Blood Stripes - A Grunts View of the War in Iraq

Blood Stripes: A Grunts View of the War in Iraq
by David J. Danelo
ISBN # 0-8117-0164-6
$ 29.95, 334 pages

There are an increasing number of books coming onto the market now about the war in Iraq that have been written by various Marine or army veterans who fought there. “Blood Stripes” is one of the better efforts available today.

Written by David J. Danelo, a former Marine officer, and combat veteran of Iraq, “Blood Stripes” chronicles the efforts of four Marine infantry units fighting in the western desert towns in the Sunni Triangle. He follows these four squads of grunts as they leave from the United States and spend their seven month tour fighting the fedayeen. Danelo writes with the clear and concise style of the combat veteran he is, as he brings the reader to the edge of their seat with his description of these young Marines walking a daily IED patrol, or getting themselves physically and emotionally ready to clear houses in Husabayah and Haditha.

“Blood Stripes” refer to the red stripe running from the waist to the cuffs on the dress slacks of a Marine non-commissioned officer, and these are the Marine leaders who are the subject of Danelo’s book. A non-commissioned officer is typically 22- 25 years old, and whose ranks are corporal and sergeant. These NCO’s are the lead characters; they are the “small unit leaders” who take their Marines into battle. Danelo tells their story powerfully; with the quiet authority of a Marine officer who has ordered such NCO’s into battle, and has seen the bloody consequences of these ugly street fights.

Danelo does not dwell on the rightness or wrongness of the war. Instead he introduces the reader to the individual Marines, to their families, and to how they cope – both back home in America, as well as in Fallujah, Ramadi, and the other nasty little towns where the war is being fought – with the daily stress of heat, IED patrols, and combat. As we get to know the Marines and their girl friends and wives, Danelo gives us a glimpse of what these young men experience in combat in the narrow streets and back alleys of western Iraq.

“Blood Stripes” is Danelo’s first literary effort, and it is well done indeed. This is not a feel-good book; not all the Marines return alive. But for a reader who wants to know what your Marines are experiencing every day – be sure to read this book