Jarhead

This is a harrowing; yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for reconciliation and peace. Anthony Swofford's grandfather fought in World War II; his father fought in Vietnam; and he; a directionless; testosterone-battered teenager; became a scout/sniper in the US Marines and fought in the Gulf War. His account of that time is also part of a lineage - after Wilfred Owen; Norman Mailer; Michael Herr and Tim O'Brien; it brings the raw and searing tradition of soldiers' tales up to date;In the West; many have become convinced that it is possible to fight a war largely without casualties. Swofford's brutally honest account of life as a marine in the Gulf shows that every human being trained to kill another is a casualty. The author endures six months of sand-ridden hell with his fellow "jarheads"; tortured by boredom and fear. He suffers physical abuse from a training officer; is betrayed by his girlfriend at home; puts a loaded gun in his mouth; threatens to kill a fellow soldier; and comes under fire from both the enemy and another US military unit;With the conflict over; Swofford hikes for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqui soldiers and is almos