Will Mackin on Pigs and Survival in War and at Home
Key takeaways
- The inspiration came out of the genuine affection that both my troop and our trainers felt toward the pigs.
- Some members of the troop have already been deployed, and seriously injured, in Afghanistan.
- There were never enough of us to go around, so multiple deployments were the norm.
This interview was featured in the Books & Fiction newsletter, which delivers the stories behind the stories, along with our latest fiction. Sign up to receive it in your inbox.In your story “Pig Lab,” a Special Forces troop is doing live-tissue training (which they refer to as “pig lab”)—a test in which they must assess and treat anesthetized pigs that have been wounded in ways that soldiers might be in combat. (This form of training was recently phased out.) You underwent similar training. What inspired you to build a story around L.T.T.?
The inspiration came out of the genuine affection that both my troop and our trainers felt toward the pigs. As a result, this training seemed like some kind of communion. Trying to save the injured pigs brought to mind the men we’d lost, and the likelihood of losing more. It was impossible to undergo any of it without feeling that no lives—human or pig—should be wasted.
The story is set in 2009. Some members of the troop have already been deployed, and seriously injured, in Afghanistan. Why would they be taking this training for a second time and returning to active duty?