Ghosts of War Summary

                 

                    As you can probably tell from the title of this blog entry, the book I read for the required summer reading was Ghosts of War (The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI). This book was written by Ryan Smithson, a former U.S. soldier. Ghosts of War is a nonfiction book about his time in Iraq. Overall, I would say that the book was well written and fairly enjoyable to read. Ryan Smithson gave a large amount of detail and added some humor throughout the book. Anyone could enjoy this book but it would be most enjoyable for people who are interested in the military or who have a friend or family member in the military.
                     There isn't a lot of symbolism in the book but among the few symbols there are the main one would be the Bazoona Cat (Bazoona means cat in Arabic) which was a homemade craft he received from an Iraqi child as thanks for giving him water. Smithson described the Bazoona Cat as "like a rabbits foot but slightly modified. The top of its hide is pulled into two pointy ears and small beads are glued in front for eyes." He also claims that it's remarkably cute in an ugly sort of way. What the Bazoona Cat symbolizes is the main reason Smithson would be willing to go back to Iraq if he had to go on tour again according to him. The reason is the children of Iraq.
                     The overall theme of the book seems to be duty and sacrifice. More specifically duty to ones country and the self sacrifice it takes to fulfill this duty. These themes are obvious to anyone who has read the book because Ryan Smithson repeatedly mentioned the sense of duty he felt for the United States after he saw the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center on the news. When he decided to join the Army he seemed to know that it would be dangerous. Despite this, when he told his parents about his decision they did not try to stop him like many parents would. Instead they seemed to be proud of him although somewhat sad about the possibility of him dying in the Army.
                    The book as a whole reminded me of almost every other story regarding war I have heard in my life. This isn't too surprising though because war never changes so the stories about war will always be similar. They all include a few basic things; what inspired them to join the war, destruction, and comradery. Although the are cliche those are the things that make a good war story and they are all very important memories of whomever is telling the story. Far to important to leave out of the story.