Saturday Review: “Always Ready, Always There: Musings of a Citizen Soldier,” a review by Jon Kesler of This We’ll Defend by Paul Crenshaw (2019), in NCLR Online Spring 2026.
In this review, Jon Kesler details the transparent and valuable insights shared by Paul Crenshaw in his memoir and his use of both light and dark moments, ranging from suicide rates to funny nicknames shared amongst the soldiers. Kesler writes, “Throughout This We’ll Defend Crenshaw wields a humorous side and a sharp edge to relay how and why his perspectives on service and war evolved.”
Kesler points out the continuous relevance of Crenshaw’s 2019 work, sharing how he provides perspective on military training, veterans who served in the War on Terror, and the politics of war. Speaking of the large portion of his family who served, Crenshaw talks of his motivation to join the military and how he had a “drive to serve his country.” Ending the book with his thoughts of his daughters potentially joining the military, Crenshaw reevaluates his beliefs on the necessity of constant military service.
Kesler ends his review by saying that This We’ll Defend is a work that would be of a “particular interest to those veterans, who like Crenshaw, have served in a noncombat status.”
Read the entire review here! Buy a copy of This We’ll Defend from UNC Press or find it at your local independent bookstore.
