鈥楶laces and Names鈥� confronts conflict 鈥� both personal and military
Elliot Ackerman鈥檚 memoir, 鈥淧laces and聽Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning,鈥澛爄sn鈥檛 a glorification of war,聽by any stretch. Instead, it鈥檚 an attempt to聽make sense of something that can never聽be explained, to grapple with ghosts, and聽to try to adjust to the idea that, as horrible聽as war is, its hyperadrenalized environment聽can make ordinary life feel dull.
During his five tours of duty as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ackerman witnessed death, cruelty,聽courage, betrayal,聽and many other聽primal, scarring circumstances聽of life in聽a war zone. He was聽awarded a Silver Star,聽a Purple Heart, and a聽Bronze Star for Valor.聽Since leaving the聽Marines, he鈥檚 written聽three well-received聽novels that each deal聽with war or political聽upheaval. (Click here for an interview聽with the author.)聽
鈥淧laces and Names鈥澛燿etails his travels聽around the Mideast聽between 2013 and 2016, when he filed dispatches聽for The New Yorker, Esquire, and聽other publications. These trips sparked numerous聽flashbacks to Iraq and Afghanistan.聽
Harrowing moments dot the author鈥檚聽travels. Ackerman misses being near the聽action, much as he dreads reliving the horrors聽he witnessed in battle.聽
Early in the book, he tags along with a聽friend who is visiting a humanitarian aid聽agency in southern Turkey, near the Syrian聽border. There, he befriends a Syrian聽revolutionary named Abed and becomes聽acquainted with an Islamic fundamentalist聽named Abu Hassar, who smuggled fighters聽and weapons from Syria into Iraq from聽2005 to 2008 before being jailed by Syrian聽President Bashar al-Assad.聽
Three years later, in 2011, President聽Assad freed Abu Hassar and other jihadists.聽Ackerman explains why: 鈥淎ssad had聽hoped the jihadists would fight against him;聽a regime under siege by radical Islamists is聽more likely to garner international support聽than a regime under siege by democratic聽activists.鈥澛�
In the first encounter with Abu Hassar,聽Ackerman introduces himself as a journalist聽because he鈥檚 reluctant to say he fought as聽a U.S. Marine. Eventually, Ackerman tells聽Abu Hassar that he, too, fought in Iraq. They聽sketch a map and then mark off their postings,聽several of which overlap in geography.聽They are relieved that they didn鈥檛 directly聽attack one another, and despite the incongruity聽of the situation, they share a bond of聽having fought in the same war.聽
Ackerman, as he does throughout the聽book, sees both the details and broader聽meaning of his encounters, writing, 鈥淔or a聽moment we sit, three veterans from three聽different sides of a war that has no end in聽sight. Not the Syrian Civil War, or the Iraq聽War, but a larger regional conflict. ... Maybe聽[Abu Hassar], like me, has become tired of聽learning the ways we are different.鈥澛�
Toward the end of the book, Ackerman聽describes his 2016 visit to the burned-out聽city of Fallujah, where 12 years earlier he聽had led 46 men into a monthlong fight at聽close range at the height of the Iraq War. He聽returns to the street where many of his men聽died. He writes: 鈥淚 try to imagine this place聽differently, not as a battlefield but as a community聽of homes and businesses. ... My eyes聽cast out in specific directions, searching for聽hard-fought neighborhoods and alleyways,聽for unrepaired scars on the buildings. I am聽searching for the marks we left behind. I聽see them everywhere, commingled with the聽marks left by others. They have become the聽city, both battlefield and home.鈥�
