Sergeant Price
Sergeant Price is the protagonist of the collection first story, "Redeployment." The plot follows him as he returns to civilian life with his dog and wife after serving a tour in Iraq. He exhibits characteristics of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or what he refers to as "orange zone" and "red zone." Daily actions such as driving and shopping at the mall trigger stress responses, and his wife becomes fearful. He admits that during his tour, him and his company members would kill dogs for sport. Upon returning home, his own dog is suffering from tumors, and Price decides to shoot the dog as a means of euthanization. In this sense, Price is used as a vehicle to suggest that wartime traumas continue long after a soldier returns from deployment.
Father Jeffrey
Father Jeffrey is a Catholic priest serving as a chaplain with a company of Marines in Fallujah, Iraq in the story “A Prayer in the Furnace”. He becomes aware of indiscretion with the company’s leadership, specifically Captain Boden, who engages his troops in unnecessary violence. Father Jeffrey attempts to address the problems, but is quickly silenced by the military establishment. Realizing that he can do nothing to change the wartime conduct, Father Jeffrey turns to his faith to cope with the stress and shame. He adopts a theology of suffering, instead of suggesting to soldiers that they should ask God for forgiveness. His new ministerial approach is to acknowledge the pains of the soldiers and relate it to the peoples of Iraq. Although this approach is unpopular with the soldiers, it provides Father Jeffrey with a level of acceptance. At the story’s conclusion he returns to Lejeune, a marine base in North Carolina, and continues his ministry.
Zara Davis
Zara Davis is a student at Amherst college in the story, “Psychological Operations.” She is African-American and attends the same lecture as the story’s protagonist, Waguih. She is a vocal critic of the Iraq War, and frequently engages in heated debates with Waguih, a veteran of the Iraq war. He believes that she is the stereotype of the college liberal who opposes the war without knowing the reality of the situation. When he approaches and redresses her beliefs, she files a complaint with the Amherst administration. The two students are forced to go to counseling together. Half-way through the story, Davis converts to Islam. Though an unlikely pairing, Zara and Waguih bond despite their differences, and end up sharing a hookah on his porch.
Jenks
Jenks served as a Marine and was seriously injured in combat and is featured in the story “War Stories.” As a result of his injuries, his face is heavily scarred, he cannot grow hair, and has no ears. He visits a bar with his friend, and fellow Marine, Wilson. The two of them talk about life after their tour of duty and Jenks reveals that he cannot approach women after his injury. The two men are then joined by two women, one of whom was also injured while serving in Iraq. The other, Sarah, is an actress who is staging a play about the experiences of soldiers during the Iraq war. She listens to Jenks as he speaks about his injury, though she is impatient and often interrupts him. Jenks disapproves of what he sees as the “New York Times” approach to the veterans, which is not realistic and fetishizes their pains. He is essentially used as a prop for people like Sarah, to create art or voice their opinions. As a character, Jenks very acutely addresses the ways in which soldiers, especially wounded soldiers, struggle to develop identities as civilians.
The Adjutant in “Unless it’s a Sucking Chest Wound”
The story, “Unless it’s a Sucking Chest Wound,” follows a veteran as he lives and works as a lawyer in New York. Before settling in New York, he acted as an adjutant in Fallujah, and was tasked with completing the write-ups for fallen soldier’s award considerations. One soldier, James Vockler, was killed while retrieving a fallen marine from combat. He was a father with a beautiful wife, and the adjutant strives to award him the Medal of Honor, though he is ultimately unsuccessful. In New York, he meets up with a friend, Kevin Boylan who also served as a Marine. The adjutant-turned-lawyer is somewhat proud, albeit embarrassed, that he will be making substantially more money than Boylan. The two men go out drinking and reminisce about their time overseas. They get quite drunk, and the adjutant stays up late into the night looking on the internet for reports of soldiers’ death. While he made it home safely, he is still haunted by the deaths he experienced oversees.
The unnamed narrator of “Bodies”
The unnamed narrator of “Bodies” served in the body processing unit in Iraq. He dealt with the dead bodies as they returned from combat, and experienced a variety of traumatizing scenes. After returning to American after he service, he struggles to speak of his experiences. Some people are fascinated by his stories, other people are disgusted. As a result, he spends lots of time in the bar telling exaggerated stories, in an attempt to counsel himself through all the horrible things he witnessed.
