The Eyes of Orion: Five Tank Lieutenants in the Persian Gulf War

Since most of the book is written by Vernon, the book collapses under the weight of this lieutenant's evident and self-admitted flaws. Vernon, as well as some of his cohorts, believed that the US Military Academy existed to give him access to sports and a free education, and that the US Army was a good place to spend a few years until graduate school. Prior to the war, the authors all complain that they had little or no field training with their platoons, although Holmes had time to go to the London School of Economics (and then claims he hadn't had a chance to learn the names of all his platoon members). There's a lot of selfish dishonesty in this book and it begins in the pre-deployment phase. However when orders for deployment to the desert came, Vernon begins to come unglued. Vernon cries a lot, and former tankers will find this nauseating. At Ft Stewart, Vernon cries in the chaplain's office, pleading not to be deployed. Once deployed, Vernon cries when he sees a Julia Roberts movie, when he sees a goat giving birth, when he dreams, whenever his company commander criticizes him. On the other hand, Vernon spends a great deal of the book criticizing his superiors: his battalion commander ("..in the desert I hated him. I hated him because he was a warrior."), President Bush (for refusing Gary Trudeau permission to visit the troops), his company commander, his platoon sergeant, etc. Vernon's leadership skills were non-existent; in one letter just before the ground war he wrote, "I do not want to lead men into battle. I want nothing to do with the things leaders do." Morale and discipline in Vernon's platoon appear shockingly bad, with the author unable to get his allegedly brain-dead platoon sergeant to do anything (the reader should consider that the truth may have been the opposite). It also appears that Vernon displayed cowardice in the face of the enemy at the only significant fighting his unit participated in, the attack on Jalibah airfield on 27 February 1991. The author's account is unclear, but somehow his platoon failed to link up with rest of the task force, failed to find the airfield that was under attack and failed to see a single enemy (when all four of his cohorts were under fire). This sounds suspiciously like deliberately getting lost to avoid combat. At the end, the author offers a mea culpa of sorts by asserting, "I knew I did not have the stuff to command troops...American soldiers deserve better leadership than I could provide."

The elitist angle and faux intellectualism of this book is also annoying. The West Pointers read French essays on Cowardice and the Economist. While the soldiers talk about getting back to the land of beer, pizza and hot women, their elitist lieutenants discuss plans for grad school. Amazingly, there is no mention of "duty, honor, country" by any of the West Pointers. Did they miss that part of their four-year military education? Once the war is over, four of the five quickly opt to leave the US Army for hypocritical reasons: I can't stay because I could deploy for another war, but it's boring in the peace-time US Army if there is no war. Ridiculous. When the Army gives them a chance, they stiff the US taxpayers by leaving the service with 40% of their obligation remaining and quickly trot off to grad school and business opportunities. It is also irksome that several of these lieutenants complain that they didn't want to remain in the army to be "only a staff officer," or in a non-armor slot. The level of immaturity and unprofessionalism is astounding - they apparently never digested the "needs of the service" imperative of a military career. In fact, the level of self-absorbed, whining and avoidance of self-sacrifice evident in these pages is totally at odds with the ethics of the officer corps.


Highly recommended by someone who was there   January 25, 2000
Greg Jackson
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

As a former Armor officer in the Persian Gulf War, I can tell you that this book genuinely conveys the feelings and experiences of young officers in the desert. The authors are humble enough to admit their own shortcomings, and their memory of detail is truly astounding. The only way you will ever get a better idea of what the Gulf War was like from the turret of an M1A1 tank would be to read this book after going several days without sleep while wearing a charcoal-lined suit inside your clothes dryer.


A MUST READ FOR ANYONE!   November 24, 1999
15 out of 18 found this review helpful

This book is the most provocative account of modern battle I have ever been exposed to. The authors translate their experiences through the eyes of the platoon leader, the heart & soul of our fighting forces. This is a "must read" for anyone who wants to know what combat is like. There is more to the story than bullets and bombs...there is the human emotion that takes place behind the triggers. This is the only book I have ever read, and I've read almost everything out there, that takes the reader into the minds of the platoon leader. It reveals the challenges faced by junior military leaders facing an unsure future. This book has the potential to be a best seller and will move the reader in ways that no other book has been able to do. I cried, I laughed, I trembled, and I was humbled all within the pages of this book. This is the first time I actually experienced anything like this. Most of all, I COULD NOT put it down once I began reading.


Stop shooting at me!   October 14, 2000
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

The attack on the USS Cole came just hours after I had just finished a book on the Gulf War. The book was titled "Eyes of Orion". Its subject was five 23 year old US Army M1 tank/ Bradley Fighting Vehicle commanders' experience during Desert Shield through Desert Storm. Their accounts held no punches and left me feeling on the bounds of horrible that our country had to ask these boys to do this, but happy that they survived. A large portion of the book was dedicated to the 5 months of Desert Shield which in my own terms I could sum up as my own experiences as a US Marine in practically any CAX I participated in at 29 Palms. The desert is a brutal place to live and work. That part of the book was refreshing to remember some of the hardships I had endured. However it was the actual battle that was horrifying. It left me with the impression of some components of our Army as being a group of "I'm not going home til I shoot something". This story doesn't cover tank vs. tank battle with the Iraqi army (however it does cover US Army Tanks Vs. US Army tanks). "IRON SOLDIERS" (Tom Carhart) is the book you want to read if thats what you want. Once the ground war started they were constantly under fire from their own units. In our military there is a special unit assigned to Division level that has radar which can electronically "see" enemy (as well as friendly) artillery firing through the air. It can immediately plot where the rounds came from, send out these coordinates to a counterbattery unit which within moments fires its own volleys on the artillery position the radar had tracked. Too often in these accounts, when an American artillery unit fired, they themselves were fired upon by our own Divisional artillery. And in each major enemy engagement this unit had, there was fratricide, or a serious attempt to do so. The sick part is, after they stopped shooting at the Iraqis (and themselves) they would find the surviving Iraqis with their achilles tendons cut (so that they couldn't desert) and no will to fight at all. It was a great book in the case that it presents. Having read a dozen books on this subject...the others left me with a vision of John Wayne on the Sands Of Iwo Jima, with his helmet strap hanging and throwing his hand high in the air and yelling "follow me!". I am proud of their service, and as well they should be as indicated in their story. But they do make an excellent point of the emptiness of the way the battle ended without closure. By all means I recommend this book to anyone. It is a fitting account to read for any 18 year old going into Military service. It should tone down an individuals affixation with the need to mount weapons and go off killing folks without knowledge of what it leaves you feeling like.


Perspective from the Trenches   February 18, 2000
George Reynolds (Fort Leavenworth, KS)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

The narrative is thoroughly engrossing and really fills an open void in the Operation Desert Storm historical literature area. While we've been treated to accounts of the entire operation from the strategic down to the tactical levels, the latter has been limited to the observations of those who were senior commanders, i.e. Schwartzkopf, Franks, Pagonis, etc. This is the first I've read that > tells the story from the perspective of the actual "trigger-pullers." The insights and observations of the five authors provide an accurate and commentary on the Army institution during time of war.