Point of View

“Redeployment” by Phil Klay is a series of 12 short stories about the experiences of members of the United States Marine Corps who were deployed to Iraq during the war that began in 2003. The book is dedicated to Klay’s mother and father who had “three sons join the military in a time of war.” The vast knowledge and detail of a Marine’s experience in a war zone that the author provides is confirmation that he was one of those sons. Presumably those who the author thanks for their feedback have expertise in warfare and combat duty and were relied upon to ensure that the stories possessed authenticity and “rang true.” Along with these experts, Klay consulted many other resources to make sure he was presenting accurate depictions of Marines in war time.

Each of the 12 stories are told from the perspective of a Marine...