Desert Storm: Dreadnought
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We began the ground assault at around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. There were two green lights that we were supposed to pass through that no one on my tank saw. All of a sudden, my tank crew was lost in total darkness. We kept asking the commander for help and all he said was keep going north. I had already seen the friendly fire incident, and I knew that the Iraqis were north. I did not know if I would be killed by friendly or enemy fire. At the same time, tanks were opening fire on anything that was out there. I did not want to die like that. I tapped the gunner on the shoulder and signaled to him that I was going to kill the commander if he kept going north. He just turned around in his seat and continued to scan the area in his sights. My adrenaline was flowing to full capacity. This was not supposed to happen, and we had not planned for it. I had lost it, and I was awaiting death. I felt helpless and I was a sitting duck. When dawn came, my tank was cutting across the massive formation of friendly tanks with their gun tubes pointing directly towards us. I was....
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About the Book
For all of the chest-pounding politicians and overheated pundits who are quick to recommend war, Desert Storm: Dreadnought should be required reading. That’s not to say the slim memoir by former soldier Joseph B. George is perfect. It lacks depth and the writing tends to wander without fully exploring the incredible scenes it sets forth. Yet it is that very lack of sophistication and device that makes the book feel instantly raw and authentic. George was a young soldier sent to Desert Storm – the first Gulf War, the supposedly “easy” one played out on TV like a video game. Yet for those on the front lines, battling in a foreign land, amid confusion and fear, along with a growing realization that the “enemy” was not so different than they were, there was nothing easy about it. One lovely scene occurs when George is separated from his unit and happens upon a young Arab boy who invites him home to dine with his family. George’s real trouble starts when he returns home and feels disenfranchised from his former life. He drinks too much, fights too much, and cannot shake the feeling he is being stalked by an unseen enemy. He finds it hard to leave his couch. “Life after Desert Storm,” he writes, “is far worse than combat itself. I left Desert Storm a changed man, and everyone knew it but me.” He also experiences strange physical reactions; he cannot walk up stairs or play basketball without being short of breath or feeling muscle pain – all symptoms of what is now called “Gulf War Syndrome,” which struck thousands of soldiers who were exposed to high levels of toxicity when stashes of Iraqi chemical weapons were blown up. While readers may be left frustrated that the book does not more fully explore George’s war experience and its aftermath, it does its job in stripping away the myth that soldiers walk away from any war unscathed. -BlueInk Review
About the Author
I was born in Ithaca, New York, and I was raised in New Bern, North Carolina. I was raised in the church, my mother was Baptist, and my dad was Methodist. I had a close relationship with God growing up. Football, baseball, and soccer were my favorite sports growing up. I love music, and I played the saxophone in my high school band. I graduated from high school in 1989, and joined the U.S. Army as an M-1 Tanker 2 months later. Ft. Knox, Kentucky is where I completed basic training. I fought in Desert Storm as an M-1 Tanker in the 1st Infantry Division, also known as the Big Red One. I earned a Bachelor of Social Work Degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2005. The chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Dr. Sarah V. Kirk inspired me to write a book about the war. I wrote the book in the summer of 2003. I chose social work because I wanted to help other veterans. I love studying the bible, reading, writing, landscaping, and exercising.