Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI

A good book

I think it is really inspiring! He made me want to join the army!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

ReaderZ10

This is a Great Book! for Military lovers. Or others, but Great book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

To much talk

To much talk

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great!

Had to do a report in my history class and i chose this book for some reason. So glad i did!! One of thr best books ive ever read!

Just want to know

I didn't read this book but was Steven Speilberg's Saving Private Ryan based on this?

Amazing! A must read!

Grea structure and wrihting. A must read!!

A Must Read Book!

The book ¿Ghosts of War¿ by Ryan Smithson is one of the best books I¿ve ever read. It is a true story about a 19 year old GI that went to Iraq in 2005. Ryan Smithson came back and decided to write an informative book about the kind of stuff that goes on in Iraq. The book has several moods in it, sometimes it is humorous, sometimes it is intense, and sometimes it is sad.
In the book Ryan Smithson talks about the struggles of basic training. Smithson continuously talks throughout the book about the fazes of basic training. One is to break you down, the other is to build you back up, and the last is teamwork. ¿This is the longest nine weeks of my life¿ Smithson states in the book while at basic training. Later in the book Smithson goes off to Iraq shortly after he enlists into the army. He makes a large gesture towards his girlfriend to make sure that everything is OK while he is gone. She accepts the gesture and everything turns out fine. It is a very sad time in the book whenever he gets deployed because he is leaving behind so much stuff from his past, and there is always that chance that he won¿t come back. When he first gets to Iraq he is kind of confused about what he is supposed to do, so people teach him what¿s going on. He meets his team inside a camp in Kuwait, and they become very good friends with each other all the way throughout the book. Even the bosses of the team are friends with them, they all laugh and have a good time with each other, and their personalities just basically connect. After a while of the routine thing Iraq, Smithson gets informed that he will be visiting home soon for two weeks. He is very excited about this and writes several letters to his fiancée and family members. The weekend that he was home was his niece¿s birthday party, so it was a two in one party. Him and his fiancée Heather got married that weekend and went off on a honey moon for the rest of the time that he was back home. When he was leaving he was very upset because he was leaving so much behind, his wife had to move in and he couldn¿t help her unpack which was very hard for him because he wanted to help so badly. When he got back to Iraq he met with his team again and did the same routine like every day. Nobody on his team ever died, and soon it was time for him to go home for good. This was a very emotional time for all of them. They would tell funny stories about all that they had done together, and everybody was trying not to cry. They had been the closest friends for over a year and fought by each other¿s side, and now they were just leaving one another. When he got home, he suffered from a very bad case of PTSD. One night when he woke up from a night terror for a month in a row, he prayed and thinks he saw an angel. He hasn¿t had a night terror since.
I really liked this book. I would read it again and again if I had to, but now it¿s time to move on. This book has made me more interested in the war than I ever was, so I might even read more books concerning wars. This book is up there with my favorite books as well as ¿Where the Red Fern Grows¿, and ¿The Outsiders.¿
This is one of my favorite books. It is very up-beat and exciting, but it is also boring at times. The boring isn¿t because of the writer, it¿s because war is boring more than exciting. It¿s not constant shooting and battling all the time like movies make it out to be, and this book was very good at showing that without making it too boring all of the

Great book learning about the experiences of a military hero

best book I have ever read

Amazing book, best I have ever read, truly inspirational.

Cool

Great read!!

wow

amazing

Wonderful!!

This is honestly the most magnificent book I have ever read. The story is is just wonderful.

Million Word Review

The war novel, Ghosts of War, follows Ryan Smithson from his enlistment in the army after 9/11 through the end of his tour of duty in Iraq. Ryan Smithson was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened. This event motivated him to enlist in the army. The story starts with boot camp, moving to his first missions in Iraq, and deals with his feeling about the events he experiences during his time in Iraq. The story starts slowly as the author explains why he joined the Army and describes his training during boot camp. Once Smithson is shipped to Iraq, the story becomes more interesting. Interest peaks as the conflict in Iraq becomes more violent. The first person point of view is a refreshing change from the 3rd person journalist's perspective. This point of view allows the reader to understand why Smithson feels he is just another "G.I. Joe Schmoe" or just another soldier who will never be recognized for what he has done rather than feeling like a hero. I also enjoyed how the author shows the almost relaxed conversation between soldiers even when mortars are falling around them. Because Smithson was not involved in combat, the chapters with no action are somewhat dull and uninteresting. However, the lively conversation between the soldiers during these chapters somewhat makes up for the lack of action. Smithson's vivid description of the war zone and his surrounding make it easy to picture the harsh climate and the war torn landscape he was living in. From the hot, dusty summers, to the below freezing winters, its is easy to empathize with him. Overall, this novel provides an enjoyable reading experience about a soldier's life in Iraq.

Very compelling and very entertaining.

Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson ***** Ghosts of War Ghosts of War is about keeping your faith in God and respecting your freedom. It is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and violence. Ghosts of War in a very educational book for mature audiences and gives a look into the real life of being a real GI in Iraq. After the attack on the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Ryan Smithson decided to join the military. He chose the branch of Army and was deployed at the age of nineteen to Iraq. Ryan is beaten down and built back up only to be beaten down once more by numerous drill sergeants during basic training. All this was done during what is call red phase. There are 3 phases all categorized in colors: red, white, and blue. Red phase is the crawling just starting to go through basic training. White phase is learning to shoot and how to use M16s and hand-to-hand combat. Blue phase is where the recruits graduate from training and are ready to be deployed. Ryan gets an unexpected deployment with no warning and has to leave his family for an entire year to go to war. I very much enjoyed this book, and learned a lot about the Iraq war that I could not hear from the media. I think that Ghosts of War is a very inspirational book, not to mention educational to any reader. It shows the hardships and pain of war, death, and suffering. Ghosts of War is a very organized, and very thought out work of literature. Ghosts of War is a very educational book and is the perfect book for the mature reader. This book lets civilians who have never seen war particularly in Iraq have a taste of what it would be like to spend an entire year in Iraq. This is an excellent read.

this book changedd my life

you will never feel the same way about the way you live after you read this. the author knows how to pull your heart strings. and i thank god for the men and women like him out there.

Must read for military moms!

I first read this book soon after my son completed his basic training in the Army. It was nearly impossible to put down. In some ways it was difficult to read from a mother's perspective; but Smithson's skill as a writer made me want to continue. He's straightforward yet freshly poetic. The book gave me an insight into the generational patriotism born out of 9/11.

MUST READ AND BUY!!

bearly bought the book today and i cant stop reading im sixteen and thinking of signing up and this book is helping me a lot love you Ryan the book is a different perspective of joining and an emotional one

Incredible Story of Bravery an Dedication

The memoir of 19-year-old Ryan Smithson depicts a different side of the Iraqi war than we are all used to hearing about on the news. Smithson joins the army after the Twin Towers fall and is deployed in an engineering unit that focuses more on cleaning up and helping out the locals then fighting. Nonetheless, he is still part of a war and he still has to risk his life every day. You are quickly reminded of that from the violent and gory scenes in this book. Smithson does an excellent job relating to all ages because he is young but he speaks with confidence and maturity. He shows a side of faith and compassion that most of us, including me, didn't know took place during war. After reading this book I couldn't find anything negative to say about it, and I think that if you are an American, this is a must read.

Amazing

An all around great book. The writing of his experiences seems so real, like I was watching it all happen.

Makes you really think about what it means to be an American.

I come from a military family and have always been taught to be thankful for the armed forces, but this book gave me a whole new meaning on what it means to be an american and what really is going on over in iraq without all the media spin. This book is one of the reasons i wnat to be in the military when i graduate.