Exit Wounds: Soldiers' StoriesLife after Iraq and Afghanistan, by Jim Lommasson
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Exit Wounds: Soldiers' StoriesLife after Iraq and Afghanistan, by Jim Lommasson
Free Ebook Exit Wounds: Soldiers' StoriesLife after Iraq and Afghanistan, by Jim Lommasson
This compelling and timely collaboration between photographer/writer Jim Lommasson and American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars presents Lommasson’s portraits and interviews as well as soldiers’ own photographs from the war zones. The stories expressed in words and in images are intimate, profound, and timeless. In their own words, 50 men and women speak their truth about these wars―what they saw and what they did. They talk about the wars’ impact on themselves and on their loved ones at home as well as on the Iraqis and Afghanis caught in the crossfire. They talk about why they went to war and how the war came home with them. Our soldiers need to tell their stories, and we need to listen.
Exit Wounds: Soldiers' StoriesLife after Iraq and Afghanistan, by Jim Lommasson - Amazon Sales Rank: #1689672 in Books
- Brand: Lommasson, Jim/ Shay, Jonathan (INT)
- Published on: 2015-05-28
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.80" h x .90" w x 11.30" l, 3.00 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 208 pages
Exit Wounds: Soldiers' StoriesLife after Iraq and Afghanistan, by Jim Lommasson About the Author Jim Lommasson is a freelance photographer and author. Lommasson received the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University for his first book, Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & The Will To Survive In American Boxing Gyms.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Exceptional Work. Poignant. By Alex Wilson Reading Jim Lommasson’s “Exit Wounds: Soldiers’ Stories—Life after Iraq and Afghanistan” is challenging because of what it doesn’t say. Exit Wounds doesn’t tell you how you should feel about our current wars. You won’t walk about thinking, “I understand why we are in Iraq.” Your own opinions, ones you formed before reading “Exit Wounds,” will appear as fragments of an incomplete story. There is no timeline; you won’t see a map of strongholds and frontlines. Inevitably, you’ll see someone like you, wearing average clothes, sitting in a living room or office like yours. The difference is, the man or woman pictured has a story to tell—one that is never easy to hear, tell…or live through.“People join the military not to fight wars, but for all the benefits. It’s the closest thing any of us ever had to real socialism,” recounts Lelyn Masters, who then lists specific reasons for enlisting: bills, family obligations like child support, a college education, VA healthcare, a career, and a pension. Only a handful of narrators mention a desire to sacrifice themselves for their country. However, Exit Wounds isn’t about joining the Army, Navy, or Marines.Further, though soldiers, Marines, and sailors tell snippets of their time in Iraq and Afghanistan, cumulatively this book is true to its title: it is about exit wounds, specifically the kind you can’t see. “You can have two guys that sat side-by-side in that Humvee for six or seven months, driving down the streets of Iraq getting shot at, and they’ll come out with vastly different perspectives,” recounts Ashkan Bayatpour (p. 93). It’s the “vastly different perspectives” that make “Exit Wounds” especially challenging, bringing it more into the realm of visual anthropology and visual ethnographies.I found myself understanding Chanan Suarez Diaz's war stance, even personally relating to his life outside of the military. Immediately following Diaz’s narrative is Michael Cambell’s piece, which is so challenging even the author steps outside of his objectivity. Diaz and Cambell’s stories are the same and opposite, one is actively against war, while Cambell states: “Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or Jihad brotherhood would destroy our economy and the country that I love in an instant if they thought they could get it done. I have seen the hate in their eyes, and please, if you believe anything I say, believe this: they will be back, and it will be worse—we better stay in step!” Before you judge Cambell’s opinion about the war in the Middle East, understand that Cambell does not deny the collateral damage of war, when soldiers, Marines, and sailors return home, which makes his words even harder to dismiss. He’s weighed the cost (he knows the cost), yet he still firmly believes in our involvement in the Middle East.Perhaps the greatest benefit of “Exit Wounds” is the guidance it gives the reader for talking with and listening to those returning from war. Myla Haider states, “I think people need to keep in mind that when they are thanking somebody for what they did over there, sometimes that involves killing a child. It comes with the job.” (p. 69). Others feel grateful for the thanks, and still some feel confused, “I just did my job; you don’t need to thank me.” Philip Nannery emphatically states: “All I’ve ever wanted since coming home from war is for someone who has never been to war to sit down and frankly tell me they will never understand what I’ve been through.” (p. 150)A hot-button issue, sexual violence in the military, is brought up a few times. Notably, Rick Lawson’s story gets at the heart of the culture of sexual violence in some military institutions. I was particularly intrigued because I recently read “Not Gay” by Jane (NYU Press, Aug. 2015 release) who torturously dismisses the very experiences Lawson writes about. I hope Jane reads Exit Wounds. (p. 103, Rick Lawson; See also, “In Debate Over Military Sexual Assault, Men Are Overlooked Victims,” The New York Times, June 6, 2013: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/us/in-debate-over-military-sexual-assault-men-are-overlooked-victims.html?_r=0 )Heather Wakehouse, similar to Catherine Madison’s upcoming The War Came Home with Him, (Univ. of Minnesota Press, Sept. 2015 release) states, “My war was here. The person I’m supposed to trust most in the world was treating me like an enemy and reminding me that I might be the enemy…I still love him. I don’t pity him at all. And I don’t hold grudges for stuff that has happened.” (Exit Wounds, p. 173). Heather’s story reminds us that these “exit wounds” hurt more than those people who were in war-torn areas; the casualties continue at home, permeating our families and communities.The photos included in “Exit Wounds” sensitively and honestly portray the men and women whose stories and essays follow. After reading their stories, you’ll find that the photos also include subtle symbols referenced in the narratives. Though the opening and closing pages contain pictures of war, the actual portraits paired with narratives are easily relatable because they are pictures of “ordinary” men and women. I don’t recall any smiling photos, which isn’t surprising when you read the stories and essays that follow. Similarly, these are not photos of emotional broken, “shellshock-eyed” veterans; the pictures (and stories) move beyond that account.Juxtaposition of different narratives could have felt manipulating, and almost did, until I reached the very last story, that of Mary Geddry, who wrote “an open letter to three Iraqi women.” (p.199). Geddry tells her own story, one she shares with her son who was deployed to Iraq, and in so doing, begins a dialogue that both countries need to share.If you’re still wondering if you should read Exit Wounds, I’ll leave you with the insight of one artist and veteran. Ehren Tool summarizes specifically why we must critically think about these current wars: “I really don’t care if you’re for or against the war, but ignorance of the war is inexcusable to me.” (p. 119)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The exit wound is often larger By David Wineberg When you read the thoughts of so many, you automatically remember the commonalities among them. In Exit Wounds the clear winner is anger. Some admit to now having quick tempers, others flying into rages and more just always angry at everything and everyone. The most common reason for joining in the first place was to get money for college, which speaks volumes all by itself. Many joined the “National” Guard, seeking to avoid offshore combat.A tour of war duty changes you. You cannot come back the same. And it’s never for the better. All the men and women profiled in Exit Wounds are spending their lives trying to fit back in somehow, and most are struggling. A large percentage of them are trying to help others do it, meaning they will be in this mode all their lives. This is the promise of war.Jim Lommasson has collected stories from people who don’t normally want to talk. They keep it bottled up inside, for life. But inside, they must be constantly rehashing and refining it, because when coaxed or cajoled by Lommasson, it all comes out, clearly, cogently, rationally, eloquently, purposefully. Sometimes orally, sometimes in writing. Veterans know they’ve changed, that they don’t fit any more, and for most, that they were misled into thinking they were exporting democracy and peace on behalf of the good guys. It’s hard to live with all that, and the result is alcohol, drugs, and suicide.There is a most insightful testament from a military wife, on how she has had to twist her own life to keep her marriage together. The final blow, in the last testament, is a plaintive admission of guilt by proxy, from a Marine’s mother, who recounts how her son slaughtered an innocent couple of families.Much as in Vietnam, we trained the military to revile the people they were supposedly freeing and fighting for. In Vietnam they called the locals gooks. In Iraq, hadjis. Not the best basis for working together. No basis whatsoever for respect. The result is guilt, and an abiding resentment of American desk-jockey politicians and the war profiteers who bribe them. Many have been quite simply radicalized:“I understood that something about life had changed; life had become something to be afraid of. One must defend one’s self against life. Because that is what war does to us. We have to do all those horrible things because we were poor and unfortunate, and we are citizens of a nation run by psychopaths.”David Wineberg
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. "Coming home from war is hell" By Paul Mastin General Sherman famously said, "War is hell." But as one Iraq War veteran says, "Coming home from war is hell." His story is one of fifty told in Jim Lammasson's book Exit Wounds: Soldiers' Stories--Life after Iraq and Afghanistan. As the title might suggest, the largest focus of Exit Wounds is PTSD and other post-war maladies (mental, social, physical). Most of the fifty soldiers chosen are also solidly in the "anti-war war veteran" camp. Several have been involved in anti-war organizations and protests.Many of the voices in Exit Wounds are completely disillusioned about war, and specifically about the role of the United States in conflicts around the world. Fighting for freedom? Not when they "incarcerated people [in Iraq] for printing anti-American propaganda." This soldier goes on to say, "We need to understand that the U.S. government is the biggest source of terrorism in the entire world and it has been for a long time. . . . The fact that anyone in the military has fought for an honorable cause is a complete fallacy. It hasn't happened in a long f------ time."Another soldier calls the military "state-sponsored terrorism" and criticizing "the nauseating freak show that is puffed-up, chicken hawk patriotism." One Marine believes in the Marine code of "honor, courage, and commitment," but is critical of the United States's "colonial conquest." He says, "The most honorable and courageous act you can do is to lay down your arms and refuse to fight."Not all are embittered and cynical. Many want civilians to remember the role of the military and are proud to serve. "I make going to war for your freedom a duty that I will die for. . . . I make myself get out of bed at 3 a.m. to risk my life to preserve your freedom. Today I might make the ultimate sacrifice to save your life." Pro- and anti-war vets are often proud of their service, however they may feel about war. "I'm honored to be a U.S. Marine, always."The portraits of the soldiers, typically in civilian clothes and everyday settings, remind the reader that soldiers are regular people who have chosen to serve. Reading the stories of these fifty soldiers will encourage empathy with returning soldiers. Have never served in the armed forces, I need to read perspectives and gain some understanding of the complex issues soldiers face when returning home from combat. They serve on behalf of all of us; we owe it to them not to ignore, neglect, or forget them after their service is over.Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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