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Title: Overdone but largely authentic
Review: I served in Desert Storm, in the USMC infantry similar to Swofford. This is the first book on the subject that I could stand to read. Parts of it I hate because Swofford stole from fellow Marines (that makes him a scumbag more than a sniper) and he exagerrates (which means lies) a bit on the tales of drunken debauchery.But . . . when he tones down a notch and writes about actual operations - his accounts ring very true and compelling. Further, I found a lot of his psychological insights and reflections on becoming a Marine very compelling. I felt like this book helped me verbalize my own very complex feelings about the war, our country, and manhood in our age. Swofford does capture the essence of serving in the Marine Corps in those years.I recommend this book for Gulf War veterans and as a psychological history of this period.
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