The American Warrior: In Combat from World War Two to Desert Storm U.S. Soldiers Tell It as It Was..

The editors (science fiction writers and coauthors of The Nonlethality Initiative ) sent a questionnaire to members of various armed services; this volume publishes the responses of 38, among them men and women from the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, a former Israeli paratrooper, a Canadian army man, a one-time deputy director of the CIA and a former member of the National Security Council. Such questions as ``What are the emotional rewards of warriorship?'' virtually invite pompous replies and, indeed, several of the male respondents pontificate about moral courage, honor, integrity, loyalty and pride. (The four women included do not.) The editors interrupt occasionally with inane comments (``So we must be on our guard against not only wrong action, but also wrong reaction and wrong inaction'') in an unfocused and often boring text. No salty or irreverent comments leaven the sanctimonious tone. ( Nov. )