Why Soldiers Miss War: The Journey Home

Peterson’s slim, sometimes confusing memoir consists of a series of essays about his life as an Air Force combat pilot and war correspondent, structured superficially around the age-old question of why going to war holds such appeal despite its horrors. He recounts that, as a boy in Sarasota, Fla., he dreamed of a life of adventure; when he was 16 he earned his pilot’s license and travelled alone to the mountains of Nepal. He entered the Air Force Academy in 2000; on Christmas Eve 2009, he flew his first combat mission in Afghanistan. Two years later, he left the military to pursue new adventures. After traveling in the Himalayas, he went to graduate school in journalism and decided that a career in “conflict journalism” would supply the excitement he still longed for. He also found love with Lilly, a Ukrainian woman whom he married. All the questions about his attraction to war are dismissed in favor of love: “In the end, that’s what I need more than war.” The essays skip around in time, which can make it difficult to keep track of events, and the philosophical questions can seem more like occasionally deployed literary devices than objects of sustained contemplation. This will appeal more to readers looking for tales of world travel and war zones than those looking for a reflection on the military life. (Sept.)