Semper Fi: Stories of the United States Marines from Boot Camp to Battle

Rating:
Summary: Excellent excerpts from great books on the Corps
Review: I am a third generation Marine and know many of these stories simply by memory as they talk to the heart of what the corps cult-like traditions are. These are pure stories of Honor, Courage, and Commitment -- the foundational values of the Marine Corps, and they couldn't be painted more vividly. Although I own the full books of many of these titles, this book is great to give to friends who maybe just don't understand us seemingly "crazed fanatic" Marines. Those who read it will understand the Corps and its real purpose more clearly than ever by stories like these.

Rating:
Summary: You don't have to be, or know, a Marine to enjoy this book.
Review: Once again Mr. Willis has applied his high editorial standards and avoided the trap of creating a book full of tired old war stories. Instead, Semper Fi delves into what it feels like and means to be a Marine - and in truth much of it could apply to any service. If you've ever been to Boot Camp or Basic Training you'll relive it in a couple of these selections. There are "war stories" from WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam and Desert Storm but they are not superficial there-I-was hero tales. They are thoughtful, (mostly first-person), retrospectives about the men who served, who did what had to be done, and perhaps didn't return. You will read these accounts and maybe repeat the words of Frederic March at the close of the movie The Bridges of Toko-Ri: "Where do we get such men?". The selections in this book are so artfully removed from the originals that you won't need the chapters before or after to really taste the fear of being on a combat patrol, sense the insecurity of just arrivng in country, or feel the pride tinged with just a little guilt after saving your platoon by calling in devastating artillery fire. There is a wrenching excerpt from the book by Lewis Puller who struggles with feelings that he has let down his hero father by getting his legs and hands blown off before ever coming to grips with the enemy. As I write this in Sept. '03, perhaps now this book is especially relevant with so many men and women serving in combat conditions overseas. If this collection shows one thing, it is that a Marine's, or soldier's, reactions to danger and war are constant throughout history, and so reading these stories from the not so distant past may truly help us understand the present.

Rating:
Summary: You don't have to be, or know, a Marine to enjoy this book.
Review: Once again Mr. Willis has applied his high editorial standards and avoided the trap of creating a book full of tired old war stories. Instead, Semper Fi delves into what it feels like and means to be a Marine - and in truth much of it could apply to any service. If you've ever been to Boot Camp or Basic Training you'll relive it in a couple of these selections. There are "war stories" from WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam and Desert Storm but they are not superficial there-I-was hero tales. They are thoughtful, (mostly first-person), retrospectives about the men who served, who did what had to be done, and perhaps didn't return. You will read these accounts and maybe repeat the words of Frederic March at the close of the movie The Bridges of Toko-Ri: "Where do we get such men?". The selections in this book are so artfully removed from the originals that you won't need the chapters before or after to really taste the fear of being on a combat patrol, sense the insecurity of just arrivng in country, or feel the pride tinged with just a little guilt after saving your platoon by calling in devastating artillery fire. There is a wrenching excerpt from the book by Lewis Puller who struggles with feelings that he has let down his hero father by getting his legs and hands blown off before ever coming to grips with the enemy. As I write this in Sept. '03, perhaps now this book is especially relevant with so many men and women serving in combat conditions overseas. If this collection shows one thing, it is that a Marine's, or soldier's, reactions to danger and war are constant throughout history, and so reading these stories from the not so distant past may truly help us understand the present.