In this Book

  • Outside the Wire: American Soldiers' Voices from Afghanistan
  • Book
  • Edited by Christine Dumaine Leche. Foreword by Brian Turner, author of "The Hurt Locker"
  • 2013
  • Published by: University of Virginia Press
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summary

A riveting collection of thirty-eight narratives by American soldiers serving in Afghanistan, Outside the Wire offers a powerful evocation of everyday life in a war zone. Christine Dumaine Leche—a writing instructor who left her home and family to teach at Bagram Air Base and a forward operating base near the volatile Afghan-Pakistani border—encouraged these deeply personal reflections, which demonstrate the power of writing to battle the most traumatic of experiences.

The soldiers whose words fill this book often met for class with Leche under extreme circumstances and in challenging conditions, some having just returned from dangerous combat missions, others having spent the day in firefights, endured hours in the bitter cold of an open guard tower, or suffered a difficult phone conversation with a spouse back home. Some choose to record momentous events from childhood or civilian life—events that motivated them to join the military or that haunt them as adults. Others capture the immediacy of the battlefield and the emotional and psychological explosions that followed. These soldiers write through the senses and from the soul, grappling with the impact of moral complexity, fear, homesickness, boredom, and despair.

We each, writes Leche, require witnesses to the narratives of our lives. Outside the Wire creates that opportunity for us as readers to bear witness to the men and women who carry the weight of war for us all.

Table of Contents

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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. 1-6
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-x
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  1. Foreword
  2. pp. xi-xiv
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. xv-xxii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xxiii-xxiv
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  1. SPECIALIST CHANTAL OGALDEZ
  2. pp. 1-2
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  1. SERGEANT FIRST CLASS BILLY WALLACE
  2. pp. 3-9
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  1. SERGEANT CATHERINE LORFILS
  2. pp. 10-13
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  1. PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, ANONYMOUS FEMALE
  2. pp. 14-16
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  1. SERGEANT JARRELL ROBINSON
  2. pp. 17-19
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  1. SERGEANT SEAN MOORE
  2. pp. 20-22
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  1. SPECIALIST KARL MULLING
  2. pp. 23-27
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  1. MARIE MULLING
  2. pp. 28-30
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  1. PRIVATE SECOND CLASS, ANONYMOUS FEMALE
  2. pp. 31-32
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  1. SERGEANT FIRST CLASS MICHAEL BRAMLETT
  2. pp. 33-34
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  1. 35SENIOR AIRMAN MICHAL SAKAUTZKI
  2. pp. 35-39
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  1. SERGEANT LATAYNA ORAMA
  2. pp. 40-41
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  1. SERGEANT KEVIN ZIMMERMAN
  2. pp. 42-47
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  1. PRIVATE VENETA WHITE
  2. pp. 48-49
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  1. SERGEANT JOSE GITHENS
  2. pp. 50-53
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  1. SERGEANT, ANONYMOUS MALE
  2. pp. 54-56
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  1. SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
  2. pp. 57-60
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  1. SERGEANT MICHAEL DIGGS
  2. pp. 61-65
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  1. SERGEANT JESSIE EVANS
  2. pp. 66-71
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  1. SERGEANT ELETHER FAREAUX
  2. pp. 72-78
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  1. PRIVATE EMILY ANDERSON
  2. pp. 79-80
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  1. SPECIALIST J. J. SALDANA
  2. pp. 81-82
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  1. STAFF SERGEANT TRINA PRIDDY
  2. pp. 83-85
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  1. SPECIALIST, ANONYMOUS MALE
  2. pp. 86-93
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  1. PRIVATE ENESHIA MYLES
  2. pp. 94-96
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  1. SERGEANT BENJAMIN LOWERY
  2. pp. 97-99
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  1. AIRMAN FIRST CLASS NICOLAS GONZALEZ
  2. pp. 100-103
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  1. SERGEANT JEFFREY LAMBERT
  2. pp. 104-106
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  1. TECHNICAL SERGEANT JONATHON LEMASTER
  2. pp. 107-109
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  1. SERGEANT JOSH WYLY
  2. pp. 110-112
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  1. SERGEANT JOSEPH COLVIN
  2. pp. 113-140
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  1. SERGEANT DAN YOKE
  2. pp. 114-115
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  1. SPECIALIST ANDREW STOCK
  2. pp. 116-128
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  1. Soldiers Tell Why Writing Classes in a War Zone Matter
  2. pp. 129-130
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  1. On Teaching Writing to Soldiers and Veterans
  2. pp. 131-140
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  1. Writing Prompts
  2. pp. 141-146
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  1. List of Abbreviations and Military Ranks
  2. pp. 147-148
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