Raw, brutal, honest, soul-baring. Eric Fair was a contractor doing interrogations in Iraq – Abu Ghraib and Fallujah. Things he saw, things he did, things he didn’t do. There were consequences associated with his actions and inactions.
Eric Fair was a geek in high school. It
…more was assumed he would become a Presbyterian minister. But then he took a different direction. He decided he wanted to become a police officer. But he was told to join the Army, get preference points, and come back. So upon graduation from college he joined the Army. Aptitude testing showed that he had the aptitude for languages. He was sent to the Defense Language Institute to learn Arabic. He became very frustrated with the Army and took a discharge at the end of his enlistment period. Then he promptly enrolled for the police academy. He got a job offer from the DEA. At the physical exam for the DEA it was discovered that Eric had a heart condition that ended his dreams of being a policeman. Because of his Arabic training he found that contractors we interested in signing him up for Iraq. Thus his life took turn that totally changed his life.
In Iraq he was directed to do things that he knew were wrong. He saw things that he knew were wrong so he learned to look the other way. However there were two incidents that haunted him from there on out.
Fair is brutally honest about his life in Iraq and his attempts to return to normalcy upon his return to the US. He tells of the impact it has on his marriage. His raw honesty can be difficult to read – and accept. But he provides a look into the lives of our soldiers who have returned and find it so difficult to adjust.
If you now a returning soldier who is struggling to adjust or you know the family of such a solider, this book is definitely worth your reading. It also presents a better understanding of the traumas of Post Traumatic Incident Disorder. (less)
Power Reviewer
