Milton Magazine - Milton Academy

Surviving Iraq:Soldiers’ StoriesElise Forbes Trippe ’60In Surviving Iraq: Soldiers’ Stories,Elise Forbes Trippe ’60 bringsto light the realities of war andthe specifics of Operation IraqiFreedom as seen from the frontline. Her book is a compilationof 30 stories, firsthand accountsfrom military veterans of diversebackgrounds, ethnicities, ages,and political persuasions, as toldin their own words. We meetAndrew McConnell, a mastersergeant in the army, deployed atage 34; Andre M. M. Queiroga,a corporal in the marine corps,deployed at age 20; Tanya M.Karst, a petty officer secondclass in the navy, deployed at age22; and Russell W. Anderson,Jr., a first sergeant in the armyreserve, deployed at age 53. Eachstory speaks to locations, emotions,experiences, fears andsurprises.Elise writes, “Oral history hasa cadence that is different fromwritten history. When veteranswrite their stories they are incommand of presentation andlanguage and select their topicswith some care. Oral history as Irecorded it (without an outline)was extemporaneous—veteranscreated many of their storiesas they talked. In their narrativesthey shifted in mood andstyle from clever and funnyto thoughtful and candid tophilosophical and alienated.They brought up what was mostbasic: loss, fear, frustration,hope, relief, friendship and family.”The men and women Eliseinterviewed were from all overthe United States—California,Kentucky, New York and theDistrict of Columbia—and otherswere naturalized citizensfrom Puerto Rico, Jamaica andPortugal. Because their storieswere recorded just as they weretold, the reader can hear thedifferent accents native to eachhometown, recognizable throughcolloquialisms. Elise provides aclear picture of just who is fightingthe war in Iraq.Elise is a graduate of HarvardUniversity and has a Ph.D. fromthe Johns Hopkins School ofAdvanced International Studies.While a former internationalrelations counselor for UNaffairs at the World Bank, sheadmits to having a “civilian’sview of the war” and being “unfamiliarwith many aspects of themodern U.S. military.” “My lackof military background…had theunintended benefit of havingveterans explain to me the paraphernaliaof war as they spoke,”she says, “which in turn makestheir stories more accessible tothe general reader.”While the details of each soldier’sstory is different, the commonalityElise points out becomesevident in learning each man’sand woman’s tale: “Veteransconfirmed that no one comes outof war unscathed, unchanged,untouched, unthinking.”Andrew Carroll, editor of theNew York Times bestsellers WarLetters and Behind the Lines,says of Surviving Iraq, “[These]extraordinary stories and opinionsrange from the profoundand the patriotic to the humorousand the heartbreaking. Dr.Trippe has done a masterfuljob of finding a diverse andthoughtful group of individualsand weaving their oral historiestogether in a way that makesthem, individually and collectively,unforgettable.”Elise returned to Milton on April30, 2008, as a speaker for SeminarDay. Accompanying her duringher presentation was Nick Morton’02, a former sergeant in the armyreserve and a veteran of OperationIraqi Freedom—also one of the 30men and women represented inSurviving Iraq. Elise spoke withstudents, faculty and staff about herexperiences in writing this book,and Nick shared his own experiencesof the war in Iraq.EEHThe Cure for GriefNellie Hermann ’96The story of Nellie Hermann’sdebut novel The Cure For Griefwill be familiar to many in theMilton community. In the courseof the novel, teenager RubyBronstein faces the unthinkabletragedies of the death ofher father, and, one year later,her brother—events drawnfrom Nellie’s own experience oflosing her father, Akiba, and ayear later, her brother, Ben ’91.Described by one reviewer as a“stunning debut…a gorgeouslyreadable meditation on mourningand survival,” the book isboth tragic and full of hope,the story of a young girl as shestruggles with adolescence andworks to find an uneasy peacewith her father’s Holocaustexperience and her own family’stragic events.Released in August, the novelis now attracting national attention,with great reviews in Kirkusand Time. I spoke with Nellie byphone from her mother’s homein Cambridge, Massachusetts, onthe day Amazon.com began shippingthe book.Will Rizzo: When did you startthe book?Nellie Hermann: Officially, thesummer after my first year atColumbia’s MFA writing program.Several parts were originallyshort stories that I wroteyears ago and revised. Withoutfully realizing it, I began thisbook a long time before the“official” start. I always knew Iwas going to write it, but I wasn’tsure what it would look like.WR: Was it something else first?NH: It was a group of scenesand preoccupations that recurredfrequently. Then a teacher atColumbia, Nathan Englander(The Ministry of Special Cases)Milton Magazine 71