Sign-In
Cart
Blue Collar Infantrymen: Reflections on 35 Years of Soldiering
Paperback
Biographies GeneralMilitary Biographies
Publisher Price: $19.95
ISBN13: 9781961505537
Publisher: Deeds Publishing
Published: Feb 3 2026
Pages: 178
Weight: 0.40
Height: 0.41 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
One Soldier's Journey through the Mud, the Mountains, and the Mission.
Brigadier General Brian Reed, U.S. Army (Retired), spent thirty-five years discovering the profound honor of being a 9mm-toting, blue-collar Infantryman.
Blue Collar Infantrymen is a candid, humorous, and gritty memoir that takes readers from the rigorous halls of West Point to the frozen tundras of Alaska, and from the peace-keeping streets of Haiti to the hunt for Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Reed pulls no punches about his own career, sharing stories of resilience that include surviving two recycles in Ranger School to eventually earn the tab, and the humility learned from the Non-Commissioned Officers who shaped his leadership style in the motor pools of Germany.
This narrative offers a front-row seat to history. As the Operations Officer for the Raider Brigade (1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division), Reed was a key architect of Operation Red Dawn, the mission that captured Saddam Hussein. He provides a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the intelligence work, the raids, and the moment High Value Target #1 was pulled from a spider hole.
Beyond the combat stories, Reed reflects on the responsibilities of command-leading the Arctic Legion through the Surge and Stop-Loss, maintaining discipline in the harsh Alaskan winter, and the tragic loss of soldiers both on and off the battlefield. Transitioning from the tactical fight to the strategic, he recounts his time as a Soldier-Scholar with a Ph.D. in Sociology, serving as a senior advisor at CENTCOM and developing the next generation of officers at West Point.
Blue Collar Infantrymen is not just a war story; it is a masterclass in leadership, a testament to the power of the team, and a tribute to the resilience of the American Soldier. It is a story for anyone who has ever strived to be a quiet professional in a loud world.
Also from
Reed, Brian
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Kinney, David
Wittman, Robert K.
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII
Warnicke, Retha M.
Paperback
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
Erdoes, Richard
Lame Deer, Chief Archie Fire
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
Through Mom's Eyes: Simple Wisdom from Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans
Jones, Sheinelle
Hardcover