Greetings from Afghanistan, Send More Ammo - by Benjamin Tupper (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Raw, direct, and powerful...This work is vitally important."--Ken Stern, former CEO of National Public Radio

As a captain in the Army National Guard, Benjamin Tupper spent a year in Afghanistan. Separated from most of his unit, Ben, along with his partner Corporal Radoslaw "Ski" Polanski, served in an Embedded Training Team, teaching, training, and leading into combat the green Afghan troops. But what they experienced went well beyond the assigned mission, and the war proved to be a mix of drudgery, absurdity, and ever-present dangers.

Writing and recording from a remote outpost, Tupper began to share his stories with Americans back home. His boots-on-the-ground dispatches were broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition and published on Slate.com's military blog, The Sandbox.

In Greetings from Afghanistan: Send More Ammo, Benjamin Tupper's chronicling of life under fire pulls the reader into the realities of war with poignancy, humor, and vivid reality, offering a unique and compelling firsthand view of the Afghan people, their culture, and a battle for survival that began long before the Americans arrived.

Review Quotes

"[An] important collection...His observations are frank, insightful, and offer a detailed account of the current situation in a theater where American soldiers are giving their lives right now. Anyone who wants a better understanding of what is happening in Afghanistan should read this book....Tupper's writing is superb. Greetings from Afghanistan, Send More Ammo belongs on bookshelves alongside such well-received works as Flags of Our Fathers and Battle Cry of Freedom."
-New York Journal of Books

"Ragged frontline chaos ... fill[s] the pages of Capt. Tupper's new memoir..."
-The New York Post

"A penetrating look at life deep inside Afghanistan and way outside the wire. Tupper's timing is right, and readers will appreciate the context he provides for the new stories we will be reading soon."
-Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury and the Sandbox

"Tupper's got as good a view as anybody of, as he puts it, the 'tip of the counterinsurgency spear' on the ground in Afghanistan... An interesting look at the culture clashes between U.S. soldiers, Afghan soldiers, and Afghan civilians..."
-Newsweek.com

"...Very powerful, important and penetrating, and I really do urge people to pick it up"
-Joe Donahue, WAMC Northeast Public Radio

"Tupper is a true grunt. He has that crazy, infectious sense of humor based on the absurd, grasps the poignancy without sentimentalism, and tells the reader straight up how it is to be a grunt adviser in the zany land of Afghanistan."
-Bing West, author of The Village

About the Author

Captain Benjamin Tupper received the Bronze Star and Combat Infantrymen Badge for his service in Afghanistan. He currently lives with his wife in Syracuse, New York.