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 enlarge | Author: John Crawford
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $7.97
You Save: $6.03 (43%)
New (7) Used (11) from $2.33
Avg. Customer Rating:  143 reviews
Sales Rank: 850138
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7
ASIN: B000I0RODI
Publication Date: April 4, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
18 (True) Stories from the Iraq War June 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
For the most part, I've been avoiding the deluge of books coming out of the Iraq War. I've had family serve there, and it's one part of modern history that's simply too depressing for me to dig into. Nonetheless, this personal account looked more appealing than most, and its bite-sized vignettes seemed more likely to contain truth than some of the massive tomes seeking to make particular points.
It's important to acknowledge right from the start that the book is burdened the unwise use of "an accidental soldier" in the book's subtitle. The general consensus is that if you sign up to take the National Guard money for school, you can't complain if you get called into action. Some reviewers seem to find Crawford's take on his unit's call-up overly whiny, however it seemed to me that his main gripe was with his unit's continued indefinite deployment following multiple assurances of being sent home. His unit was repeatedly attached to "regular" Army units that got rotated back home, while he and his fellow Guardsmen stayed. Whatever one's position on this, throughout history it has been the privilege and solace of soldiers everywhere to gripe about their lot -- and this memoir is firmly part of that tradition.
The eighteen pieces are all more or less all vignettes linked only by Crawford's presence and desire to be elsewhere. They run the gamut: the boredom of guarding a gas station and bouncing line-jumpers, dealing with corpses cut in half by .50 caliber rounds, botched ambushes, the lure of morphine, spending Christmas at a traffic control point, a beer heist, the consequences of befriending a local homeless kid and flirting with a local girl, broken or inadequate equipment, serving under bad officers, and so on. On the plus side, Crawford writes with apparent candor and conviction. On the minus side, his generally plain-spoken naturalistic prose sometimes drifts into pretension and cliche. Also, some of his episodes have a familiar feel to them, which is probably a function of the basic similarity of war throughout time.
Several reviewers seem to have misread a paragraph in the final part of the book, interpreting it as some kind of statement that the memoir is a work of fiction. What the passage actually says is that the initial item he wrote for the book (and which does not appear in it) was a work of fiction -- not that the pieces included in the book are fiction. For confirmation, check out the review posted by a soldier from his unit, affirming the veracity of Crawford's stories. And to a certain extent, it doesn't even matter -- he was there, I wasn't, and his writing made the war quite real and alive, in all it's banal and surreal ingloriousness.
 GRITTY SNAPSHOTS OF WAR'S AFTERMATH April 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I just finished reading John Crawford's book, "The Last True Story I will Ever Tell -- An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq."
An easy and excellent read that provides vivid images of war's ugly, soul-sapping aftermath. Crawford nails it with original descriptions and bitter humor. This is no war story; it's about the horror that always follows.
Crawford was newly married and two credits away from earning his BA in Anthropology at Florida State University when he was tapped to go to Iraq for four years of war as an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division to fulfill his National Guard commitment. This book has nothing to do with heroism but it gives readers some idea of the price people pay for war, any war, no matter where it is. Crawford simply shows it to you the way is, the dirty underbelly of postwar from the closest perspective possible -- that of the foot-slogging infantryman. He offers no excuses but ends his book with a statement every soldier who has ever tasted action knows to be true. Here it is:
"Naturally the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do it tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."
--HERMAN GOERING, SPEAKING AT THE NUREMBERG TRIALS AFTER WORLD WAR 2
(Yes, indeed, and it still works doesn't it?)
Robert F. Burgess
Formerly with the 88th Division
Ski Troops, Northern Italy, WW2
 i enjoyed reading it, BUT... December 31, 2007
First off, let me say that a am a National Guardsman who has not been deployed.
I enjoyed reading this book, and sometimes had a hard time putting it down. It is a good read in my opinion.
Crawford and i have nothing in common, and a lot of things he says and does are the opposite of what my words or actions would be... but it was still an interesting read of HIS views, opinions and events that HE went through, so I respect this book. I would recommend it, it's an interesting/entertaining read. Btw, i'm pro iraq war, this author is the opposite, and I could still stand reading it.
To the author: (should he read this review)
Do the right thing. Keep your head up. Dont fall to the darkness. I pray you find happier times ahead of you if you have not already.
 Read this book instead.."Detained Differences" November 24, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Those of you that walked away with a sour view from this book, read "Detained Differences" by J. Robert Rowe. You wont be disapointed.
 At leat it was published October 16, 2007
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
I had to read this book for a war lit class. This was followed by "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien which I had read bits and pieces of for another lit class. Knowing that Crawford took a few creative writing classes, I'm sure he had to read O'Brien's work because it is so widely used in creative writing classes. This book is a cheap imitation of the very well written Tim O'Brien book.
I've never been in the military, regretfully, but by adding "Accidental Soldier" to the title, the author discredits himself. Every time a police officer or fireman goes out on a call, they know their life is in danger, they knew that when they signed up for the job. I'm guessing that being in the military is the same way. You know that when your country says go that you have to go. When a coal miner enters a mine, he knows the dangers that lie within the throat of the tunnel he enters.
I consider the book a piece of creative non-fiction as opposed to straight non-fiction, and I do hope the author tries his hand at something other than more Iraq stories. I think everyone is tired of the mis-information that comes from those with agendas--whether they are for or against the war. To the author, congrats on a publishing credit!
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