In this review for The Washington Post, Elliot Ackerman takes up the riddle posed by the planned Global War on Terrorism memorial on the Mall, how to memorialize a war still being fought, by way of C.J. Chivers's "The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq," which he calls a remarkable addition to the literature of America's post-9/11 wars.

Six Fighters, Four Themes

Ackerman describes how Chivers follows six service members from the Army, Navy and Marines across four themed sections, drawing out the moral complexity of individual experience, as in the vivid account of Kiowa pilot Michael Slebodnik writing home the night he killed a man in combat.

The Thrill and the Horror of an All-Volunteer War

Ackerman highlights Chivers's unflinching treatment of Army Spec. Robert Soto, whose experience of shutting down emotion after an ambush, and the "intoxicating clarity" of initiating one weeks later, captures the duality at the heart of an all-volunteer force that chose to fight.

A Memorial in Pages

Ackerman closes by weighing the coming memorial against Chivers's book, wondering whether a monument can convey to future generations what a decorated veteran once described to him as being continually honored for the worst day of his life, and concluding that if the memorial falls short, "The Fighters" itself stands as a memorial in pages.

Read the Original Article

This review originally appeared in The Washington Post.

Read “Two unfinished wars in all their thrill and horror” at The Washington Post →