Purple Heart

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick is a brilliant take on the life of an American Soldier in Iraq. Matt Duffy is a soldier waking up from an injury he received behind enemy lines. Purple Heart follows Duffy and his crew as he learns of the memory loss brain injury he received while in combat.

Unlike many war books and movies, Purple Heart captures the harsh and cruel life of the American soldier without the gore and disturbing violence. In this book there are battle scenes that paint a picture in the readers mind without the blood and gore. Readers feel for the soldiers who must pull the bullet out of their arm as they cry for help. However, they do not vomit at the thought of all the blood rushing from their body because McCormick leaves that description out. This fact alone is why I loved the book so much. There is never a dull moment that loses the readers attention. McCormick manages to keep the audience awake and guessing every page by telling a story and not a news headline. Purple Heart begins with the unusual backdrop of an Iraq infirmary. Private Matt Duffy finds himself in a hospital filled with older veterans, a wise priest, and his “lady friend” whom he discovers his past with. Although most of the story takes place within the infirmary, we get several small glances of what life was really like during the war.
One of the greatest things about this book was how McCormick managed to capture both the lives of these soldiers on the war front and behind the scenes in the barracks. Although some of the facts were disturbing, I felt as though the author had actually visited a site and talked with soldiers to make sure she had her facts straight. From scenes of an explosion in the middle of a marketplace to roughhousing with fake guns at night, McCormick successfully captured what it means to be an “American Soldier.” Another aspect I found fascinating about this book was the way she perceived the soldiers’ opinions about the enemies. In the story Duffy learns that in Iraq, soldiers as young as eight years old are trained to fight just as well as the twenty-three-year-olds. Duffy learns that a young Iraqi boy he befriended (Ali) is actually a spy for the Iraqi government to lure the Americans and defeat us. McCormick brilliantly institutes her own personal beliefs into this character and in a way that has everyone convinced that her view is correct. We as readers see how shocked Duffy is to find that such a young boy was involved in a war that even he didn’t understand. She executes this very carefully and has the factual proof that will have readers rooting for both Duffy and his men until the very end.

Purple Heart lacks much of the gore and loss that comes with war. This is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. With this book I could finally be immersed into a true war story without gagging over the graphic details. Purple Heart has its own voice that sounds so loud; no reader can shy away from its volume. It is one that is so pure and true that it will have readers rooting for America and the soldiers that wave our flag proudly every step of the way.