We Were Warriors Once

A sprawling military novel that follows high-ranking soldiers from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Retired Army colonel Freeman delivers an ambitious novel made up primarily of material from his two previously published novels (Duty and Character, 2004; Wrong Enemy, Wrong War, 2008). The story focuses on Maxwell Scott and James MacDougall, two well-intentioned U.S. Army soldiers struggling against Washington corruption. In the first section, we follow Maj. Scott through his infidelity, his wife’s death and his time in Korea, all the way to his job as a major at the Pentagon. Along the way, he meets Capt. Sam Stone, a young officer who later becomes a defense contractor; Stephanie Goodrich, a single mother and grieving widow whose husband died in the service; and MacDougall, Scott’s idealistic aide. In the second section, set in the late 1980s and ’90s, MacDougall and Stone come to the fore as a fictional presidential administration considers attacking Iraq to topple its dictator, Saddam Hussein. MacDougall, despite his long exposure to corrupt political power, is still idealistic; Stone, however, is a self-serving schemer. The novel is clearly deeply informed by Freeman’s own time in the military and will likely appeal to readers curious about the inner workings of the military’s highest echelons. However, this overlong tale may have difficulty finding a broad audience; its cast of characters is so vast that readers may find it difficult to keep track of them all. The first section ends with a wildly misogynistic plot twist that may alienate many female readers. Others may scratch their heads at the second section’s alternative-history Iraq War—a less-complex version of a real-life conflict, set a decade too soon.

A dense, ultimately disappointing insider’s depiction of the U.S. military.