In The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers gently unfolds a violent story. Bartle is a young American soldier. We follow him from his rural home in Virginia through basic training, off to war in Iraq and home again. (That is not a spoiler, much of the story is told in flashback, so you know he survived the war.) His only exposure to world culture is facing an unfamiliar land thrown upside down by an unjust war, meeting stressed and frightened people he cannot understand (many of whom are trying to kill him) and trying to make sense of a senseless series of events.
I didn’t want to read this book. I feel a daughter’s devotion to my mother-land. I wholeheartedly believe in the ideals of democracy. Still, I am often dismayed by my government. When talking with international friends, I find myself embarrassed trying to explain how we (American citizens) let our government run so far amok in so many things. Drones? Wiretapping of citizens? Political interference in women’s healthcare? Racism? Homophobia? Really America?
The Yellow Birds does a wonderful job of exploring the subtleties of war. We don’t often think of war as subtle. While there is nothing subtle about a bomb, the mind of the man who sets it is a mountain of human contradiction. As we follow Bartle and experience the confusions and horrors of war with him, we develop a deep compassion and understanding for him.
We like him. He does foolish, juvenile things for compassionate reasons. He does courageous things for foolish reasons. He does evil things he can barely reconcile with his own conscience and we have only compassion for him. We see what we do to a boy when we make him a soldier. And while some may argue it is “necessary” and in many cases, it truly is character-building. Other times it is character destroying.
The suicide rate among veterans, the rampant sexism and rape within our ranks, the thinly available services for veterans all testify to the fact that we have let “character building” fall by the wayside in our military programs.
As I write, today is the fifth of July. There is a steady soaking rain that has been going on all morning. From my office window I see three houses across the street flying the American flag. The star spangled banners, forgotten after last night’s fireworks, passed the dark night hanging damp and unlit. They are soaked, sad, dripping and heavy. What a poignant metaphor for how we treat our servicemen and servicewomen. We celebrate them and hang flags in their honor. But when they are heavy and sad, we ignore them. We need to stop “supporting the troops” and start actually caring for our soldiers and veterans. Bring them home. Keep them safe. Don’t send them to fight unjust wars that tear their minds and souls apart. We owe them the apologies of a compassionate nation.
Read ~ Write ~ Wander
~Angie
(Book cover art from Little Brown and Co.)