Masterfully written and profoundly moving, "The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq" by C.J. Chivers takes us deeply inside these wars to witness their horrific tolls.
The narrative is built around six warriors: a Navy aviator, a career Army infantry sergeant, a Marine medic, an Army helicopter pilot, a young Army infantryman and a Marine lieutenant. Each has unique and harrowing experiences. The helicopter pilot dies from wounds suffered during a mission. The medic suffers a severe facial wound that will take years to heal. Another infantryman is injured in a rocket attack and will endure the pain of lingering wounds and severe post-traumatic stress.
Some of the missions assigned to the warriors involve patrols and supply runs on remote roads through terrain controlled by their enemies. The U.S. vehicles are inadequately armored against improvised explosive devices. These can be detonated remotely, typically demolishing the third or fourth vehicle in a convoy. Sniper fire is directed to survivors and their comrades rushing to their aid. The team's medic is always first to respond.
Some of the fighters man remote outposts in barren terrain, living behind blast walls in plywood shacks. They endure dust storms, swarms of stinging insects, occasional mortar fire and appalling sanitation. Sometimes they are paired with Afghan soldiers of questionable loyalty and poor combat skills. From these positions, the infantrymen make daytime and nighttime patrols. Are they used as bait for attackers? They may be fired upon or step on mines. By the time artillery and aircraft respond to the attack, the enemy has disappeared.
The fighters have amazing technology, allowing them to see their adversaries in darkness and to guide bombs and rockets to precise targets. Their enemies counter with improvised explosive devices, rockets that may be fired remotely at any target and a network of informers: shopkeepers or farmers during the day, attackers at night.
On another mission, a company of Marines is ordered to capture a market town, believed to be infiltrated by Al-Qaeda. They endure withering fire from two sides as they seize one objective after another. An American missile strikes a house sheltering a group of women and children. No one is ever certain who ordered the launch or the selection of the target. The Marines must deal with the cleanup and attempt to save the life of a severely injured young woman who subsequently dies. They are present when a U.S. official comes to pay reparations to a family elder.
High above the battles, the Navy pilot deals with daylong patrols, searching for an elusive enemy and ready to respond to calls for firepower. He deals with the intricacies of day and night takeoffs and landings on a carrier and aerial refueling.
We follow the medic who is sent to an exposed observation post as punishment for a trivial infraction. At the conclusion of his shift, he is shot in the face, presumably by a sniper with a captured weapon. His evacuation leads to hospital in Germany, then to the States for repeated surgeries. He is discharged but must wait months for his disability payments to begin. A downward spiral in his health is finally arrested with definitive, corrective surgery in a civilian medical center. This care is given gratis. But for the stalwart support of his mother, he would likely have perished.
In every battle, the devotion of the fighters to each other is sustained. They rush to the aid of a fallen comrade with no regard for personal safety. They search for a missing man, ignoring the risk of ambush. They may doubt the wisdom of a mission but maintain their patriotism to their nation.
After early large-scale operations and declarations of "mission accomplished," the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan faded from print and electronic media. Danger to our men and women in military service persists with an enemy capable of striking suddenly in any setting.
"Fighters" is a vital text. It should be required reading for members of Congress and the national officialdom. For the rest of us, the book is a powerful tribute to our people who volunteer for military service, wherever that may take them.
Clif Cleaveland, M.D., is a retired internist and former president of the American College of Physicians. Email him at ccleaveland@timesfreepress.com.