Warriors of the U.S. Marine Corps have evolved into American Icons. These American Samurai live in the province of legend. In this book the reader finds timeless words from these fighting men. Their legacy is here: Tun Tavern, the Marine mascot, the commandants, the creeds, the hallowed history. Politically In-Correct and proud of it. No profanity. NOTE: this "first edition" has been replaced with a "second edition," and later with a "third edition."
WARS CHANGE, WARRIORS DON'T We are all warriors. Each of us struggles every day to define and defend our sense of purpose and integrity, to justify our existence on the planet and to understand, if only within our own hearts, who we are and what we believe in. Do we fight by a code? If so, what is it? What is the Warrior Ethos? Where did it come from? What form does it take today? How do we (and how can we) use it and be true to it in our internal and external lives? The Warrior Ethos is intended not only for men and women in uniform, but artists, entrepreneurs and other warriors in other walks of life. The book examines the evolution of the warrior code of honor and "mental toughness." It goes back to the ancient Spartans and Athenians, to Caesar's Romans, Alexander's Macedonians and the Persians of Cyrus the Great (not excluding the Garden of Eden and the primitive hunting band). Sources include Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch, Xenophon, Vegetius, Arrian and Curtius--and on down to Gen. George Patton, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Israeli Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan.
For more than half of its existence, members of the Marine Corps largely self-identified as soldiers. It did not yet mean something distinct to be a Marine, either to themselves or to the public at large. As neither a land-based organization like the Army nor an entirely sea-based one like the Navy, the Corps' missions overlapped with both institutions. This work argues that the Marine Corps could not and would not settle on a mission, and therefore it turned to an image to ensure its institutional survival. The process by which a maligned group of nineteenth-century naval policemen began to consider themselves to be elite warriors benefited from the active engagement of Marine officers with the Corps' historical record as justification for its very being. Rather than look forward and actively seek out a mission that could secure their existence, late nineteenth-century Marines looked backward and embraced the past. They began to justify their existence by invoking their institutional traditions, their many martial engagements, and their claim to be the nation's oldest and proudest military institution. This led them to celebrate themselves as superior to soldiers and sailors. Although there are countless works on this hallowed fighting force, How the Few Became the Proud is the first to explore how the Marine Corps crafted such powerful myths.
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the Marine Corps was ordered to deploy an air-ground brigade in less than ten days, even though no such brigade existed at the time. Assembled from the woefully understrength 1st Marine Division and 1st Marine Air Wing units, the Brigade shipped out only six days after activation, sailed directly to Korea, was in combat within ninety-six hours of landing and, despite these enormous handicaps and numerically superior enemy forces, won every one of its engagements and helped secure the Pusan Perimeter. Despite its remarkable achievements, the Brigade's history has largely been lost amid accounts of the sweeping operations that followed. Its real history has been replaced by myths that attribute its success to tough training, great conditioning, unit cohesion, and combat-experienced officers. None of which were true. T. X. Hammes now reveals the real story of the Brigade's success, prominently citing the Corps' crucial ability to maintain its ethos, culture, and combat effectiveness during the period between World War II and Korea, when its very existence was being challenged. By studying the Corps from 1945 to 1950, Hammes shows that it was indeed the culture of the Corps-a culture based on remembering its storied history and learning to face modern challenges-that was responsible for the Brigade's success. The Corps remembered the human factors that made it so successful in past wars, notably the ethos of never leaving another marine behind. At the same time, the Corps demonstrated commendable flexibility in adapting its doctrine and operations to evolutions in modern warfare. In particular, the Corps overcame the air-ground schism that marked the end of World War II to excel at close air support. Despite massive budget and manpower cuts, the Corps continued to experiment and learn even at it clung to its historical lodestones. This approach was validated during the Brigade's trial by fire. More than a mere battle history, Forgotten Warriors gets to the heart of marine culture to show fighting forces have to both remember and learn. As today's armed forces face similar challenges, this book confirms that culture as much as technology prepares America's fighting men and women to answer their country's call.
U.S. Marines have evolved into American Icons, the world's Warrior Elite. In this book the reader finds their history: the blood stripe, battle colors, the creeds, the commandants, the Marine fighting history. Professional. No profanity. This "second edition" has been replaced with a new "third edition."
This hardbound, coffee-table-size, heirloom quality book contains 565 pages and features 144 photos. The author begins with a framework of regional and national events. Onto this backdrop he weaves a mesmerizing true story of evolving society in a small South Carolina community. Readers experience horrors of the American Revolutionary War, then stability and prosperity in the fabled Cotton Kingdom. The author paints a graphic picture of initial euphoria, followed by privation and suffering, during the brutal American Civil War. The little village prospered thereafter, but disaster struck in the early 1900s. The dreaded boll weevil, demise of the small farmer, death of King Cotton, and Great Depression sucked lifeblood out of the town. Hard times forged unity, and families bonded together. Togetherness honed interpersonal skills and responsible citizenship. When venturing into mainstream America, town natives rose head-and-shoulders above the masses. In the sciences, the arts, the humanities, and the professions they excelled. Most credit their experience in the little town for their many worldly successes. The author weaves a spellbinding story. He uses plats, maps, deeds, letters, photos, and newspaper articles to breathe life into this riveting saga of life in rural America. The mystical lure of the laid-back little village has prompted many former residents to return in their later years. Most agree that their utopian rural home is truly "Heaven in South Carolina."
"This textbook is designed to help Marines link concepts of culture to the realities of planning and executing military operations around the world." -- p. 2.
"[This author] recounts the origins and special training of the Raider battalions and tells exciting stories of Marines behind enemy lines in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific"--P. [4] of cover.
The part played in the Civil War by the small Marine Corps of the United and Confederate States is overshadowed by the confrontations of the great armies. Nevertheless, the coastal and riverine campaigns were of real importance, given the strategic significance of the Federal blockade of southern ports, and of the struggle for the Mississippi River. Marines wearing blue and grey fought in many dramatic actions afloat and ashore – ship-to-ship engagements, cutting-out expeditions, and coastal landings. This book offers a comprehensive summary of all such battles, illustrated with rare early photographs, and meticulously researched color plates detailing the often obscure minutiae of Marine uniforms and equipment.
Stoic Warriors explores the relationship between soldiers and Stoic philosophy, exploring what Stoicism actually is, the role it plays in the character of the military (both ancient and modern), and its powerful value as a philosophy of life. Marshalling anecdotes from military history--ranging from ancient Greek wars to World War II, Vietnam, and Iraq--Sherman illuminates the military mind and uses it as a window on the virtues of the Stoic philosophy. Indeed this is a perceptive investigation of what makes Stoicism so compelling not only as a guiding principle for the military, but as a philosophy for anyone facing the hardships of life.
