Kristin Henderson's While They're at War: The True Story of American Families on the Homefront - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review of While They're at War: The True Story of American Families on the Homefront About the author The book, While They're at War: The True Story of American Families on the Homefront was authored by Kristin Henderson. Henderson is a female journalist and writer married to a military chaplain. She has reported in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Henderson resides in Washington, D.C, where she is an employee of the Yellow Ribbon Fund. This is a non-profit entity that helps the service members who have been injured together with their families. Henderson has written other books, such as Driving by Moonlight and Zargari Incident, in addition to While They’re at War. Her work has earned her the Military Reporters and Editor’s Association awards for local and international coverage along with a fiction scholarship from Bread Loaf. Summary of the book War remains the deadliest conflict in global history. War impacts of various components of the society. As depicted in the title, “While They're At War: The True Story of American Families on the Homefront,” the book focuses on what the military spouses and their families go through while their husbands are on military duty. The author uses her personal experiences as a military wife and profiles of various military families around the nation to uncover the hidden together with the often difficult aspects of military culture off and on the bases. Henderson is married to a Marine Corps chaplain who has taken part in the Afghanistan, Persian Gulf, and Iraq wars. The book defines the way we think of military families and their wives. Their stories unfold the hidden elements of life on the homefront. The families battle with isolation, anticipatory grief, feelings of alienation, and strongly enforced codes of infidelity. Book critique We first meet Beth Pratt together with Merissa Bootes. These are military spouses undergoing intense indoctrination on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Their husbands are in Iraq fighting. This strengthens the book’s idea by using the real life examples that the readers can relate with. The writer takes the readers through what the families of the military personnel undergo highlighting the toll that combat exposure takes on families, by focusing on the lives of Pratt and Bootes. The writer notes that while the husbands are away on deployment their wives usually suffer from Anticipatory Grief Syndrome. She writes, “Pratt wrestled with serious depression” (Henderson 41). This means that they live in constant fear that their husbands may be killed in combat. In the Rwandan and Democratic Republic of Congo, an estimated 3 million people lost the lives, during the Iraq war, there were 1 million casualties with many more being injured. And in the Afghanistan war the American forces killed hundreds of thousands. To date, tribal wars as well as regional wars continue to occur, and more people are expected to lose their lives, get injured, or contact diseases. Henderson relates these effects of war that their husbands undergo while in combat to loneliness and fear. The author claims that Pratt suffered from extreme depression to the extent that if there was a gun in the house she could have shot herself (Henderson 189). In this regard, the author shows to the reader the severity of the effects of war to the spouses of the soldiers. War also breaks up family relations. A soldier can die in combat or take a long period of time before returning. Henderson (309) shares the view that by the time Pratt’s husband returned from Iraq, they had been separated longer as compared to the time they had known each other. The wives also experience financial difficulties. The author claims that the soldier’s wives do not receive adequate incentives for their upkeep. She writes, “We pay their bills, service their cars, and take care the children (Henderson 214). The author shares the opinion that while the husbands live the fantasy of guns and uniforms, the wives carry the home-front burden. The husbands sometimes have a feeling that their spouses are ungrateful for the paychecks. This demonstrates the financial hurdles that the military spouses undergo. Equally important, war has also psychological effects on the civilians, soldiers, and their family. The author affirms that the family members often suffer from psychological disorder such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Breslau (923) explains post-traumatic stress disorder as an anxiety that is triggered by trauma. Majority of war veterans are faced with post-traumatic stress disorder. Henderson claims that when a soldier is sent to war, their families are also sent to war. As a result, they are also veterans too (Henderson 32). Despite the fact that women are less likely to be exposed to events of traumatic stressors, they demonstrate a significant prevalence of the disorder and more conditional risk to developing PTSD after being exposed to a certain traumatic event (Breslau 924). Henderson demonstrates how the military wives suffered from PSTD while their husbands were on national duty. Most of the US military veterans that served in the Iraq and Afghanistan War suffer from combat-related PTSD. PTSD significantly influences one’s anger management and depression, in addition to having vivid nightmares. As a consequence, one is not able to live a normal life. War results in danger and destructions. Most of the weapons used in war not only destroy building, but also pollute the environment. For example, nuclear weapons are extremely hazardous to the environment. At the same time, the environment experiences depletion of natural resources as well as increased pollution. As a military wife, Henderson says, “A primal voice whispers in the back of your mind, danger, danger, danger” (Handerson 164). The soldiers are often in constant danger. The soldiers use equipments that pollute the environment and at risk of being exposed hazardous chemical compounds. The other strength of the book is that to the readers, especially the civilians; the book offers a revealing look in what it really means to when a nation goes to war. Even though most of the military personnel Henderson writes about served in Iraq, she does not take a side in the debate about the war. The author is able to keep an intimate and professional style. The author is able to skilfully carry the reader in her vast subject, bringing well-sourced and suitable details at the right time. Furthermore, the book brings a vital and often overlooked view in the ongoing debate about Iraq in America. However, one weakness of the book is that it is an emotional book particularly for the light-hearted persons since the author effectively plies the complexities of military life. This can result in some females to stay away from developing romantic relationships with soldiers. Hopefully, Henderson can compile other books on military families and divorce, infidelity, child abuse, and alcoholism. Conclusion In summary, war has more drawbacks than benefits. It leads to the destruction of critical infrastructure, elimination of human existence, environmental pollution, psychological disorders, and destruction of essential services such as hospitals among others. Henderson reveals the overwhelming effects of separation as a result of from fears of death, psychological effects, to marital fidelity. Therefore, humans need to avoid engaging in wars at all costs. The only way we can protect the existence of humanity and encourage social and economic development is to make sure that there is stability in the country and to practice tolerance together with respect for each other. Works Cited Breslau, N. “Epidemiologic studies of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other psychiatric disorders,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47(200): 923-929. Fry, Douglas. Beyond War, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Henderson, Kristin. While They're At War: The True Story of American Families on the Homefront, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. Print. Read More