War is a non-fiction book about one journalist, Sebastian Junger, telling his story of when he followed a platoon based in a remote outpost in Afghanistan. His goal: to show what war is. Not what it is to those back home, but what it is to those fighting in it.
He follows Second Platoon, part of Battle Company, who arrived in Afghanistan late May of 2007. Thier base was called the Korengal Outpost, because it was in the Korengal Valley. Known as the KOP, it was thought to be one of the most dangerous outposts in all of Afghanistan. That's not the only thing that set this platoon apart. Its dangers didn't only come from the Taliban, but also from games within the platoon.
Junger writes, "In Second Platoon you got beat on your birthday...before you left....when you came back. The only way to leave Second Platoon without a beating was to get shot. No other platoons did this; the men called it 'blood in, blood out'... the violence took many forms and could break out at almost any time. After one particurlarly quiet week- no firefights, in other words- the tension got so unbearble that First Squad finally went after Weapons Squad with rocks. Men wound up bleeding and heated after these contests but never angry; the fights were a product of boredom."
I believer Junger shares this story to show what happens with the mixed effects of war and boredom. At war, soldiers spend all their time anticipating a firefight, or being in a firefight. Either way, they are constantly living under an adrenaline rush. The soldiers of Second Platoon, being stuck at an outpost in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country, on top of them living under this constant adrenaline rush, release the tension build up with violence. I mean, they're in war. Violence is their job. Without anything else to do, it makes sense they would use it recreationally as well.
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