The Front Lines
Reading most American magazines, you would never know we're a nation at war. The July issue of Texas Monthly doesn't let us forget, however. Matt Cook's brilliant "Soldier" gives a first-hand narrative of what it was like to start basic training the day America was attacked on September 11, 2001, and then endure multiple tours of duty in Iraq. Cook spares us none of the grit of what it's like to serve in the Army. Here he describes his first encounter with a drill sergeant:
I make eye contact with Drill Sergeant Jones. He is tall, husky, and black. I have never seen a more unpleasant scowl.
“Did you just eye-*** me, white boy?”
“No, Drill Serg—”
“Shut your ***-holster, Private!”
“Roger, Drill Serg—”
“Oh, I see. You a funny motherfucka, huh? I gonna remember you, Private!”
A dozen more drill sergeants enter the formation area. I pull my patrol cap low and watch their reflections pass in the spit shine of my boot. I want to be Drill Sergeant Jones.
Cook carries this no-nonsense storytelling style to the end of his story, sharing the horror and the glory of what he experiences in Iraq as well as what it's like to come back home. www.texasmonthly.com/2008-07-01/feature2-1.php