by Doug Stanton
I’d like to express my thanks and appreciation to the publishing and editorial staff at Scribner, the best place a writer could hope to find himself or herself working. I’d like to thank Susan Moldow, Roz Lippel, Brian Belfiglio, Katie Monaghan, Jessica Manners, Katie Rizzo, and Elisa Rivlin, for making the wheels turn and for making the writing and publishing of Horse Soldiers such a rewarding experience.
I also want to acknowledge the dedicated work of Washington Post researcher and fact checker Julie Tate, whose professionalism, thoroughness, and eye for facts is simply amazing. Thank you, Julie.
Last, my editor Colin Harrison is the kind of editor a writer dreams of working with. There is not enough hyperbole to convey the pleasure of this working relationship. Colin, because he is also a novelist, gets “it.” Likewise, my agent Sloan Harris is the man you want in your corner. He has been a champion of this book from its beginning, a tireless fighter, and an insightful reader of its drafts. Thank you, Sloan. As well, I am extremely grateful to Ron Bernstein at ICM and to Jann Wenner, Will Dana, and Brad Wieners at Men’s Journal for their important support.
Vic and Amy Reynolds and the staff of the superb Horizon Books in Traverse City, have long supported writers and their books, as have The Northern Express and the Traverse City Record-Eagle. All three of these entities have resisted calls for censorship. Thank you for being the best at what you do.
For welcome support, thanks go to: the dedicated staff, faculty, and parents of the Pathfinder School in Traverse City, Michigan; Bart Lewis, Janet Leahy, and Anne Cooper; writer, actor, and Iraq veteran Ben Busch; historian Dr. Tracy Busch; Sid Van Slyke, the best banker a writer could hope to meet; and Tod Williams and Kip Williams for sharing their enthusiasm for this story and for reading an early version and making welcome comments. Thanks to Betsy Beers for her long-standing interest and support, to Kima Cramer for her good cheer, and to Dr. Steve Andriese for his interest in this story. To Rob and Jen Hughes, thanks for the porch, beer, and friendship. Much appreciation to Barb and Jan Doran, Bob and Randi Sloan, Joe Mielke and Jodee Taylor, Tim Nielsen and Emily Mitchell, Tim and Terry Bazzett, Jan Richardson, and to the ever-gracious Peter Phinny, plus Ken and Joan Richmond and William Hosner. Hats off to: the crew at Cuppa Joe for keeping the cup full; the Thursday night club at Stella’s: Dave Lint, Chris Smith, Ken Gum, and Grant Parsons; Jerry and Teresa Gertiser for their generosity; novelist and counterterrorism expert Chuck Pfarrer; humanitarians and boxing coaches Bill and Robin Bustance; and friends Mike and Stephanie Long, and Nancy Flowers and Bob Butz. To Ronda and Dave Barth and the extended Stanton, Earnest, Edwards, and Gertiser families: thank you. To my parents, much love and appreciation. To Grant and Paulette Parsons, admiration and gratitude. To my family, Anne, John, Kate, and Will, who lived this book with me: I promise to be home. I love you all.
This book required long absences and travel to distant and sometimes dangerous places. At the beginning of the project, meeting Special Forces soldiers to interview was easier said than done. Armed with a homemade press kit I’d shipped ahead to my room at a Country Inn and Suites near Fort Campbell, I drove through post security bearing letters of introduction. I believed arranging interviews would be a snap.
This was after the men had come home from Afghanistan. At that point they were training to deploy to Iraq (though most of America didn’t know this at the time). Finding someone to interview was going to be tough.
In addition, there wasn’t a press officer at Fifth Group to handle my requests for interviews. Special Forces soldiers, it turned out, were not in the habit of cooperating with writers. They were indeed “the Quiet Professionals.” The idea that I could interview any of these personnel, even if they were available, seemed to amuse many of the people I met at Fort Campbell.
However, after several trips, I met soldiers who knew soldiers who’d fought alongside Dostum and Atta and at Qala-i-Janghi. And after almost a year, I had completed more than a few interviews. I knew I’d turned a corner when a staff officer asked me if I knew where a particular Fifth Group soldier was located. It turned out, I did know. I said the guy was in Arizona at a training exercise.
But this familiarity had not come easily. One day early on, I walked into a team room filled with muddy gear, weapons, radios, and maps, and asked if a soldier named Mark House happened to be there. His name had been given to me as someone who might be willing to meet with me.
One of the soldiers in the room stepped forward and asked what I wanted. He looked at me suspiciously.
“I’m working on a book,” I said.
Blank stare.
Then I threw a Hail Mary: I told him that I wanted to know what it was like to wake in the predawn hours on a tree-lined street in the middle of America and leave for war…. Children’s toys fill the cracked driveways of the neighbors’ houses up and down the street….
A man steps outside, walks to his car, and turns for a last look. He may not see this place again.
This was the face I wanted to see, I said to the soldier—the face of that man, in those private hours.
He held out his hand. “I’m Mark House,” he said.
He smiled. “You found him.”
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