When the Marines--or "jarheads" as they call themselves--are sent to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford is there, with a 100-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. In this powerful memoir, he weaves his war experience with vivid accounts of boot camp, reflections on the mythos of the Marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family.
In 1998, Frank Schaeffer was a successful novelist living in "Volvo-driving, higher-education worshipping" Massachusetts with two children graduated from top universities. Then his youngest child, straight out of high school, joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Written in alternating voices by eighteen-year-old John and his father, Frank, Keeping Faith takes readers in riveting fashion through a family’s experience of the U.S. Marine Corps.
"It's a grunt's-eye view of the Vietnam War that emerges in No Shining Armor--the war as seen by the PFC's, sergeants, and platoon leaders in the rivers and jungles and trenches. It's the story of teenagers leading squads of men into the jungle on night missions, the story of boredom, confusion, and equipment shortages, of friends suddenly blown away, of disappointing homecomings. It's also the story of young men placed under unbearable strain and asked to do the impossible, who somehow stretched to meet the demands placed upon them, and the story of the friendships they forged in combat--friendships deeper than any these men would be able to form later in civilian life." (From the publisher's description)
A former captain in the Marines' First Recon Battalion, who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, reveals how the Corps trains its elite and offers a point-blank account of twenty-first-century battle. Also available as an audiobook.
Camp, a retired Marine Corps colonel, offers a highly detailed account of the Marine Corps' biggest battle in Iraq, the Second Battle for Fallujah, which began with the 2004 murder of four Blackwater contractors. The account draws on personal interviews with those involved, including division commanders and infantrymen, and is illustrated with about 150 on-the-scene color photos, plus several maps. Camp is currently vice president for museum operations with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
Located in the northern Virginia hills just south of our nation's capital, Marine Corps Base Quantico is known throughout the world as the Crossroads of the United States Marine Corps. Images of America: Quantico takes the reader on a visual tour of Quantico's evolution through World War I, interwar service as an expeditionary base, and the development of the amphibious capabilities made famous by the Marines in World War II. The impact of famous Marines, including Generals John A. Lejeune and Smedley D. Butler, is explored, as is the unique relationship between the base and the Town of Quantico, the only United States city surrounded by a military base.
The United States Marine Corps has not only played a deciding role in many of the moments which have determined our history, but has set a standard for honor, self-sacrifice and courage. Marines leave boot camp knowing that the marine next to them is more important than they are, creating a bond with one another other and with the Corps which changes them, which is unique and which survives the most horrific combat. This collection echoes with the voices from our most renowned fighting force and their stories of combat, bravery and loyalty to one another.
Beginning with interviews with the last surviving drill instructors of World War II, this oral history offers the voices of veterans from every major war of the last sixty years, concluding with accounts of what it takes to train marines for Iraq today. It contains revelatory details about the vicious training techniques used to prepare marines for the great battles against Japan in the Pacific; the Ribbon Creek training disaster of the 1950s; and legendary stories by the likes of Iwo Jima veteran "Iron" Mike Mervosh and R. Lee Ermey, the infamous drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket.
During the Korean War, 234 heroic marines from Fox Company, First Division, held off a force of 10,000 Chinese soldiers in subzero weather to secure the Toktong Pass. This is their story.
