books:

	Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq Kirsten Holmstedt Stackpole Books, 2007 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

* Winner of the 2007 Military Writers Society of America Founders Award

In Iraq, the front lines are everywhere . . . and everywhere in Iraq, no matter what their job descriptions say, women in the U.S. military are fighting--more than 155,000 of them. A critical and commercial success in hardcover, Band of Sisters presents a dozen groundbreaking and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in combat in Iraq, such as the U.S.s first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the militarys first black female pilot in combat, a young turret gunner defending convoys, and a nurse struggling to save lives, including her own.

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response to April 6 review by Patricia

I was wondering how you could say the women in this book don't show "heroic temperament"? Do you know what a hero is? Sorry, but John Wayne characters don't exist in real life. Heroes are these women ... the first black female combat pilot in the marines, who strikes a target to save several of our ground troops; women out searching Iraqi women and children who suddenly find themselves in a firefight; Purple Heart winners; women who leave their children behind to serve our country? What else do you want in a hero, might I ask? Sorry they don't ride horses and shoot Indians. These are real life heroes.

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What it's really like 'over there'!

Wow! This is a tear jerker for everyone! Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine (mostly Marine) - all can find someone here. Pilot, driver, nurse, etc.

If you want to know what it's really like over there (and take it from me!), read Band of Sisters.

OK, I wasn't really there - I was in Afghanistan instead but I still could identify with all but the fliers in this book. The weather was the same, the jobs are the same, women soldiers 'inspected' the Iraqi/Afghanistan women because the US military men were not permitted to, etc.

The language and words used were simple, curt and to the point - just like in the military. Very few compound sentences and even fewer complex sentences. You really felt as if you were there. Black and white. (Actually, beige, but, I digress.)

The chapters were well-written to keep you in suspense even though you knew how each chapter would end. If you read the last few paragraphs of a chapter like I did, you still will be riveted by the story from the beginning.

One thing did strike me, though. Each woman had something to prove and I have not found that to be so in my 25 years in the military, even being deployed.

The cover photo of Marines shows exactly what the sand was like. I now know how to explain it to friends - I'll show them this book. (Someone once told me to say it was like moon dust, but since I have never been on the moon and neither have my friends and family in the States, I didn't like that analogy. I used 'powdered sugar' instead.)

I actually thought the author had served in the 'sandbox,' it was all so real. However, I believe her MA was in creative non-fiction (now, what is that?) She obviously has a world of respect for military women.

I found a couple of words that were spelled incorrectly, which is inexcusable (one was 'template/tamplate') and for this reason I could not give 5 stars. Also the photos seemed out of order and there were more photos of some of the women than of others, as well as photos of women who were not profiled (and of Ollie North who seems to get his photo everywhere!)

Others have commented that the women seem flat and one-dimensional. This is to be expected in a combat zone where you have one job - to protect your buddy (whose job is to protect you) by doing what you have to do. The stress is overwhelming at times and never really lets up. You live 24/7 with people you would probably not choose to live with back home. The job is one-dimensional. Your life is one-dimensional, 24/7. It just doesn't let up.

I certainly relived my training clearing houses and my convoy experiences. The author successfully translates military jargon and weapons into words and stories and pictures that even my mother could understand.

What was especially telling to me was reading the introduction and the snippets about the women interviewed who decided not to allow their stories in the book - for some, their experiences were still too recent and raw.

Some of the chapters were of only one incident, others were of daily life over many months to give you an idea of what it was like. Some chapters were stronger than others, especially the beginning ones. I would have preferred each story to be just as riveting as the next, however. The book seemed to drop off in excitement as I read on. However, you can finish it in one or two days!

Now I am waiting for a book to come out about the US military women in Afghanistan!

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A MASTERFUL JOB

A trailblazing book, Band of Sisters describes the harrowing experiences of our women serving in Iraq. Although the author profiles only twelve women, this book illustrates the complex human machinery needed to fight a war -- men and women working together as a unit. While some have criticized the book's dry prose (Holmstedt's research became a MA thesis in creative writing), the author has done a masterful job of telling her stories.

Kathleen Winters, author of Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air



Good, but,,,

The author's writing just kind of bugged me, and I see I am not alone. It read like a book one would find in the young adult section of a bookstore. The stories were very good, but I felt the weak writing took away from them. It also seemed as though the author was heavily favoring Marines and making it seem as though other branches of the military are not as disciplined or effective. The book was good and had valuable stories, but it was not what I was expecting.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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