All I Could Be: My Story as a Woman Warrior in Iraq Reviewed By Nicholas Efstathiou of Bookpleasures.com
- By Nicholas Efstathiou
- Published June 3, 2013
- History
Nicholas Efstathiou
Reviewer Nicholas Efstathiou: Nicholas is a husband and father, as well as an avid student of military history. He holds a bachelor's in English Literature and a master's in Military History. He and his wife Carol, along with their three children, live in New England.
View all articles by Nicholas Efstathiou
Author: Miyoko Hikiji
Publisher: Chronology Books
ISBN 978-1-933909585
Hikiji’s work not only explores the dangers of conducting convoys through insurgent territory, but she also examines the difficulties of being a woman in a predominantly male environment, as well as maintaining a relationship with a fellow soldier. The challenges that she experienced as a female soldier include the expected, such as sexits attitudes and off color humor; to the truly difficult, such as answering the call of nature, as well as showering, in an environment where privacy simply doesn’t exist. In this vacuum of personal privacy, which is the very nature of the military for low ranking enlisted personnel, Hikiji manages to be in a healthy and mutually respectful relationship with a male soldier in her unit, in spite of the obstacles presented by jealous comrades.
Hikiji brings us her own war story, and no one elses. She doesn’t side track into the suspected motives of other members of her unit, or into the possible reasons behind the insurgency. She keeps the story clearly focused on her own personal difficulties as a female soldier, as a soldier in a combat situation, and as one half of a relationship surviving in a difficult environment.
Throughout all of the difficulties with which she is faced, Hikiji maintains a sense of focus and independence. Her language in the book is simple and direct, creating a beautiful picture of Iraq while potently exploring her own situation. Hikiji also goes beyond her gender to show that combat reaches out and touches those in what are traditionally considered non-combat roles as well. All I Could Be is uniquely Hikiji’s own, and deserves to be read as an important part of the history of the Iraq conflict as well as an important chapter in the history of women in warfare.
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