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Shade It Black: Death and After in Iraq
In 2008, CBS' Chief Foreign Correspondent, Lara Logan, candidly speculated about the human side of the war in Iraq: "Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier. What does that look like? Who in America knows what that looks like? Because I know what that looks like, and I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does..."
Logan's query raised some important yet ignored questions: How did the remains of American service men and women get from the dusty roads of Fallujah to the flag-covered coffins at Dover Air Force Base? And what does the gathering of those remains tell us about the nature of modern warfare and about ourselves? These questions are the focus of Jess Goodell's story, Shade it Black: Death and After in Iraq.
Goodell enlisted in the Marines immediately after graduating from high school in 2001, and in 2004 she volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps' first officially declared Mortuary Affairs unit in Iraq. Her platoon was tasked with recovering and processing the remains of fallen soldiers. With sensitivity and insight, Goodell describes her job retrieving and examining the remains of fellow soldiers lost in combat in Iraq, and the psychological intricacy of coping with their fates, as well as her own. Death assumed many forms during the war, and the challenge of maintaining one's own humanity could be difficult. Responsible for diagramming the outlines of the fallen, if a part was missing she was instructed to "shade it black."
This insightful memoir also describes the difficulties faced by these Marines when they transition from a life characterized by self-sacrifice to a civilian existence marked very often by self-absorption. In sharing with us the story of her own journey, Goodell also helps us to better understand how PTSD affects female veterans. With the assistance of John Hearn, she has written one of the most unique accounts of America's current wars overseas yet seen.
Logan's query raised some important yet ignored questions: How did the remains of American service men and women get from the dusty roads of Fallujah to the flag-covered coffins at Dover Air Force Base? And what does the gathering of those remains tell us about the nature of modern warfare and about ourselves? These questions are the focus of Jess Goodell's story, Shade it Black: Death and After in Iraq.
Goodell enlisted in the Marines immediately after graduating from high school in 2001, and in 2004 she volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps' first officially declared Mortuary Affairs unit in Iraq. Her platoon was tasked with recovering and processing the remains of fallen soldiers. With sensitivity and insight, Goodell describes her job retrieving and examining the remains of fellow soldiers lost in combat in Iraq, and the psychological intricacy of coping with their fates, as well as her own. Death assumed many forms during the war, and the challenge of maintaining one's own humanity could be difficult. Responsible for diagramming the outlines of the fallen, if a part was missing she was instructed to "shade it black."
This insightful memoir also describes the difficulties faced by these Marines when they transition from a life characterized by self-sacrifice to a civilian existence marked very often by self-absorption. In sharing with us the story of her own journey, Goodell also helps us to better understand how PTSD affects female veterans. With the assistance of John Hearn, she has written one of the most unique accounts of America's current wars overseas yet seen.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
28 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Goodell
1 book6 followersJessica Goodell, a native of western New York State, concluded her enlistment in the Marines and enrolled in graduate school in the fall of 2011. She has been assisted in this work by John Hearn who teaches at Jamestown Community College in Jamestown, New York.
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November 23, 2019
Jess Goodell has written a book that left me thinking for long time. She was a Marine who served as part of a mortuary affairs unit in Iraq. She and her fellow Marines in the unit were the ones who cleaned up the messes made by the battles and booby traps and prepared the bodies of U.S. service people to come home and the bodies of Iraqis for burial. These are the bodies that fill the flag-draped coffins the Pentagon does not want the American public to see.
While it is unavoidable to think about the costs of war when reading a book like this, that was not the only way she caused me to look at my life and the world around me. Goodell compares life in the Marine Corps and life in a combat zone with life in the United States. I have often thought that sometimes things are just too easy here. Goodell's passage about a woman in a McDonald's who fails to discipline her children kind of encapsulates it.
"The mother decided she could do -- or refrain from doing -- whatever she wanted, believing that her behavior had no effect on anyone else. Typical. Consume everything in sight while your kids run amok, disrupting other people's lives. Then go ballistic when someone complains, as if it's you who should be angry. I thought it'd be cool to instantly transport her to Iraq. insert her into a platoon and, after five minutes or so, ask her what she thought then about her interconnectedness with others. Her self-centeredness would be such a huge life and death concern to everyone else that they'd knock it out of her immediately."
While Goodell speaks well of the espirit de corps of the Marines and how military people look after each other, she doesn't avoid the reality that Marines and others don't always live up to the mythos. She describes how fellow Marines fail her when they get back from Iraq. She also describes how the Marine Corps is not kind to women and how women in the ranks threaten the culture of the Marines. It is not a pretty picture, and Goodell tries her best to take an even-handed approach and draw the true lessons: good and bad.
All of this of course avoids the main topic of the book, which is her time dealing with death in Iraq. Her accounts of managing the bodies and trying to maintain humanity, both for the living and the dead are harrowing. She describes how they worked through the steps of dealing with the corpses of U.S. and foreign people, and how they tried to do their best by everyone. There are some stories that are just heart breaking. Her writing makes it easy to understand how so many veterans are just shell-shocked.
After reading this book, and others like Michael Herr's Dispatches, hearing someone like an athlete being described as a 'warrior' rings hollow and false. Also, books that put a bright sheen on wars and battle (books by Stephen Ambrose come to mind here) come across as gross and misrepresentations of what happens. When you read about Goodell and her comrades scooping remains out of the remains of a blown-up truck with their hands, you question everything you think you know about violence and the justification for war.
In a strange way, reading this book made me want to be more "squared away" in a civilian and humanistic way by paying more attention to my interactions with my friends and family, my co-workers, and the world at large. I realize this is a first book and a cathartic book for a shell-shocked veteran, but it was a powerful book and I hope that Goodell continues to observe and think and read and write, because I think she has more to say and it will be worth hearing.
While it is unavoidable to think about the costs of war when reading a book like this, that was not the only way she caused me to look at my life and the world around me. Goodell compares life in the Marine Corps and life in a combat zone with life in the United States. I have often thought that sometimes things are just too easy here. Goodell's passage about a woman in a McDonald's who fails to discipline her children kind of encapsulates it.
"The mother decided she could do -- or refrain from doing -- whatever she wanted, believing that her behavior had no effect on anyone else. Typical. Consume everything in sight while your kids run amok, disrupting other people's lives. Then go ballistic when someone complains, as if it's you who should be angry. I thought it'd be cool to instantly transport her to Iraq. insert her into a platoon and, after five minutes or so, ask her what she thought then about her interconnectedness with others. Her self-centeredness would be such a huge life and death concern to everyone else that they'd knock it out of her immediately."
While Goodell speaks well of the espirit de corps of the Marines and how military people look after each other, she doesn't avoid the reality that Marines and others don't always live up to the mythos. She describes how fellow Marines fail her when they get back from Iraq. She also describes how the Marine Corps is not kind to women and how women in the ranks threaten the culture of the Marines. It is not a pretty picture, and Goodell tries her best to take an even-handed approach and draw the true lessons: good and bad.
All of this of course avoids the main topic of the book, which is her time dealing with death in Iraq. Her accounts of managing the bodies and trying to maintain humanity, both for the living and the dead are harrowing. She describes how they worked through the steps of dealing with the corpses of U.S. and foreign people, and how they tried to do their best by everyone. There are some stories that are just heart breaking. Her writing makes it easy to understand how so many veterans are just shell-shocked.
After reading this book, and others like Michael Herr's Dispatches, hearing someone like an athlete being described as a 'warrior' rings hollow and false. Also, books that put a bright sheen on wars and battle (books by Stephen Ambrose come to mind here) come across as gross and misrepresentations of what happens. When you read about Goodell and her comrades scooping remains out of the remains of a blown-up truck with their hands, you question everything you think you know about violence and the justification for war.
In a strange way, reading this book made me want to be more "squared away" in a civilian and humanistic way by paying more attention to my interactions with my friends and family, my co-workers, and the world at large. I realize this is a first book and a cathartic book for a shell-shocked veteran, but it was a powerful book and I hope that Goodell continues to observe and think and read and write, because I think she has more to say and it will be worth hearing.
February 13, 2012
This is a memoir of a young female Marine who served with the Mortuary Affairs unit in Iraq. The stories she tells (in Iraq and after she returns home) are of course horrifying and raw. I hesitate to critique her writing, but the book as a whole might have benefited from some tighter editing. Her stories are certainly worth reading, and she shines a light on a particularly gruesome sort of darkness. We need to hear more of these stories, and I'm pretty sure the veterans need to tell them.
September 23, 2011
A brutal, honest look at the cost of war (both during active duty and PTSD) and a woman's experience in a male-dominated branch of the military. Goodell bares her soul. An engaging and at times difficult read.
November 26, 2019
I am also a Female Marine veteran who served around the same time as this author, stationed in Iraq near her unit at the same time, and I’ve unfortunately dealt with them re: the morbid side of war as well (but, never personally met her for the exact reasons the author mentioned):
I was enlisted aircrew (flight navigator) on KC-130’s, with a Marine unit who had been frequently charged with the heady obligation for flying these same KIA (Killed-In-Action) service members on the first leg of their long, somber journey home to their loved ones and/or final resting place, especially in 2004. (The military began calling them “Angel Flights.”) Usually, we received the KIA remains in the metal container “coffins” draped in US flags — like she stated — in Al Taqaddum AB, Iraq and then transported them to another airbase at the Kuwaiti border. From there, we passed them respectfully along to the USAF’s long-range jets that were neither safely or logistically able to fly into that extremely violent area of Iraq where her unit was stationed.
“TQ” (as we called the Airbase) was in the Iraqi Al Anbar providence, the same perilous region that was notoriously infested with insurgents and where most of our troops and countless civilians became tragic casualties in 2004 (eg. both Fallujah and Ramadi reside within that western providence that stretches all the way to the Syrian border and where ISIL was spawned). By October 2004, the Marine Mortuary Affairs unit there were no longer able to keep up with the overwhelming workload that resulted from the Second Battle of Fallujah (“Operation Phantom Fury”), when we suffered hundreds of casualties in a matter of days. During Phantom Fury though, sometimes we were flying body bags to Kuwait — it was sheer, macabre chaos by the time the author rotated out of country.
I found her narrative to ring mostly true for this time-period, although I remember a few things differently, eg. that the KIA remains were sent next to another (larger, more comprehensive) US Military Mortuary Affairs unit in Germany to undergo one last post-mortem exam (including a DNA ID verification, especially for the most extremely difficult cases) and where they’re thoroughly examined (and x-rayed) to veritably ensure that no live rounds or hazardous ordnance within the decedent’s remains before they’re finally flown stateside to the Mortuary Affairs HQ at Dover AB.
The author doesn’t really explain why they all end up in Dover: this HQ is the final bottleneck for all deceased US military personnel worldwide, who died by any means during their active service: where they are cleaned up cosmetically and moved into an actual funeral coffin — much like what’s typically done in most funeral homes — after being outfitted properly in their regulation dress uniform for an optional “open coffin” viewing presentation (or their uniform is laid out inside the coffin, if dressing them for viewing is unfortunately not feasible, ie. the tragic “closed coffin” scenarios). This is where the US military’s main strategic function is solely to honor the fallen individual and hopefully mitigate their bereaved loved ones’ suffering any further, by making the fallen soldier/sailor/airman/Marine presentable for their viewing, if at all possible. Then finally, the last leg of their journey is reached when the outfitted coffin is then escorted to wherever their last wishes were to be laid out, eulogized, given military funeral honors, and/or put to rest, while usually attempting to also accommodate any religious preferences, plus their mourning families and/or communities as well. The author’s assertion of her meticulous dedication to both the deceased and their perceived bereft loved ones is the definite norm for all those who selflessly volunteer for this sacred tour of duty at the risk of enduring some significant psychological repercussions.
As a female Marine, I will corroborate the validity of her struggles to be a woman in the male-domineering Marine Corps back then as well. (It’s sounds outrageous because it definitely is stupefyingly surreal, but nonetheless it’s absolutely true for that time period, if not still an ongoing malignant issue.) Sadly, also true-to-life is the prevalent PTSD and also frequently dealing with Marine veteran buddies struggling with (and too often succumbing to) suicide, which is a constant burden for almost all those veterans still surviving after enduring some of the worst aspects of a convoluted war. (One that’ll probably never make any logical/moral sense in hindsight to almost all of us who served in it.)
Now, to critique a bit and then summarize: I didn’t entirely agree personally with everything she expressed (on esoteric matters of philosophical perceptions, which typically varies from one Marine to another, eg. re: the morality Catch-22 with the pervasive intolerance/hazing within the Corps), also I was MORE than a little disappointed with the toned-down language (I assume that was the coauthor’s and/or editors’ idea), which IMO definitely diluted the authenticity of the author’s voice, because of how Marines truly speak, ESPECIALLY when they speak about Marine-specific matters: it SHOULD be raw and shocking, just like the subject matter. (I would do it here myself if I wasn’t positive the effin’ censors would delete my post.)
(The narrator of the audiobook was not convincing either, she didn’t exert any assertiveness in her voice, no illusions of fortitude to match the author’s own passion in the prose, FAR too timid IMO to believe this was coming from a US Marine (often pronounced basic Marine jargon incorrectly... Marines will be better off with the book or the Kindle instead.)
With that all said, I do hope Goodell’s book and overall message here reaches a very wide audience (especially all those “patriotic” well-meaning civilians who are in dire need of a wake up call). I give the Audible Version 4 stars (& Kindle Version 4.5 stars) overall and definitely recommend this to others: from the salty OIF veterans to the truly nascent civilians alike.
I was enlisted aircrew (flight navigator) on KC-130’s, with a Marine unit who had been frequently charged with the heady obligation for flying these same KIA (Killed-In-Action) service members on the first leg of their long, somber journey home to their loved ones and/or final resting place, especially in 2004. (The military began calling them “Angel Flights.”) Usually, we received the KIA remains in the metal container “coffins” draped in US flags — like she stated — in Al Taqaddum AB, Iraq and then transported them to another airbase at the Kuwaiti border. From there, we passed them respectfully along to the USAF’s long-range jets that were neither safely or logistically able to fly into that extremely violent area of Iraq where her unit was stationed.
“TQ” (as we called the Airbase) was in the Iraqi Al Anbar providence, the same perilous region that was notoriously infested with insurgents and where most of our troops and countless civilians became tragic casualties in 2004 (eg. both Fallujah and Ramadi reside within that western providence that stretches all the way to the Syrian border and where ISIL was spawned). By October 2004, the Marine Mortuary Affairs unit there were no longer able to keep up with the overwhelming workload that resulted from the Second Battle of Fallujah (“Operation Phantom Fury”), when we suffered hundreds of casualties in a matter of days. During Phantom Fury though, sometimes we were flying body bags to Kuwait — it was sheer, macabre chaos by the time the author rotated out of country.
I found her narrative to ring mostly true for this time-period, although I remember a few things differently, eg. that the KIA remains were sent next to another (larger, more comprehensive) US Military Mortuary Affairs unit in Germany to undergo one last post-mortem exam (including a DNA ID verification, especially for the most extremely difficult cases) and where they’re thoroughly examined (and x-rayed) to veritably ensure that no live rounds or hazardous ordnance within the decedent’s remains before they’re finally flown stateside to the Mortuary Affairs HQ at Dover AB.
The author doesn’t really explain why they all end up in Dover: this HQ is the final bottleneck for all deceased US military personnel worldwide, who died by any means during their active service: where they are cleaned up cosmetically and moved into an actual funeral coffin — much like what’s typically done in most funeral homes — after being outfitted properly in their regulation dress uniform for an optional “open coffin” viewing presentation (or their uniform is laid out inside the coffin, if dressing them for viewing is unfortunately not feasible, ie. the tragic “closed coffin” scenarios). This is where the US military’s main strategic function is solely to honor the fallen individual and hopefully mitigate their bereaved loved ones’ suffering any further, by making the fallen soldier/sailor/airman/Marine presentable for their viewing, if at all possible. Then finally, the last leg of their journey is reached when the outfitted coffin is then escorted to wherever their last wishes were to be laid out, eulogized, given military funeral honors, and/or put to rest, while usually attempting to also accommodate any religious preferences, plus their mourning families and/or communities as well. The author’s assertion of her meticulous dedication to both the deceased and their perceived bereft loved ones is the definite norm for all those who selflessly volunteer for this sacred tour of duty at the risk of enduring some significant psychological repercussions.
As a female Marine, I will corroborate the validity of her struggles to be a woman in the male-domineering Marine Corps back then as well. (It’s sounds outrageous because it definitely is stupefyingly surreal, but nonetheless it’s absolutely true for that time period, if not still an ongoing malignant issue.) Sadly, also true-to-life is the prevalent PTSD and also frequently dealing with Marine veteran buddies struggling with (and too often succumbing to) suicide, which is a constant burden for almost all those veterans still surviving after enduring some of the worst aspects of a convoluted war. (One that’ll probably never make any logical/moral sense in hindsight to almost all of us who served in it.)
Now, to critique a bit and then summarize: I didn’t entirely agree personally with everything she expressed (on esoteric matters of philosophical perceptions, which typically varies from one Marine to another, eg. re: the morality Catch-22 with the pervasive intolerance/hazing within the Corps), also I was MORE than a little disappointed with the toned-down language (I assume that was the coauthor’s and/or editors’ idea), which IMO definitely diluted the authenticity of the author’s voice, because of how Marines truly speak, ESPECIALLY when they speak about Marine-specific matters: it SHOULD be raw and shocking, just like the subject matter. (I would do it here myself if I wasn’t positive the effin’ censors would delete my post.)
(The narrator of the audiobook was not convincing either, she didn’t exert any assertiveness in her voice, no illusions of fortitude to match the author’s own passion in the prose, FAR too timid IMO to believe this was coming from a US Marine (often pronounced basic Marine jargon incorrectly... Marines will be better off with the book or the Kindle instead.)
With that all said, I do hope Goodell’s book and overall message here reaches a very wide audience (especially all those “patriotic” well-meaning civilians who are in dire need of a wake up call). I give the Audible Version 4 stars (& Kindle Version 4.5 stars) overall and definitely recommend this to others: from the salty OIF veterans to the truly nascent civilians alike.
March 22, 2013
Quick read, but definitely not an easy one. But it was reading about her dysfuntional relationship with an abusive boyfriend that upset me most, rather than the chapters dealing with her job as a Marine in Iraq, cleaning up dead bodies & gathering up body parts & personal belonging to send back to family. It is obvious that this book plays a huge part in her recovery/healing process post-military & I hope she can move on & succeed in her life, personally & professionally.
I find it interesting that I happened to finish it the night before the 10th anniversary of the death of my friend from high school, Marine Lance Corporal Eric Orlowski, who was killed in a friendly-fire incident in Iraq 3/22/03.
I find it interesting that I happened to finish it the night before the 10th anniversary of the death of my friend from high school, Marine Lance Corporal Eric Orlowski, who was killed in a friendly-fire incident in Iraq 3/22/03.
December 26, 2011
Wow. This was far more powerful than I thought it would be. I thought it was an account of one soldier's experience in the Mortuary Affairs division in Iraq. It was so much more than that. Ranging from the harsh conditions in Iraq to the rampant sexism of the Marines to the excruciating job she had to do, to the difficulty becoming a civilian again with the PTSD and guilt after the war, this book covers the gamut of the military experience. The writing was a bit awkward in places, but Goodell isn't an author - she's a former solider trying to put her life together. Seems she might be on the right track....
July 9, 2016
Very very insightful
The best book I have read regarding a Woman Marine. This book opened my eyes. It should be put on the Marine Corps reading list. Thank you for your service and excellent book. I wish you the very best you deserve it. Semper Fi
The best book I have read regarding a Woman Marine. This book opened my eyes. It should be put on the Marine Corps reading list. Thank you for your service and excellent book. I wish you the very best you deserve it. Semper Fi
January 14, 2014
I found this book to by a real awakening for me as a pastor who is in ministry with community members returning from war.
February 16, 2021
This is a memoir by Jessica Goodell, a woman who joined the Marine Corps at age 20 and was promptly sent to Iraq. Just before arriving in Iraq, she volunteers to serve with the Mortuary Affairs platoon, along with about twenty other people, most of whom are men. She describes their experiences in Iraq going out on a convoy, with the ever-present threat of IEDs, and how IEDs annihilate vehicles and people inside. She also writes about collecting bodies and body parts and bagging them up to take back to their unit for further processing, which includes sorting out the pieces and trying to get the remains of one person all together in the same body bag. She spends the second half of the book writing about her experiences trying to cope in the "real world" with her Marine Corps veteran boyfriend and getting therapy through the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I thought this book was really interesting and insightful. I do wish that the first half of the book was longer as I enjoyed reading about her experiences in Iraq, though I do understand how traumatic it must have been to relive it via pen and paper.
November 18, 2018
This book was even more difficult to read than I expected. I thought it was just about her time in mortuary affairs in Iraq, which it is, but she also discuss what it’s like to be a female in the marines and her time after leaving active duty.
I hope she’s doing well now. I hope she’s happy and safe. I hope she continues to work through her experiences in Iraq and time in the marines and help others do that as well.
I hope she’s doing well now. I hope she’s happy and safe. I hope she continues to work through her experiences in Iraq and time in the marines and help others do that as well.
April 25, 2019
A heart rending story of a marine buried under the weight of duty and conscience. Well written and hopefully cathartic. I hope Ms. Goodell has reached a version of happiness and stability she so deserves.
This is a difficult story to read but one we need to read. The guilt lies on the head of our nation,definitely not on the hearts of our warriors, women and men. Thank you for sharing your story.
This is a difficult story to read but one we need to read. The guilt lies on the head of our nation,definitely not on the hearts of our warriors, women and men. Thank you for sharing your story.
June 29, 2020
Like nothing I have read before it will make you think about more than just war and the people and personalities that wage it and clean-up after it; it will make you think about how we treat each other and accept each others beliefs, skills and abilities. I am left to ponder the final words of the postscript - how can a women who chooses to stand up and serve her country be treated as poorly as they are by their comrades in arms?
July 5, 2017
The chapters are short, so you can devour several in a sitting. I could not do what this woman and others in her unit did. But, if you are looking for a detailed historical account, this is not it. This is a very personal account of the misogeny inside the military, and the damage it did to the author.
July 25, 2019
This was a profitable book to read. I would recommend it to those who do not understand the transitions made by members of the military, especially from war to "normal" society. Additionally, this book reveals the challenges of being a member of a mortuary affairs unit in combat and the challenges that continue be present with them as they go on in life.
December 2, 2020
This is a quick read. Although not always easy to stomach, this is a story that will make you think hard about the lasting trauma of war. However, the writing is not great and jumps around a lot. But, the author gets her point across and gives you something to think about.
November 9, 2023
Not what I was expecting at all. I was assigned this for a comparative grad school review and after reading the first book my expectations for what to expect were low. Goodell felt so human to me though and her choices made sense. Never something I would have picked up by myself but I'm glad I did.
December 1, 2018
An eye-opening and heart-breaking story of the author's experiences as a Marine before, during, and after her deployment to Iraq.
May 14, 2019
This book both enlightened me and saddened me as the author shares her story of being a Marine in Iraq, in a mortuary affairs unit. Her story is definitely worth reading!
May 25, 2019
Definitely a slug to the gut, but oh so good
My Full Review
My Full Review
March 10, 2020
An unsettling account of MA from a female Marines' perspective. Intriguing though.
October 3, 2022
This was on a list of books I'm reading. I had no idea of what it was about. I wish I has read this so much sooner.
I can't tag it "favorite" so I'll use "must read" for me.
Difficult. A lot to absorb. Worth reading.
I can't tag it "favorite" so I'll use "must read" for me.
Difficult. A lot to absorb. Worth reading.
March 4, 2017
This was a good book, it told a very different perspective of the war in Iraq than I had read before. There are realities of war and jobs that you just don't hear about -mortuary affairs is one of those, though it has to be a very tough job. I applaud the author for doing that job and taking care of the fallen, as well as sharing her story as a way to heal.
December 8, 2015
This book should be mandatory reading for all voting citizens. It's quick, uncompromising, and full of pain. Deep lessons about the role of sex and gender in the military, of what it means to "Support The Troops", of what PTSD is and of how difficult it is to readjust returning soldiers to home life. A female Marine who worked as a mortician in Iraq has lessons to tell about all of these things.
*** spoiler alert below ***
I'm trying to decide which scene was more wrenching: listening to an Iraqi mother in a former battle zone screaming at a soldier (which he couldn't understand), the soldier getting upset, and then the interpreter saying that the woman is pleading with the soldier to move as he was standing on the pile of ashes that was her son. Or the body that was sent for embalming that hadn't died yet. Or listening to her justifications in staying in an abusive relationship, or the thoughts that soldiers with PTSD have, and how alien a peacetime life seems after only a few short years.
It's not perfectly written - the author isn't a polished writer - but it's short, understandable, concise.
*** spoiler alert below ***
I'm trying to decide which scene was more wrenching: listening to an Iraqi mother in a former battle zone screaming at a soldier (which he couldn't understand), the soldier getting upset, and then the interpreter saying that the woman is pleading with the soldier to move as he was standing on the pile of ashes that was her son. Or the body that was sent for embalming that hadn't died yet. Or listening to her justifications in staying in an abusive relationship, or the thoughts that soldiers with PTSD have, and how alien a peacetime life seems after only a few short years.
It's not perfectly written - the author isn't a polished writer - but it's short, understandable, concise.
January 31, 2015
All Americans should read this book. It was written by a former Marine who was part of the first official Marine Mortuary Affairs platoon in Iraq. No, it is not an easy book to read. Don't make that an excuse to avoid this book. This is the most human, honest, raw, heartbreaking but tender and uplifting war memoir I've read. The author attempts to answer some huge questions - the veteran's role in a society that has no idea why it is "thanking the Soldiers" and how veterans who have been programmed for self-sacrifice by the military are supposed to reintegrate into a self-absorbed, materialistic society, for example - and she does an excellent job examining these issues and more. This book is so outstanding, it's what books are supposed to be - thought-provoking, lasting, educational, inspirational words that soak into your brain to stay there permanently. I tore through it in a few hours. Yes, it is tough. Read it anyway.
July 14, 2012
Shade it Black exposes horrific stories of what happened in Iraq. Shade it Black gives a peek into the challenges of being a female marine. Shade it Black discusses the trauma of reentering society after being deployed. All of these issues are important. Most of them are underestimated and misunderstood by US civilians. A book exposing these issues and bringing light to them has the potential to be an incredible memoir. Sadly, this book conveys this information in a poorly written, ad hoc manner. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to how the chapters were ordered, except for the last few are after Jess Goodell has returned state side. The writing is poor - all telling, no showing. Descriptions are often bland and other times graphic, but always inconsistent. It was a task to complete this book. I would not recommend it to anyone.
February 8, 2015
other reviews mention a sort of awkwardness or need for editing in this book, but I didn't really feel that way when I was reading. goodell had a pretty unique experience, as both a female marine and a mortuary affairs officer, and gives a thoughtful examination of her particular duties (tragic and horrific), the deeply entrenched misogyny in the marine corps, the equally deep sense of camaraderie and willingness to die for a fellow marine. I also appreciated her discussion of what she faced when she tried to return to civilian life; she's very honest about the things that scared her and feeling guilt and how she kept making destructive choices, but she's also obviously working hard to build a better future. I really admire her.
January 21, 2012
I disliked the fact the Jessica felt it necessary to berate the capabilities of Army personnel in Iraq, but that is not a surprising sentiment coming from a Marine. But, putting that one minor detail aside this is a very compelling memoir. The first half of the book is somewhat unorganized and doesn't seem to have a coherent theme, but she more than makes up for that in the second half. Her perspective is very unique, and she handles the subject matter with the appropriate amount of reverence without sheltering the reader.
May 22, 2012
A local to the WNY area. This is a great read that brings to light the dark side of war. Jessica was apart of the mortuary detail in the middle east and some of the stories she puts to paper will shed some light on whats happening that the news will not show. Jessica also did a great job of conveying the effects of her job in the mid east and i don't think she held back. The dark details and mental realities were really captured. She is a hero. Thank you Jessica for all that you did and continued success in whatever you do.
October 13, 2011
This is a short but troubling book about a female Marine's experiences working in Mortuary Affairs in Iraq and what it was like to return home. A lot of the book describes the hard and sad work she did "processing" the dead but I found myself more interested in, and upset by, the sections describing life as a woman in the Marines and then the pain and alienation she, and many many many others, felt after leaving the service. I learned a lot from this book.
August 3, 2012
Graphic and no holds barred...this young Marine tells what it was like to serve a tour in a mortuary affairs unit. Too many of us do not understand who our soldiers and marines are when they come home, because too many of us do not understand who they had to be while in theater. While I can't say I agree with some of her points of view, there is no denying the factual descriptions of what they did, and how they cared for their brothers and sisters in arms.
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