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Brotherhood : when West Point Rugby went to war / Martin Pengelly ; introduction by H. R. McMaster.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: Boston : Godine, 2023Copyright date: ©2023Description: xxiv, 355 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781567927115
  • 1567927114
Other title:
  • When West Point Rugby went to war
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: "Six months after 9/11, U.S. troops were on the ground in Afghanistan; less than a year later, America invaded Iraq. Brotherhood follows players on West Point's fiercely passionate rugby team as they became members of the first class to graduate in wartime since the days of Vietnam. Longtime journalist and Guardian editor Martin Pengelly's moving story covers a remarkable decades-long arc from 9/11 to present day. The narrative is guided by team captain, Matt Blind, as well as Bryan Phillips, an enormous football lineman who found a new life in the heart of the rugby scrum, and coach Mike Mahan, a legend of Army sports. Brotherhood offers intimate portraits of young men who go to war and what it meant to them to be bonded first by their time on the sports field. Of the rugby-playing teammates in West Point's class of 2002 who went to war, some came home and others didn't. Capt. Jimmy Gurbisz, one of the team's forwards, came from blue-collar New Jersey, achieved his dream by entering West Point, discovered a new sport there, fell in love with it, excelled, but suffered an injury which led directly to his tragic death in a blast of flame and steel on a dusty Baghdad street. Team players Zac Miller and Joey Emigh died away from war, but no less tragically. This book captures banding together on the rugby field with the same men whose lives they'll have to fiercely protect on the battlefield. Given extraordinary access, Pengelly has created a singular blend of brutal sports and even more brutal war that reads like Friday Nights Lights meets Band of Brothers"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 956.7044 P398 Available 33111011091895
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 956.7044 P398 Checked out 07/02/2024 33111011195761
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"We're better off for having these men among us."-- Wall Street Journal

Before 9/11, the rugby team at West Point learned to bond on a sports field. This is what happened when those 15 young men became leaders in war.

Filled with drama, tragedy, and personal transformations, this is the story of a unique brotherhood. It is a story of American rugby and a story of the U. S. Army created through intimate portraits of men shaped by West Point's motto: "Duty, Honor, Country."

Some of the players deployed to Afganistan and Iraq, some to Europe. Some became infantry, others became fliers. Some saw action, some did not. One gave his life on a street in Baghdad when his convoy was hit with an IED. Two died away from the battlefield but no less tragically.

Journalist Martin Pengelly, a former rugby player himself, was given extraordinary access to tell this story, a story of a brutal sport and even more brutal warfare.

Includes bibliographical references.

"Six months after 9/11, U.S. troops were on the ground in Afghanistan; less than a year later, America invaded Iraq. Brotherhood follows players on West Point's fiercely passionate rugby team as they became members of the first class to graduate in wartime since the days of Vietnam. Longtime journalist and Guardian editor Martin Pengelly's moving story covers a remarkable decades-long arc from 9/11 to present day. The narrative is guided by team captain, Matt Blind, as well as Bryan Phillips, an enormous football lineman who found a new life in the heart of the rugby scrum, and coach Mike Mahan, a legend of Army sports. Brotherhood offers intimate portraits of young men who go to war and what it meant to them to be bonded first by their time on the sports field. Of the rugby-playing teammates in West Point's class of 2002 who went to war, some came home and others didn't. Capt. Jimmy Gurbisz, one of the team's forwards, came from blue-collar New Jersey, achieved his dream by entering West Point, discovered a new sport there, fell in love with it, excelled, but suffered an injury which led directly to his tragic death in a blast of flame and steel on a dusty Baghdad street. Team players Zac Miller and Joey Emigh died away from war, but no less tragically. This book captures banding together on the rugby field with the same men whose lives they'll have to fiercely protect on the battlefield. Given extraordinary access, Pengelly has created a singular blend of brutal sports and even more brutal war that reads like Friday Nights Lights meets Band of Brothers"-- Provided by publisher.

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