Outside the Wire: American Soldiers' Voices from Afghanistan

by Brian Turner (Foreword), Christine Dumaine Leche (Editor)

A riveting collection of thirty-eight narratives by American soldiers serving in Afghanistan, Outside the Wire offers a powerful evocation of everyday life in a war zone. Christine Dumaine Leche―a writing instructor who left her home and family to teach at Bagram Air Base and a forward operating base near the volatile Afghan-Pakistani border―encouraged these deeply personal reflections, which demonstrate the power of writing to battle the most traumatic of experiences. The soldiers whose words fill this book often met for class with Leche under extreme circumstances and in challenging conditions, some having just returned from dangerous combat missions, others having spent the day in firefights, endured hours in the bitter cold of an open guard tower, or suffered a difficult phone conversation with a spouse back home. Some choose to record momentous events from childhood or civilian life―events that motivated them to join the military or that haunt them as adults. Others capture the immediacy of the battlefield and the emotional and psychological explosions that followed. These soldiers write through the senses and from the soul, grappling with the impact of moral complexity, fear, homesickness, boredom, and despair. We each, writes Leche, require witnesses to the narratives of our lives. Outside the Wire creates that opportunity for us as readers to bear witness to the men and women who carry the weight of war for us all.

Genres: War, Military Fiction

174 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Dinesh Balachandran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of writings from soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. While some stories carry a sense of bravado and courage the underlying tone is that of a person who is scared. Several of these warriors have experienced severe trauma in their lives. Their writing reflects their pain. I can't help but feel for the ones who suffer silently. I do hope that the government takes care of the people who serve them.

[D.A. Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christine Leche had the courage to fly into Afghanistan while working as a professor for University of Maryland - University College, armed only with a passion for teaching and writing. These are the stories compiled from the Soldiers, people, she encountered in her time and the insights from them are well-earned. When a soldier writes about a blackout, a mortar attack, Leche was no doubt experiencing it, too and she writes briefly about such an experience in a compelling forward, before she hands over the stage to the heroes of the book, the Soldiers who tell their unfiltered stories.

The stories she collected do a far greater service to the Soldiers in Afghanistan than any op-ed written from the safety of a person's computer desk. And the stories relayed by these Soldiers give a more vivid account than some who claim to be polished writers.

One story begins "Today is just another day on Bagram . . . " a storytelling device that prepares the reader for the reality that there are no normal days on Bagram or in any theater of war. The author then takes the reader through the mortar attack from the sounds and other senses to the bodies unloaded in the aftermath.

Other stories deal with the troubling home life that Soldiers bring into their duties overseas, abuse, broken relationships, some good relationships and the stress of staying in touch.

What makes the scope of these stories stand out is the fact that every specialty is affected. There seems to be a hunger for war stories from the public, which in many ways shows public support.

But it also shows a negative trend, a fetish for a certain type of war story, wanting to hear the firefight, the roadside bomb, the ones that confirm the public's preconceptions.

Leche does not give into that. Not only are the stories by infantry and drivers but by cooks, by communications specialists, by medics -- all are affected and all have a story to tell. The tale of guilt, depression and avoidance by a food service worker who serves a Soldier a meal then sees the same person when called in for morgue detail shows the psychological toll cuts across all walks.

Many more powerfully written stories. Leche deserves our gratitude for inspiring these Soldiers to tell their stories and for sharing them.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book. The book is full of stories you won't hear about in the news. I think it's a must read for everyone. However, I couldn't finish it. About 3/4 of the way through the book, a soldier shared the story of a young girl who had forever been marred by an incendiary device. In that moment, I felt... I'm not sure the word but it wasn't good. Sadness, maybe. Regret, ashamed, remorse. All of the above.

In summation, war is hell.

[Julia Dye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made up of stories compiled from the warriors Christine Leche met in Afghanistan, these stories are an unfiltered look at life in a combat zone. These vivid stories are told from the heart of those who have faced the best and worst in combat deployment. Those of us who were not there owe it to them to bear witness--and this book gives us that opportunity.

[Larry Koester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but eye opening accounts by soldiers in the Afghanistan war. My heart goes out to them in their searing experiences.