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Beyond the Wire: A Soldier's Perspective on the Iraq War
Squinting from a one-two punch of exhaustion and the eerie faded-brass hue of a desert sun that doesn't take breaks and never seems to want to, I’m trying to decide just how in the hell I ended up here. Here, being Iraq. Cavalry Scout. In the Army for that matter. Perhaps if I thought long and hard enough I could remember. I knew for damn sure that I had no shortage of time to work it out.
My journey started six thousand miles to the west in a crumbling Ohio mill town called Ashtabula. I had spent the better part of a year at a 3rd shift job in a factory on the far end of town, trying not to lose myself in the mullets and meth of the American Midwest. Then came 9/11. The images of those airplanes slamming into the NYC skyline like lawn darts playing on a constant loop on CNN. The attack had leant me a sense of purpose; I enlisted in the Army. Now here I was two years later, as far from Ashtabula as I could get, squinting in the dust and that godforsaken insane-colored sun.
It all seemed to be drawing together into some kind of destiny; and before I ever saw Ohio again, before I got the chance to comprehend the paradise that Ashtabula really had been, there was Iraq. There was an eternity of gunfire and explosions and heat and blood and steel. Iraq was hell, and that was exactly where I was going.
Note: Amazon has mistakenly linked my book to the wrong author's page - an entirely different Ross Bryan! I am the author, not the person they have listed. Additionally, this is a revised draft that was previously published under a seperate title.
My journey started six thousand miles to the west in a crumbling Ohio mill town called Ashtabula. I had spent the better part of a year at a 3rd shift job in a factory on the far end of town, trying not to lose myself in the mullets and meth of the American Midwest. Then came 9/11. The images of those airplanes slamming into the NYC skyline like lawn darts playing on a constant loop on CNN. The attack had leant me a sense of purpose; I enlisted in the Army. Now here I was two years later, as far from Ashtabula as I could get, squinting in the dust and that godforsaken insane-colored sun.
It all seemed to be drawing together into some kind of destiny; and before I ever saw Ohio again, before I got the chance to comprehend the paradise that Ashtabula really had been, there was Iraq. There was an eternity of gunfire and explosions and heat and blood and steel. Iraq was hell, and that was exactly where I was going.
Note: Amazon has mistakenly linked my book to the wrong author's page - an entirely different Ross Bryan! I am the author, not the person they have listed. Additionally, this is a revised draft that was previously published under a seperate title.
- GenresMilitary Fiction
269 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 31, 2023
I don't do book reviews
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way.
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way.
May 13, 2018
Through another's eyes
I was in high school in the time this took place. Now having served myself for almost a decade now I can u understand a lot more about what was happening at the time. Really opened my eyes to stuff that was going on well before I even thought to try. Bravo sir, and thanks for your service.
I was in high school in the time this took place. Now having served myself for almost a decade now I can u understand a lot more about what was happening at the time. Really opened my eyes to stuff that was going on well before I even thought to try. Bravo sir, and thanks for your service.
February 20, 2015
Reality
This book is not a piece of literary mastery. It's not meant to be. It's meant to be real. To those of us sitting in our leather recliners watching video clips on our 50 inch HD Tv's it has given us a tiny glimpse of reality. For the brave men and women who endured such deplorable conditions so we could concentrate on our next manicure appointment we owe a debt of gratitude. Thank you.
This book is not a piece of literary mastery. It's not meant to be. It's meant to be real. To those of us sitting in our leather recliners watching video clips on our 50 inch HD Tv's it has given us a tiny glimpse of reality. For the brave men and women who endured such deplorable conditions so we could concentrate on our next manicure appointment we owe a debt of gratitude. Thank you.
June 13, 2014
A real soldiers story
Having both been in the service and livied in Iraq, it is a true lesson of how it works and what we did wrong
Having both been in the service and livied in Iraq, it is a true lesson of how it works and what we did wrong
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews