Book Review: Lethal Warriors

Lethal Warriors by David Philipps takes a realistic look at the mental costs of the war in Iraq. Philipps’s account describes the deployment, return, and redeployment of several soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment’s “Band of Brothers” who survived Iraq only to commit violent crimes at home.

These stories show how the military’s training and culture, along with the horrors of combat, serve to turn young recruits into violent individuals and how the military fails to help these same people reintegrate into society after coming home. Through interviews with members of the battalion, Philipps is able to reconstruct the feelings of terror, frustration, and lawlessness that they felt while in Iraq. Philipps’s account also details the shortcomings of post-deployment screening, the mental healthcare system, and the commanders that prevented many soldiers returning with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury from getting the help they needed.

Philipps’s discussions with medical professionals illustrate how hidden wounds like PTSD affect the brain and contribute to increases in drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and suicide if left untreated. Philipps, who lives in Colorado Springs, is able to get deep into the culture of the military to show how an overburdened force is compelling traumatized troops to redeploy without proper medical evaluations and care (aside from a scary amount of psychotropic medications).

This book is an excellent read for those interested in the true cost of warfare. These soldiers saw and did traumatic things while overseas but the killing did not stop for them when they came home. David Philipps does an amazing job of explaining how and why this happened.

Visit this link to purchase your copy: http://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Warriors-When-Band-Brothers/dp/0230104401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292009715&sr=8-1 .