Warbody
A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare
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Alexander Lemons is a Marine Corps scout sniper who, after serving multiple tours during the Iraq War, returned home seriously and mysteriously ill. Joshua Howe is an environmental historian who met Lemons as a student in one of his classes. Together they have crafted a vital book that challenges us to think beyond warfare's acute violence of bullets and bombs to the "slow violence" of toxic exposure and lasting trauma. In alternating chapters, Lemons vividly describes his time in Fallujah and elsewhere during the worst of the Iraq War, his descent into a decade-long battle with mysterious and severe sickness, and his return to health; Howe explains, with clarity and scientific insight, the many toxicities to which Lemons was exposed and their potential consequences. Together they cover the whirlwind of toxic exposures military personnel face from the things they touch and breathe in all the time, including lead from bullets, jet fuel, fire retardants, pesticides, mercury, dust, and the cocktail of toxicants emitted by the open-air "burn pits" used in military settings to burn waste products like paint, human waste, metal cans, oil, and plastics. They also consider PTSD and traumatic brain injury, which are endemic among the military and cause and exacerbate all kinds of physical and mental health problems. Finally, they explore how both mainstream and alternative medicine struggle to understand, accommodate, and address the vast array of health problems among military veterans. Warbody challenges us to rethink the violence we associate with war and the way we help veterans recover. It is a powerful book with an urgent message for the nearly twenty million Americans who are active military or veterans, as well as for their families, their loved ones, and all of us who depend on their service.
About this Author
Joshua Howe is an associate professor of history and environmental studies at Reed College and the author of two books on the science and politics of climate change. He and his wife live in Portland, Oregon, and Victor, Idaho, depending on the season.
Alexander Lemons enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2001, deployed to Iraq three times, and then served as a special assistant to General David Petraeus. He is a recipient of the Bronze Star, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with "V," and left the Corps as a staff sergeant after seven years. He now works as an environmental restoration tech comanaging 1,200 acres of mountain streams and wetlands in Park City, Utah.
Reviews
"This important, compelling, and easy-to-read-book shares the science of the many unseen--and generally ignored--costs of war, their impact on the environment, and their impact on one Marine sniper who suffered the slow violence of these unseen hazards. . . . Anyone interested inhealing from war, helping someone heal from war, or just healing our savaged environment will be moved and enlightened by this book."
"A searing mix of wartime memoir and scientific analysis ... [Howe and Lemons] astutely explain how the complexities of toxic combat ecosystems are ignored ... A gripping war narrative and a sobering indictment of the American military."
"Powerful collaborative account of a Marine sniper's journey through the wilderness of war's toxicity. ... [E]ngaging ... Unflinching examination of the hidden costs of American-style war."
"The scholar and the soldier, two voices intertwined to reveal the tangled web of injury, trauma, and contamination that has assaulted soldiers' bodies since World War I. Warbody is an exceptional insider's internal account of the Iraq War and the violence of modern warfare."
"This probing, deeply personal, rigorously argued book reads like a toxicology report on the invisible wounds of war, exploring how violence--both to our species and the planet--lives on insidiously in the mind, body, and soul."
"Through meticulous research and a harrowing narrative, Joshua Howe and Alexander Lemons have done a real service in helping all of us understand the hidden health risks faced by our troops. More than an accounting of the staggering toll that toxins and trauma take on the human body, Warbody is a story of resilience and an inspiration to my fellow veterans who continue to fight the good fight on their way to recovery."
"Together, Joshua Howe and Alexander Lemons have written a book with greater scope than any memoir and more emotional punch than any history. To grasp the true consequences of war for human bodies, human minds, and the living planet, read Warbody."
"One part Silent Spring and one part Catch-22, Joshua Howe and Alexander Lemons have coauthored an astonishingly original environmental history about what the toxicants and traumas of industrial war do to the human body, and what the Iraq War did to Lemons's body. Warbody is dark, unexpectedly funny, nuanced, and quite moving."
"This is an environmental history of war and its consequences unlike any other. The captivating product of a dynamic partnership between a talented scholar and a veteran of war, this book offers an urgently needed history that exposes the hidden dangers of America's most deadly warfighting."
"By mixing memoir with historical anatomy, Howe and Lemons brilliantly show how the toxic residues of America's strategic interests have come to rest in the flesh and bones of American soldiers. Warbody is an astounding reconceptualization of the environmental history of warfare."
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