War history’s tales include not only those of the warriors, but also those of the peacemakers.  “Blue Helmet: My Year As A UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan” is cuch a tale.

The scene is South Sudan, a country torn by civil war, ethnic violence and crushed by poverty.  The main character is the author, Edwar H. Carpenter, a career USMC officer.    The format can be described as a day-by-day journal, a diary directed to the reader, not for introspective reflection.  The first of 72 entries is 10 April 2019, the last 20 June 2023.  The organization is United Nations peacekeeper.  The mission is to protect civilians and safeguard the delivery of humanitarian aid.  The results are failure and hypocrisy.  The theme is a cri de coeur for something better. 

Carpenter gives accounts of interactions with government and opposition officials, fellow peacekeepers from a myriad of countries and civilians he is commissioned to protect.  Despite joining the Marine Corps with aspirations of becoming a fighter pilot, Carpenter was reclassified as an aviation supply officer, an assignment that took him across the world.  Eligible for retirement after a tour as squadron commander, he looked for a position as a Marine attache until a suggestion from another officer opened the door to a final assignment as a UN peacekeeper.  Experiencing remorse for his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Carpenter checked the box for new experiences and the opportunity to make amends for his prior war-time tours.

The author sets the scene with a short history of South Sudan, which grew out of the civil war in Sudan.  The following chapter “Africa Wants to Kill You” delineates the many dangers of the continent, insects, mammal born infections, diseases, to say nothing of animal and human attack.  Of particular interest is the Short History of Peacekeeping, chronically U.N. initiatives in the first Arab-Israeli War and first Indo-Pakistani War, Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina.  In the Twenty-first Century, U.N. peacekeeping has largely been confined to Africa; Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Cote d”Ivoire, Liberia and Sudan.

Carpenter describes his own interaction with superiors and colleagues.  Some, such as Force Commander Lt. General Shailesh Tonaikar earned his respect while others, U.N. officials most prominently, did not.  He narrates his hopes and frustrations, successes (few) and disappointments (many).  He stands his ground as leaders betray their missions behind smokescreens of fine sounding, but inaccurate progress reports. His occasional, romantic R & R visits are given due attention.  He ends with a call for reform of U. N. Peacekeeping to enable it to fulfill its mission to protect civilians in areas of danger.

Photos of the area and appendices on Ways to Improve the Protection of Civilians, Policy Recommendations for the United States and Suggestions for further reading are helpful supplements to the text.  I usually find notes at the end of a book to be generally unprofitable citations, but this work’s do add to the narrative.

War History members will find this book to be helpful on several levels.  It provides windows into life in the worst of the third world for its civilians, its ethnic and political factions tearing at each other and the humanitarian agencies and personnel trying to provide relief.  It changed my impression of modern United Nations’ peacekeeping operations.  I had viewed U.N. peacekeepers as buffers between belligerents missioned to prevent truce breakdowns due to clashes between opposing forces and to be the eyes of the world in identifying those guilty of violations.  This presents a picture of multi-national forces tasked to restore order amid chaos and protect civilian populations, with force, if necessary, while dependent on leadership lacking the resources or will to carry out the mission.  For those curious about United Nations’ operations, “Blue Helmet” is an enlightening read.