
This We'll Defend
A Noncombat Veteran on War and Its Aftermath
Paul Crenshaw(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Published on 16. September 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-1-4696-5107-1 (ISBN)
Description
In June of 1990, Paul Crenshaw shipped out to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for Basic Training. By August the world was preparing for war. Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait, and each day brought more news of mobilizing forces. For weeks Crenshaw was told he was going to war, but after graduation he went back home to Arkansas and watched CNN every night, lying about how much he wished he were there.
Later, after he had gotten out of the Army, he began to question the wars we fight and attempt to understand how those who served were affected by them. The essays here follow his time in the service, from Basic Training to weekend National Guard drills, and they reflect deeply on American culture and military life. How easily we buy into ideas of good versus bad, us versus them. How we see soldiers as heroes when more often than not they are young boys who barely shave. How they come home broken, and we only wave our flags instead of trying to fix them, and the ideas that sent them to war.
Later, after he had gotten out of the Army, he began to question the wars we fight and attempt to understand how those who served were affected by them. The essays here follow his time in the service, from Basic Training to weekend National Guard drills, and they reflect deeply on American culture and military life. How easily we buy into ideas of good versus bad, us versus them. How we see soldiers as heroes when more often than not they are young boys who barely shave. How they come home broken, and we only wave our flags instead of trying to fix them, and the ideas that sent them to war.
Reviews / Votes
Crenshaw's prose is elegant, nicely paced, and carefully constructed. This thoughtful meditation on war is worth lingering over.--Publishers WeeklyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
303 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4696-5107-1 (9781469651071)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2019
The University of North Carolina Press
€12.49
Available for download
Person
Paul Crenshaw is the author of This One Will Hurt You. His essays and short stories have appeared in Best American Essays, Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Pushcart Prize, Oxford American, Glimmer Train, and Brevity, among others.