I lost count pretty quickly of how many times David Bellavia used the word "hooah" in his memoir of the 2004 Battle of Fallujah in Iraq titled House to House (2007). While I'm usually averse to the gung-ho patriotism and relish of ultra-violence Bellavia brought to his account of this and other battles in the early years of the Iraq War, his streamlined narrative approach to infantry combat is more palpable than any piece of political war writing has ever been. Maybe it's because, when you get down to it, Bellavia is not interested in the politics of the war. He's interested in the hell it causes on the ground, and the moments of insanity it evokes in its participants. At one point Bellavia realizes, in order to defeat the fanatics in his crosshairs, he must become a fanatic himself, whether it’s for a Christian god or for his brothers-in-arms. Sounds like a Children’s Crusade to me, especially since many of the men under Bellavia command aren’t old enough to drink legally back home in the States. Gives you something to think about.
But perhaps the biggest revelation, for me, in House to House, is Michael Ware, an Australian journalist who embedded with Bellavia’s unit during their operation in Fallujah. I thought Ware’s breed of dead-set adventure journalists had died out in Vietnam. Ware’s journalism isn’t as morally ambiguous and hardnosed as I’d like, (I think you might still have to go back to Vietnam correspondents for that) but he evokes the action on the ground better than anyone else I’ve read.
From Into the Hot Zone, Time Magazine, Monday, November 22, 2004
“Within the Bradley's cramped and musty hold, the shock of the minesweeper's explosion was felt by the infantrymen huddled inside. Among them is Fitts, a lithe, expressive Mississippian and father of three who joined the military eight years ago. He warns his team to "get ready to get out of this big metal bitch." With the bulk of the Marine-led assault force poised on the northern side of the railway, 3rd Platoon plowed forward, bringing its Bradleys to a halt beneath Fallujah's first houses. The platoon radio net crackled, "Drop ramp. All 3rd Platoon elements drop ramp, drop ramp." And with that, the ground battle began.”
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