Love My Rifle More than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army

by Kayla Williams and Michael E. Staub

Kayla Williams is one of the 15 percent of the U.S. Army that is female, and she is a great storyteller. With a voice that is “funny, frank and full of gritty details” (New York Daily News), she tells of enlisting under Clinton; of learning Arabic; of the sense of duty that fractured her relationships; of being surrounded by bravery and bigotry, sexism and fear; of seeing 9/11 on Al-Jazeera; and of knowing she would be going to war.

With a passion that makes her memoir “nearly impossible to put down” (Buffalo News) Williams shares the powerful gamut of her experiences in Iraq, from caring for a wounded civilian to aiming a rifle at a child. Angry at the bureaucracy and the conflicting messages of today’s military, Williams offers us “a raw, unadulterated look at war” (San Antonio Express News) and at the U.S. Army. And she gives us a woman’s story of empowerment and self-discovery.

• ISBN10: 0393329224
• ISBN13: 9780393329223
• Publish Date: 21 August 2006 (first published 11 January 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: WW Norton & Co
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[RoXXie]

As a woman it happens quite often that you will get downrated by your male coworkers. Why? Not quite sure. Maybe they think you can't handle it for being a woman; you aren't strong enough or not tough enough? It will always a be a big riddle to the female population, why men think this way. But for some reason, we are used it and we still walk our path the way we want it. Getting around the big stones or jump the hurdles. But we do it. They try to talk us down, over and over again. A female reaction in a men's world, especially for Kayla Williams in the U.S. Army, she tries even harder; twice harder.
Her book about her time in the military and a year downrange in Iraq, is good book for those who wanna get a closer look to a female soldier life.