Book Review: Redeployment, by Phil Klay

Phil Klay's short story collection, Redeployment, does not deal in ambiguities. All of the stories here center on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American veterans returning from these wars; all of the stories here are brutal in their honesty, their emotion, and their ability to convey the life of a soldier that no civilian will ever truly grasp:

"You risked your life for something bigger than yourself. How many people can say that? You chose to serve. Maybe you didn't understand American foreign policy or why we were at war. Maybe you never will. But it doesn't matter. You held up your hand and said, 'I'm willing to die for those worthless civilians.'"

It's not a nice sentiment, that, taken from "Psychological Operations," in which a young man returns from war and attends college, where he finds it difficult--impossible, even--to find even footing with his fellow classmates. But it starts as a nice sentiment, tied up in the sense of honor and duty and freedom that we would like to associate with military tours. A kind of association Klay is not interested in letting us get away with.

From "Redeployment," in which a man struggles to transition home after the war, feeling naked without his rifle by his side, to "Unless It's a Sucking Chest Wound," in which the relative success of a veteran attending law school stands in stark contrast to the drunk, dysfunctional friend he visits with, Redeployment takes a harsh look at the impacts of war on those who fight it: psychological, emotional, and physical.

There's not much I can add about Redeployment that will do it justice. Suffice it to say that after each and every one of these stories, I was forced to pause due to the sheer weight of what I was reading. And yet I couldn't put the collection down, tearing through the entire thing in just a few days. Nathan Dunbar (bookseller extraordinaire) summed it up with absolute perfection, though:

@kerryamchugh This should be required reading for everyone. We have no idea what's inside a vet's head. This is it laid bare. @PhilKlay — Nathan (@NathanDunbar) February 21, 2014

Klay manages to convey in a way that is both accessible and downright daunting the horrors and lasting impacts of war on our veterans. The range of veterans issues in the news is not unknown: PTSD and suicide, employment, depression, the difficulties of transitioning back to civilian life. But Klay's stories make these more than headlines and more than data to be thrown about on Capitol Hill; these are stories of humans and of humanity, and what both sacrifice in times of war.

"That KIA means they gave everything," he writes in "OIF," "That WIA means I didn't."

If that doesn't give you chills, I'm not sure what will.

Redeployment | Phil Klay | Penguin | Hardcover | March 2014 | 304 pages