Sister In The Band Of Brothers: Embedded With The 101st Airborne In Iraq (Modern War Studies)

From Booklist
When the Pentagon decided to embed reporters with the troops in Iraq, Skiba knew she had to be there. Having already covered such global hot spots as the Gaza Strip, Kosovo, and the Soviet Union, she didn't need this assignment to round out her resume; but the challenge of being at the forefront of historical developments is hardwired into her journalist's DNA. It wasn't the only challenge she faced. As one of only 60 female reporters to go to Iraq, Skiba, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Washington correspondent, found herself the lone female civilian amid the 2,300 soldiers of the 159th Aviation Brigade. In describing her battles with sandstorms, scorpions, and sexism, Skiba's dramatic and often deeply revealing memoir offers straightforward testimony to the professional and personal sides of both the military and media. Simultaneously making fun of her own fears and limitations while praising the valor and dedication of the soldiers, Skiba's candid, self-deprecating anecdotes artfully balance this no-holds-barred account of war's grim reality. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
When U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, our soldiers weren't the only ones who put their lives on the line: so did 600 "embedded" journalists, including Katherine M. Skiba. Her riveting memoir provides a vivid you-are-there account of her experiences with the Army's legendary 101st Airborne, the division celebrated for its heroism in World War II as the "Band of Brothers." Skiba, a reporter and photographer, was the sole female civilian among the 2,300 soldiers of the 159th Aviation Brigade, whose pilots flew Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters into the thick of battle. Her dispatches were a vital lifeline between the troops and their families and earned her a grateful national audience. Reporting on the men and women in uniform with journalistic dedication, natural compassion, and an eye for the absurd, she chronicles her experiences from "media boot camp" to the kick-off of Operation Iraqi Freedom to the fall of Baghdad, including a missile attack on the brigade's desert camp. Taking readers across the wind-blown deserts of Iraq and into cramped seventy-man tents, where personal space barely exists and tempers can flare, she deftly and sympathetically portrays her brothers and sisters-in-arms-rigid commanders, gung-ho warriors, and daring aviators, as well as intelligence officers, mechanics, medics, and cooks, among many others. She details her dealings with the soldiers, her clashes with a battalion commander, and her friendship with a lieutenant colonel who helped keep her sane. Meantime she tells of the journalist-husband she left behind-and the encouragement he gave her when the going got rough. Whether pounding out a story on her laptop, strapping on a gas mask at a moment's notice, or flying toward the frontlines, Skiba stuck it out despite her own doubts and earned the respect of one grizzled sergeant major, who quipped: "You've got balls." The risks were very real for her and anyone else who covered or fought in the war, even in its early days, long before triumph trailed off into something less than permanent victory. Her story testifies to the courage it took to endure such risks, while acknowledging the inevitable costs of war. This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

From the Back Cover
"Day by bad day, Katherine Skiba gives us an intimate chronicle of what it was really like to be an embedded reporter in Iraq. Her story is unromantic, uncensored, often funny, always vividly detailed and peopled by a wild cast of uniformed characters. Sister in the Band of Brothers is both a public service and a good read."--James Tobin, author of Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II "Katherine Skiba's book Sister in the Band of Brothers: Embedded with the 101st Airborne in Iraq is mesmerizing and fascinating in depicting the human side of war--the fears, the excitement, the humor and the reality--all wrapped up into one--and the sadness of it all. It's a wonderful gripping book and could only have been written by a sensitive, perceptive woman."--Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers columnist and author of Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times "This is just a wonderful book. It's insightful, funny, harrowing, and honest. It's a moving testament to our U.S. troops, so many of them still kids, and their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. But at the delicious bottom of it is Kathy Skiba's own voice, a female journalist in the throes of a terrible war, willing to bare her soul and, if necessary, her own life."--Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights "For too many years the media and the military have seen themselves as adversaries, rather than as institutions equally vital to democratic self-government. Katherine Skiba's engaging account of her time with the 101st Airborne goes far to bridging the gulf between the two, and does so with insight, humor and--what is especially rare in any journalist--humility."-Paul Gigot, editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page "A great read and significant addition to the literature of war reporting. More than most of the reporters, Skiba reveals what it was really like to be inside the base camps in Kuwait and Iraq, alongside soldiers preparing for and fighting in the war. You can almost scrape the grit from your teeth. And I especially liked her candor in discussing both her fears and her determination in taking on this risky assignment."--Kay Mills, author of A Place in the News: From the Women's Pages to the Front Page "A unique and engaging memoir of one journalist's experiences in a major military campaign. Skiba shows us the daily lives of soldiers in the field and, equally important and valuable, reveals how a war correspondent actually operates in the field. Will be a must for journalism courses."--William Hammond, author of Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War "Sister in the Band of Brothers takes us into the new world of battle in the 21st Century and provides a uniquely personal, ground level view of men and women in combat."--Bill Kovach, Chairman, Committee of Concerned Journalists

About the Author
Katherine M. Skiba is a Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for which she has reported since 1982. The winner of twenty-four journalism awards, she has covered world events from the violence-charged Gaza Strip to the crumbling Soviet Union to the uneasy streets of postwar Kosovo.


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Author Biography: Katherine M. Skiba is a Washington, D.C., correspondent for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for which she has reported since 1982. The winner of twenty-four journalism awards, she has covered world events from the violence-charged Gaza Strip to the crumbling Soviet Union to the uneasy streets of postwar Kosovo.


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