Joshua Howe and Alexander Lemons "Warbody: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare" (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025)

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Jun 1, 2025

Joshua Howe is an environmental historian at Reed College, while Alexander Lemons is a former Marine scout sniper and Bronze Star recipient. They explore the profound impacts of war beyond traditional violence. Lemons shares his harrowing experience in Iraq and his struggle with mysterious illnesses linked to toxic exposures. Howe provides scientific insights on the hidden dangers veterans face, such as lead and burn pits. They discuss PTSD and the often overlooked long-term health consequences of combat, urging for greater empathy and accountability in addressing veteran care.

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INSIGHT

Beyond Bullets: Warfare's Slow Violence

Warfare's violence extends beyond bullets and bombs to lasting toxic exposure and trauma.
Understanding this 'slow violence' is key to grasping veterans' health struggles post-war.

ANECDOTE

Alex Lemons' Marine Journey

Alex Lemons joined the Marines after 9/11 driven by a sense of duty for friends.
His plan for a short enlistment changed as he deployed multiple times, including roles as sniper and adviser.

ANECDOTE

Life as a Marine Sniper

A sniper's work involves intense observation and patience, more than combat.
Alex trained recruits to endure boredom and made critical battlefield intelligence gathering his focus.

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A friendship between an environmental historian and a chronically ill US Marine yields a powerful exploration into the toxic effects of war on the human body.

Alexander Lemons is a Marine Corps scout sniper who, after serving multiple tours during the Iraq War, returned home seriously and mysteriously ill. Joshua Howe is an environmental historian who met Lemons as a student in one of his classes. Together they have crafted a vital book that challenges us to think beyond warfare’s acute violence of bullets and bombs to the “slow violence” of toxic exposure and lasting trauma.

In alternating chapters, Lemons vividly describes his time in Fallujah and elsewhere during the worst of the Iraq War, his descent into a decade-long battle with mysterious and severe sickness, and his return to health; Howe explains, with clarity and scientific insight, the many toxicities to which Lemons was exposed and their potential consequences. Together they cover the whirlwind of toxic exposures military personnel face from the things they touch and breathe in all the time, including lead from bullets, jet fuel, fire retardants, pesticides, mercury, dust, and the cocktail of toxicants emitted by the open-air “burn pits” used in military settings to burn waste products like paint, human waste, metal cans, oil, and plastics. They also consider PTSD and traumatic brain injury, which are endemic among the military and cause and exacerbate all kinds of physical and mental health problems. Finally, they explore how both mainstream and alternative medicine struggle to understand, accommodate, and address the vast array of health problems among military veterans.

Warbody: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare challenges us to rethink the violence we associate with war and the way we help veterans recover. It is a powerful book with an urgent message for the nearly twenty million Americans who are active military or veterans, as well as for their families, their loved ones, and all of us who depend on their service.

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