this book down from the shelf years from now and say: This is what happened. This is what it felt like. [...] Finkel expertly captures the soldiers’ fear, giddiness and courage. [...] He gives unforgettable voice to the men who fought and lived — and to those who did not — and whose voices we otherwise might not have heard.

I highly recommend reading the entire NYT Book Review article, as it captures the book perfectly. (It also pulls some excerpts and stories from the book itself, which I don't want to relay here in case some of you don't want to partake.)

Phenomenally written, intricately researched, and vividly portrayed, the story of the 2-16 is an emotional rollercoaster filled with comradarie, terror, optimism, tears, and even laughter.My heart breaks for these young soldiers--14 of whom died during their deployment and 75 of whom received Purple Hearts for their valor--and I literally was in tears on more than one occassion as I read.

Finkel shows the struggles--and the silver linings--the soldiers had to push through before they could return home with a keen eye and fully objective viewpoint. Detaching himself completely from the narrative, Finkel gave the book up to the soldiers of the 2-16, focusing solely on their experiences, feelings, and bravery.

I am almost at a loss for how to describe The Good Soldiers. It was harrowing and powerful journey for me through this book, and I think everyone should pick up a copy--even if you don't support the war itself--because it's truly a striking and eye-opening account of the war in Iraq in Iraq, rather than the war in Iraq here in the States.

The Last Word: An intense and moving memoir that takes you into the heart of the war in Iraq and the hearts of the men and women who fight for freedom.