Official Review: Radio Silence by Joel Capell

[joshfee77]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Radio Silence" by Joel Capell.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Radio Silence by Joel A. Capell is an autobiographical account of the author's experiences in the United States Army. It covers a little of his childhood, mainly to explain his personality and his actions as an adult. After graduating high school in 1995, he joined the U.S. Army, partly because they promised to cover 60% of his college tuition fees (though he was also an adrenaline junkie, always determined to push his own limits). Then, on September 11, 2001, America - and the world - changed forever when 19 determined Islamic extremists hijacked four passenger jets and hit their targets with three of them, flying two into the World Trade Center towers and another into the Pentagon. The War on Terror began one sunny Tuesday morning in America with breathtaking suddenness and horror, and Joel Capell found himself caught up in the fallout. Deployed to Iraq in 2004, he saw and experienced things there that haunted him for years afterward. More than a decade later, he was on his third such deployment to the Middle East. But the long, exhausting journey and the horrors he experienced changed him in ways that threatened many facets of his civilian life back in America.

I found Joel's story fascinating, especially his life in the Army, which I have not experienced myself. The gripping nature of the narrative and his conversational style (with the entire book written as letters to his wife, Jennifer) always compelled me to read on. There were plenty of interesting anecdotes about Joel's experiences in the military. The book also featured a lot of sardonic humour, including made-up names to protect identities at times, such as "Lieutenant Blueprint" for an architect. His explanations of army acronyms such as BOHICA ("Bend Over, Here It Comes Again") were both enlightening and funny, showing the dark - but essential - humour of the troops.

Joel also quoted factual information from external sources in italics, which gave extra credibility to his story. In addition, he pointed out some valid issues with the supply of military weapons to the Iraqis and Kurds to fight ISIS, posing the question: Might their own weapons be used against them in the future? He cited the weapons America provided Afghanistan to repel Russia in the 1980s as an example, as these weapons were later used by the Taliban to attack U.S. forces during the War on Terror. He also mentioned examples of unnecessary training carried out by the Army, such as a PowerPoint presentation explaining the gender reassignment process for transgender people. While he had no problem with transgender people, he also rightly said: "...we now know all of the progression points of advancement for a person going through a complete sex change. Meanwhile, soldiers can no longer start a campfire, navigate cross country with a map and a compass, or change a tire on their equipment. Let that sink in for a minute." This is a valid point, since learning about transgenderism in no way helps a soldier to win a war. As Joel said in the book, many times: "Stop stealing our edge, America!"

The theme of "radio silence" carried all the way through the narrative, in various scenarios, largely to show the soldiers' internalisation of the horror and heartache of war. There were many things they didn't talk about, and bottling these up would have contributed plenty toward the PTSD they often suffered upon returning home. This radio silence continued when Joel arrived back in America, ultimately alienating many of his loved ones. However, I found it admirable that he took personal responsibility in the narrative for the state of his life, despite the hell of the war he had survived, never looking to blame others for his misfortune.

Radio Silence did contain several minor typographical and spelling errors, such as "too" for "to". The author also often used an unnecessary apostrophe in plurals, but these errors could be easily fixed with an edit. My only other suggestion is that the structure of the book might benefit from being a little more chronological. There were a couple of funny stories at the end which might have worked better in their proper places in the timeline, to break up the darker parts of the narrative. While I enjoyed them, they seemed a little "tacked on" after what had felt like a solid conclusion to the book.

Overall, Radio Silence was an incredible story about an extraordinary man, filled with humour, horror, love, and loss. I have nothing but admiration for the amazing men and women who serve in the armed forces, and I would definitely give this book 4 stars after an edit to fix the errors. Currently, I must rate it 3 out of 4 stars. It would appeal to anyone with an interest in reading about army life and war. Though it did contain depictions of extreme violence and death, they weren't too graphic and wouldn't deter most readers of this genre.

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Radio Silence
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[kandscreeley]

This sounds like an interesting and powerful story. Despite the errors, I feel it would be fascinating to many. I can't imagine all that the author has seen. Thanks.

[kdstrack]

It is easy to understand a soldier's frustration when they know they have the ability and equipment they need to do their job, but they have their hands tied by bureaucracy. Joel reveals some truths that many may not want to hear. I admire his honesty in sharing his experiences. Great review. Thanks.

[joshfee77]

This sounds like an interesting and powerful story. Despite the errors, I feel it would be fascinating to many. I can't imagine all that the author has seen. Thanks.

Thanks for commenting. Definitely a powerful story about an extraordinary man who has seen and been through a lot.

[joshfee77]

It is easy to understand a soldier's frustration when they know they have the ability and equipment they need to do their job, but they have their hands tied by bureaucracy. Joel reveals some truths that many may not want to hear. I admire his honesty in sharing his experiences. Great review. Thanks.

Yeah, the bureaucratic side of basically any human endeavour is usually wasteful, inefficient, and often less than intelligent. Unfortunately, as they say, common sense is not that common! Thanks for your comments.