In this extraordinary and harrowing memoir, follow one GI’s tour of duty as Ryan Smithson brings readers inside a world that few understand.
This is no ordinary teenager’s story. Instead of opting for college life, Ryan Smithson joined the Army Reserve when he was seventeen. Two years later, he was deployed to Iraq as an Army engineer.
His story—and the stories of thousands of other soldiers—is nothing like what you see on CNN or read about in the New York Times. This unforgettable story about combat, friendship, fear, and a soldier’s commitment to his country peels back the curtain on the realities of war in a story all Americans should read.
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Ghosts Of War by Ryan Smithson:
A True Story of a 19-year-old GI
Ryan Smithson joined the Army Reserve when he was seventeen. This is his extraordinary and harrowing memoir of one GI’s tour of duty.
What Readers Are Saying
Readers are captivated, sharing insights into the profound impact and resonant truths found within the pages of this unforgettable narrative.
Smithson avoids writing either prowar propaganda or an antimilitary polemic, providing instead a fascinating, often humorous-and occasionally devastating-account of the motivations and life of a contemporary soldier
Publishers Weekly
He lucidly recounts the intensity of battle and the pain of losing comrades. For Smithson, the war is a source of personal enlightenment, and this memoir is a remarkable, deeply penetrating read
Kirkus Reviews