All American: Two Young Men, the 2001 Army-Navy Game and the War They Fought in Iraq
The venerable Army-Navy football game, originating in 1890 and played annually since 1930, carried a special poignancy when it was held in December 2001 and attended by President Bush, since many of its players already knew, just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, that they were destined for far more perilous battle somewhere overseas. Eubanks tracks a player on each team—cadet quarterback Chad Jenkins and midshipman linebacker Brian Stann—from childhood through high school, their West Point or Annapolis educations, basic training, and experience serving in the Iraq War. So doing, he reveals in compelling detail the all-consuming process by which the military turns civilians into combat-ready warriors. If the disconnect between the al-­Qaeda agents who carried out the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Iraq is left unaddressed, readers can only respect the extraordinary commitment and service Jenkins, Stann, and their military brethren gave their country. A fresh, authentic take on the Iraq War and those Americans who fought in it. --Alan Moores