Nothing Here Worth Dying For

Nothing Here Worth Dying For is a story of teamwork, perseverance, and redemption in modern warfarean underdog story where the stakes are higher than most can imagine.In this sharp, challenging memoir, Col Seth Folsom lays bare the complexities of modern military combat advisor missions at the twilight of Americas longest war. Nothing Here Worth Dying For tells the story of his command of Task Force Liona purpose-built combat advisor teamand his frenetic 2017 deployment to Iraqs Al Anbar Province. Charged with the daunting task of advising, assisting, and enabling the Iraqi Security Forces in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Folsom and his team of Marines and sailors struggled to support their Iraqi partners in the Jazeera Operations Command while simultaneously grappling with their own leadership for their relevance on the battlefield. Nothing Here Worth Dying For is the jarring coda to Folsoms nearly thirty years in uniformthe last twenty of which he spent deploying to the long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Far from a jingoistic tale that celebrates Corps and Country, this work challenges many of the popular assumptions about military command, leadership, loyalty, and teamwork. As with the authors previous books, Nothing Here Worth Dying For focuses on individual Marine actions at the tactical and operational levels while also addressing regional events that contributed to the overall narrative of the U.S. war in Iraq. Folsom describes his unpopular decision to prioritize his team members and their mission to support the Iraqi army above the desires of his own military service branch. As the final operation against ISIS in western Al Anbar gained steam, he questioned the wisdom of the military leadership to which he had dedicated his entire adult life. When a senior officer refers to the fact that force protection was his number one priority and "There's nothing here worth dying for," Folsom wondered "...just what the hell were we still doing there in Iraq." Despite his disillusionment, he committed himself to the men and women under his command who fought against the odds to accomplish a crucial mission. At its core, this is a story about teamwork and the bonds that develop when men and women risk their lives and reputations together. As the United States struggles once more to extricate itself from Iraq, this book will be a timely addition to the existing body of work about the war.