3 books reveal human side of our troops at war

There is widespread disagreement in the country about the Iraq war, but about the professionalism, integrity and heroism of the armed forces, there is often unanimity. Americans support the troops, but the fact is, few of us know them. These outstanding books address that problem.

Among military writers, none is more respected than Robert Kaplan, national correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and author of 11 titles on foreign affairs and travel. His previous book, "Imperial Grunts," was a splendid account of Army Special Forces teams and Marine units as they hone unconventional tactics in the war on terrorism. Now, in "Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts," he takes the proposition a step further, showing how the warriors serve as both combatants and diplomats.

Kaplan does this with beautifully crafted portraits of the Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who protect the sea lanes, provide disaster relief, fight the war in Iraq, contend with burgeoning powers such as China and engage in planning to counter states such as Iran and North Korea.

No one understands better the burdens carried by today's men and women in uniform. If you aren't reading Kaplan, you aren't fully informed.

Where Kaplan is the master of big-picture reporting writ small, Marco Martinez invites us to look at one life -- his.

At 17, he was a gangster, a punk who today is so appalled at his teenage years that "if I could, I'd go back and kick my own ass." But he is something more: At 22, Martinez won the Navy Cross, the second-highest award a Marine can receive, and is the first Hispanic since Vietnam to be so honored. He tells the story of the firefight in Baghdad that led to his citation with adrenaline-laced prose that will rock your world.

How do rank-and-file Marines feel about the war? Martinez explains: "Don't worry, America, we got you covered. Go home. Go to sleep. Go to work. Go to church. Live. Pray. Love your babies ... Consider it handled. We got your back. It's all on us. Thank you. Thank you for the privilege. Thank you for the honor of defending you and everything we love. Don't worry. Go in peace. We're on it."

War is an intensely personal experience played out as often in the mind as it is on forbidding terrain. Few have captured this aspect of combat as well as Matthew Eck, an Army veteran of Somalia and Haiti who went on to earn a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Montana.

The story has been told often enough: A small U.S. unit is separated from its command. The setting clearly is Somalia, though Eck never says so, but the locale is merely the vehicle for exploring conflict in the minds of its participants. Fear, banality, bravado, humor, pathos -- it's all here, rendered in understated tones. It's astonishing that this is Eck's first novel.

Michael J. Bonafield • 612-673-4215