As with the University of Arizona's Border Film Project that handed out cameras to 'Minutemen' and 'Crossers' alike at the Mexican-American border, a more dimensional, more honest picture emerges from the multiple snapshots provided by those actually living within a narrative. And so too, in Wood's What Was Asked of Us, the 'ground truth' rises from the stories these Iraq veterans tell. From their voices, a composite emerges of them, of us, the war, the planners, and of the post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) waiting for a growing many.

The Soldiers

There's Ken Davis -- a fundamentalist who personifies core Christian values, who remembers repeatedly telling his troops: "We only have one shot at making an impression, at showing them we are not like Saddam. We are not these infidels; we're not these rapists; we are not murderers. We are American soldiers, and we have integrity and honor." (p.90).

Styled the "preacher," Davis is the one to whom Charles Graner, a guard eventually convicted of prisoner abuse, asks, "They're making me do things that I feel are morally and ethically wrong. What should I do?" (p. 91).

Davis relates how he reported the Abu Ghraib outrages to his superior, significantly a few weeks before whistleblower Joseph Darby handed investigators the photo CD of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse on January 13.

Davis concludes:

What makes us always right? That's what I always ask myself: America, what makes us always right? In the Christian tradition, it is very clear that if you've sinned, acknowledge your sin. And even if that's not enough, you go to your brothers and your sisters, and they help lift you up. But if you will not admit your sin, God will shine his light on it and show you. Someone's got to stand up and take the blame for this war and say. . . we're sorry (p 99).

Like Davis, some of the other soldiers are beacons of hope and honor.

Read the rest of this review!

About the Authors:
Cho is a writer, editor and board member of ePluribus Media.

Ilona Meagher is an activist and citizen journalist with ePluribus Media, as well as editor of PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within. Her collaboration with ePluribus Media has resulted in the PTSD Timeline -- a database of reported OEF/OIF PTSD incidents -- as well as the 3-part series Blaming the Veteran: The Politics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and The Corroding Effect. A journalism student at Northern Illinois University, Ilona is currently putting the finishing touches on her upcoming book, Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops.

Other ePluribus Media contributors include: Roxy, Aaron Barlow, and Avahome

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