Places and Names is a combination memoir and travel log through several different conflicts. The simpler one is the authors own experiences in Afghanistan and the struggles he faces as he contemplates what were doing in Afghanistan and what living, dying, and surviving means for him and other American soldiers. The other conflict is the intertwined mess that is the Syrian civil war and the spreading of ISIS. I think what we ultimately find is that there exists a commonality in war that soldiers understand.

War descends into a collection of places and names where you end up fighting more for the people you’re in combat with and getting back to your family rather than the loftier ideals espoused by governments. Ackerman has a way of writing that allows the reader even if they haven’t been in combat to feel the war experience for lack of a better word. And as we examine war, we examine something deep and intimate about ourselves.

A very moving and personal description of wars fought and the wars some people still fight.

Oh my.

I adored this short yet weighty accounting of the author’s dealings with war. Ackerman was drawn to become a Marine during the post- 9/11 period, then deployed multiple times to Iraq, then went to Syria as a civilian to see that conflict for himself. This book is long on descriptions of his interactions with the people he encountered, and the newspaper type accounts of dates, places, events serve the human story.

Throughout he seems to “love the questions” more than answer them, and to “live everything.” (Rilke). I love him for this. He has no easy answers, or even easy accounts of events. As someone who has brushed up against just a little of the complexity of war, I truly appreciate his patience and honesty with all that is unresolved in the world and in himself.

Having also loved Ackerman’s novel “Dark at the Crossing” I now think I must read all that he has written. May he have a long and fruitful writing career.

Big thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin Press for the ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for my honest review.

Lieutenant Elliot Ackerman was halfway through Operation Phantom Fury in the Second Battle of Fallujah (November 7–December 23, 2004) — a battle in which 95 American service members died — when his company commander told the Marine that he was both the luckiest and unluckiest lieutenant he’d ever met. The luckiest because Ackerman had experienced the largest battle the Marine Corps had fought since the Vietnam War, the unluckiest because everything that would follow for the 24-year-old rifle platoon leader would likely seem inconsequential.

Ackerman went on to serve five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart. After returning to civilian life following eight years in the military, he continued to reflect on the realities of war as a journalist, essayist and novelist.

Ackerman’s new memoir, Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning (Penguin Press), chronicles his return to the Middle East in an attempt to remember the people, places and experiences that shaped him there.

The author wrote a memoir that perfectly captured the triumphs and setbacks of her life. It was easy to empathize with the author due to the raw writing.

The author, a highly decorated Marine turned reporter, has a long list of accomplishments. A quick google search outlined his many awards and honors, both military and literary. Very impressive.

It is from his viewpoint as both soldier and journalist that he tries to make sense of a war that “left a wake of destruction, forcing (us) to craft new lives from the ruins”. A war where the paradox is that the greatest achievements are tied to the greatest failures, where victory is tied to defeat. A war where winning battles is not as much of a problem as rebuilding after the battles, both physically and politically. The latter is, of course, a complicated matter in such a politically unstable area. The unintended consequences of war. The author offers no answers, but the questions exist between the lines of his stories.

As the title suggests, the book is a series of essays about the places he’s been and the names of fellow soldiers and resistance fighters. The ‘places’ sections were sometimes difficult for me to follow since I’m unfamiliar with the area. The ‘names’ sections, the human stories, were what I was especially drawn to.

The book ends with his Silver Star citation for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004. Woven throughout the narrative of his gallantry in action are the flashback memories he experiences when he returns as a reporter. It is an extremely powerful piece of writing.

Ackerman’s love of the military and his fellow soldiers is evident in these pages. The human and political costs are brilliantly outlined. I appreciate that the author doesn’t tell us what to think but instead makes us feel and gives us much to ponder.