This is as real as it gets.

This book was a heartbreaker for me. The author shares his story of his time in Iraq and in some ways it ties in with my own. He talks about Mike Blaise. I knew Mike from school as a kid. We both went into the Army, and both ended up in Army aviation working with the Kiowa helicopters. Mike became a pilot, and I became a crew chief. My unit came to Kuwait on our way into Iraq as his unit was leaving. My aircraft did a missing man flyover for Mike’s memorial, as I attended his service in Kuwait. It was a horrible introduction to the war for me. Mike was a great guy.

The book did a great job in telling what life was like there. As a crew chief I can attest life in Iraq was much like this. The emotions expressed here, the lessons learned, the friendship, even the strange feeling of hating to leave were all spot on. I don’t think he missed a thing. Excellent book that truly tells the story of a Cav unit as it was.