How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We got clearance the morning of the game and were rolling toward Al-Uhaimir by 1000 hours. Captain Miller and Jerry rode with Second Squad. We took along three extra balls for the kids and some notebooks and pencils. For the first time in a long, long time I felt really human. I hadn't been down or anything, just tired all the time. (12.26)
Being tired all the time is a sign of depression, so it's possible that Birdy isn't being completely honest with himself when he says he hasn't been down.
Quote #8
Marla put it best.
"You go out and you see people shopping," she said. "Women buying onions and bread or people having coffee. Then down the street somebody gets blown up. Jesus, it's weird."
It was weird—weird and unnerving. Somebody buying onions, somebody getting their fingers blown off, somebody dying. (13.2-4)
Here's another description of what the Iraq War is like. There are no trenches for military only—bombings are instead mixed in with daily life.
Quote #9
I didn't know if we were winning here in Iraq or not. If we just talked about dead people, about bodies lying in the streets, then we were winning easy. But somehow it wasn't about who was doing the most killing. (13.34)
There's no easy definition for how to win this war. The troops already surrendered, so it isn't about that, or body count. That's what makes the Iraq War so complicated.