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MWSA Review
“Ar Ramadi is the restive and violent capital of Al Anbar Province, Iraq. It is a place that I hate. It is a place I have feared. It is a place where I have killed. At the same time, it represents a period of my life that I cherish.” - Jason Angell
I did not expect to be mesmerized by Jason Angel’s Running Towards Gunfire like I was. Coming from a family where most of the men served in the military, I’ve always had an interest in learning what they went through during their service. Mr. Angell had me on the edge of my seat during the entire read. It was as if he and I were having a drink while he was telling me the minute details of his deployments.
Angell writes, “In Al Assad, I had been worried about my men. I stressed about their safety day in and day out. Additionally, being with my team lowered my anxiety. They increased my combat effectiveness. Without them, I was only a Marine officer, about as useful as a steering wheel without a car. Our comradery and instincts, our ability to work together in this environment, drove me. This is what it’s like to be a member of a real team We supported and trusted each other. We watched each other’s six.”
I felt his emotions and the flood of adrenaline he experienced when his senses and responses were at their peak levels. I felt his anguish in seeing injuries and loss of life of fellow combatants. I felt his anger at the shadowy figures who sought to kill and maim others. Jason Angell is a skilled writer who paints a vivid picture of the reality of war.
General Robert Neller, USMC (Ret.), thirty-seventh commandant of the Marine Corps wrote: "If you want to read about combat in Iraq at the boots-on-the-ground level, this book is for you." I can’t say it any better than that.
Review by Nancy Panko (February 2025)
Author's Synopsis
In August 2005, a four-man team from the United States Marine Corps’ 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) found themselves smack in the middle of the deadliest city on earth, Ramadi, Iraq. For the next seven months, they fought street by street against an insurgency that only grew more deadly.
They would eventually join up with snipers from the US Army’s famed 1-506th to form Task Force Dark Eagle. Casting aside interservice rivalries, road bound gun trucks, and conventional operations, these marines and soldiers became the ones hiding in the shadows, hunting insurgents from their own homes.
Running Towards Gunfire is a gritty, no-holds-barred first-person account of the realities of modern urban combat, bringing the reader onto the streets of Ramadi and into the minds of combat marines as they fight for each other and their brothers-in-arms during some of the most savage fighting of the Iraq War.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 260
Word Count: 80,000