"An articulate and devastating memoir."
--Military Writers Society of America

"An exceptional book. It takes the reader to Iraq, to feel all sides of a deployed soldiers life, from the boredom, the bullshit to the battles and the searing heat inside the tank. This is a book that every American should read in order to get a full accounting of what it means to send men and women off to war. You may finish, but you won't forget Beyond Duty. I can't recommend this one highly enough."
--Pundit Review

"A straightforward, succint and insightful report of one man's experience at war ... The book resonates because Meehan speaks not for sympathy, but for understanding, and because - sadly - his personal story is one that other service members know well."
--Air Force Times

Military Writers Society of America Review

During the Surge in Iraq of 2007, Lt. Meehan, a tank platoon leader in the 1st Cavalry Division, ordered an air strike on Baqubah, an al-Qaida held town north of Baghdad.

Lt. Meehan thought he was doing the right thing given his family's legacy. He thought he was doing the right thing given the months of working with the locals, avoiding IEDs and hunting al-Qaida insurgents; given the intel he had. He thought he was protecting his men; would only be killing the enemy. What he found, among the ruins of that strike would sear his soul. However, what he heard back at base on news reports and political celeb rants from home wounded him far worse because those sowed the insidious seeds of doubt.

This articulate and devastating memoir begins with the event that rocked this young American's world and then tells the backstory of his life and times and the daily grind of the missions of his tour of duty: from "butter boy" second lieutenant leaving for war to seasoned warrior in a conflict unlike any fought before.

These are the memories of a modest man who made something of himself; a thinking man, loving son, brother and new husband, learning to be a leader of men. He is to be recommended for turning to Roger Thompson, Professor of English and Fine Arts at Virginia Military Institute from which Meehan graduated, in the writing of this project.

Beyond Duty is also a telling of how the relentless, endless press of combat wears away at a man's emotions, his certitude, his humanity. As friendly locals are cut down by insurgents we watch as he earns his platoon's nickname "Capone" in his dealings with civilian deceit and lies.

Meehan was a citizen soldier determined to do his job well and keep his men safe. In the end, he couldn't do that for himself and is now living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), the result of stepping on the wires of an IED.

In his Epilogue, Meehan wonders about being for or against The War: damned if you are or aren't. About how he's finding his way home; what happened to his Translator from Michigan, also wounded by that IED, and his men. At the end he lists all the Fallen Soldiers in the Baqubah area during his deployment: Gone but not forgotten...

Beyond Duty: Life on the Frontline is a profoundly moving and instructive memoir which needs to be required reading for everyone no matter their opinion of war in general or the al-Qaida in Iraq, in particular.

Very well done, Captain Meehan, and thank you for your Service.

Review by D. H. Brown, MWSA Reviewer (August 2009)

Pundit Review Radio

Lt. Shannon Meehan was a decorated tank commander who was displaying exceptional leadership abilities during his tour of duty in Iraq. On one mission, when they were clearing a dangerous area house by house, he called in an air strike on a suspected insurgents location. He followed all procedure and even went further, sending loudspeakers and translators directly in front of the house to warn everyone inside to get out. Despite visual identification, local Intel, loudspeaker warnings, the worst happened. The precision guided bomb destroyed a house with a family inside. Beyond Duty is the story of how Lt. Meehan has been struggling with the consequences of his decision.

I told Lt. Meehan on air that I wished I could just hug him and tell him that it was ok, that he followed his training, went even further and had nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about. I said to him that as a citizen he was fighting for, I was perfectly comfortable with what he did, despite the outcome that nobody wanted. A literal casualty of war this was. This book boiled down to its essence is this, it is about the difference between us and them. Our enemies who gleefully murder innocents and use civilians as shields. And us, specifically Lt. Meehan, who are so considerate and cautious about respecting innocent life, even as they operate in the world’s worst hell holes, putting themselves in greater danger to do so. It is a sin that a man like Lt. Meehan is haunted by what happened. I pray that he is able to put this incident in perspective and find the peace that he deserves and the future that he dreamed about with his dedicated wife AJ.

Lt. Meehan collaborated with Roger Thompson, a professor of English at VMI where Meehan went to college. Beyond Duty is an exceptional book. It takes the reader to Iraq, to feel all sides of a deployed soldiers life, from the boredom, the bullshit to the battles and the searing heat inside the tank. This is a book that every American should read in order to get a full accounting of what it means to send men and women off to war. You may finish, but you won’t forget Beyond Duty. I can’t recommend this one highly enough.

Kevin Whalen

The Pundit Review Radio

On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Frog Blog (T.C.U. Blog)

Meehan and Thompson were on campus yesterday as guests of the English department. The TCU Magazine intern Molly Mahan listened to a reading and discussion of the book. The following is her thoughts on what she heard.

When I was younger, memoirs and autobiography were my least favorite genres of literature to read. I could not even manage to read fiction that was written in the first person. I have written in journals off and on since I was about 7 years old, so perhaps I felt as if reading a memoir was like reading a journal (and some memoirs are published journals), and that was something private, not to be seen by others. However, memoirs are usually published with author’s consent, so it really shouldn’t have upset me. Nonetheless, something about putting me in someone else’s shoes—thinking, acting, being like another person—really bothered me for the first 15 years of my literate life.

This sickness from reading first person did not last forever, though. In my senior year of high school, I picked up a copy of The Dirt, a memoir by the members of the 80’s rock ‘n’ roll band Motley Crue, and my love for memoirs flourished. Since then, I have read numerous memoirs and biographies of rock ‘n’ roll stars, recovering addicts and begrudged corporate workers. Although I have now read dozens of memoirs and confessions, I have never taken it upon myself to reflect on why there was such a dramatic change in what I found acceptable to read, until tonight when Capt. Shannon Meehan and Dr. Roger Thompson ’99 (PhD) gave a talk at the Kelly Alumni Center about the importance of confession and their book Beyond Duty: Life on the Front Line in Iraq.

Capt. Meehan spoke first, reading from the prologue of his book, detailing a vivid account of a decision he had to make while acting as company leader. At first, it seemed to be the correct decision, gaining approval from the other teams, but once the mission was completed the results were detrimental to his psyche and the men around him. He spoke of how he kept those events buried deep within him, refusing to share his thoughts and feelings with even those who experienced the same things and how it ate at him. It wasn’t until after he returned to the States and got in contact with Dr. Roger Thompson that he even thought of publishing a memoir about his experiences in Iraq.

After Meehan finished, Thompson spoke about his experiences as a professor of English at Virginia Military Institute, where he taught Meehan. He shared why he wanted to work with Meehan and the importance of confession – as confessor and reader. He gave the example of St. Augustine’s conversion to Christianity, which comes from his own written confession. But the genesis of it comes from the confession of another. In this one account, we are able to see how important confession is to the teller and how it can affect the listener. Thompson claims memoirs are important and necessary as they construct our own memoirs and allow us to understand our own experiences as well as those around us.

In retrospect, I now see why my younger self did not enjoy reading memoirs and autobiographies. I did not have enough experiences to be able to categorize the experiences I was reading about in a way that could make sense, nor had I met enough people in my life for the stories to seem relevant. Now, in my final semester at Texas Christian University, I have met enough people with experiences different from my own and had far more life experiences and interaction with others to want and be able to understand their stories as told from their perspective and not merely from a third-person, second-hand source.
http://thetcumagazine.blogspot.com/2009/09/campus-reflections-memoirs-sweet.html

Load up Molly (Baylor Blog)

Shannon Meehan and Roger Thompson

Friday I listened to Shannon Meehan and Roger Thompson speak about their new book, “Beyond Duty.” I have only attended a few author lectures, but this speech was by far the best. I spoke to Dr. Pittman and several other students who attended the lecture from my Expository writing class, and all agreed that this was one of the most open book lectures we have heard.

I was shocked by the amount of humility that Meehan showed, by the emotion still locked in his eyes. Just looking at him, one can easily tell that he has been through a lot, and continues to sort through his pain. I love that he and Thompson are encouraging other soldiers to write through their experiences and pain. I have always found journaling therapeutic, so to see Mehaan use journals to aid in writing a book for his own well being and for the education of others was inspiring to me.

I can not imagine living through the conflict Mehaan has seen. He has had to deal with being responsible for the deaths of innocent children. I love that he was so honest in answering questions at the speech. Flipping through his book, I can tell that he is just as honest and shows just as much humility in his memoir. He and Thompson, his ghost writter, wrote this book in four months and edited in a month and a half. That is amazing!

I was ecstatic to have my book signed by these authors, and can not wait to read through Mehaan’s confession and experiences in a war that has dominated my youth. I hope they are successful in their mission to reach out to soldiers, and to inform civilians of the multifaceted and shaded nuances of the “goods” and “bads” of a war where one day American military blows up a building, and the next day they build a church for Iraqi children.

Kara Alexander--

That lecture affected me, too. I was so drawn to the stories they told and to the journey Meehan has been on since then. It’s amazing how he used writing to come to grips with what happened, as well as his emotions and feelings. Writing does matter, and this book is evidence of that.

I was also struck by Thompson’s comment that we have been at war for almost 10 years. That is so hard to believe! It surely has impacted us in ways that are yet to be seen.

Lindsey Kay--

I love that you added some of Meehan’s photography. I agree with you, the honesty, humility and vulnerability displayed by Meehan made for an incredibly engaging and impacting speech. I think those are really essential aspects of good writing.

www.op-for.com

Beyond Duty Released

By John Noonan

Few stories break the heart like Shannon Meehan and Roger Thompson's Iraq War memoir, Beyond Duty. Meehan, a 1st Cavalry Division tank commander and VMI graduate, may as well have titled it "heavy lies the crown," as Beyond Duty is the first book I've read that fully captures the crushing burden of combat leadership.

Meehan and Thompson (a professor of English at VMI), started writing the book after disaster struck -- Meehan, freshly promoted to acting company commander during an offensive into insurgent-infest Baquba, called in an airstrike which killed a house full of Iraqi civilians. Beyond Duty details that fateful day in the prologue, the rest of the story's arc rides wave after wave of hyper-realistic tension ultimately leading to Meehan's antagonizing decision -- send his men into the dragon's mouth and possible death, or safely negate a house full of unknown occupments with a precision guided airstrike.

I've read my share of Iraq and Afghanistan war memoirs, God knows there's plenty of them out there. This, however, is the first "under the helmet" account of the terrifying nature of MOUT operations that I've read. Further, Beyond Duty forces the audience to come to terms with the immense responsibility we place on kids who are often times fresh out of college. The decisions Meehan faced were terrifying, yet through those unforgiving experiences, the light of this wonderful generation of young men and women shone through. The tougher the fight became, the faster Meehan ascended into a strong, confident leader. The great tragedy of Beyond Duty --and indeed it is a tragic tale-- was that after an uninterrupted record of deeply admirable and virtuous leadership, one bad decision completely unraveled Meehan's confidence and demeanor. Indeed, the pain doesn't stop after the wound has healed.

Read Beyond Duty. Understand what we ask of these young men and women, the angry seas we ask them to navigate, the agonies of combat, and the crushing burdens of leadership.

Shannon and Roger will be on the Ed Morrissey Show at 4pm EST, Thursday 24 September. Our friends at WRKO Boston also have a must-listen interview up with Shannon and Roger, click through for the link.

Finally, I'm proud to say that Capt Shannon Meehan will be joining us here at OPFOR full time as a blogger. I expect that will happen when the buzz from Beyond Duty calms (and it's buzzing loudly, folks -- pass the word).