The Flying Spoon Platoon: Iraq War Edition

Raw, funny, and brutally honest — *The Flying Spoon Platoon* captures the grit, laughter, and chaos of life as a cook in the Iraq War with the 82nd Airborne Division. Nate Peltier blends storytelling and Army recipes into a memoir that feeds both memory and morale.

I didn't set out to become a soldier or a cook in a war zone — I was born into both worlds. My father was a chef, the kind of man who could turn a handful of ingredients into a memory. My grandfather was a soldier in World War II and a retired Colonel, a leader who carried discipline in his bones and stories in his silence. Between the two of them, I learned early that food and service were the same thing — one fed the body, the other fed the soul. When I joined the Army, I thought I'd just be flipping eggs and peeling potatoes. Instead, the 82nd Airborne Division taught me what it meant to lead under fire, laugh through fear, and keep moving no matter what burned around me. The kitchen became my battlefield; the spatula was my weapon. This book isn't just about food. It's about the people who shared it — the ones who kept me sane, kept me humble, and reminded me that even in war, there's always room for flavor.