Download or read book The Heart of a Marine written by Jared McGowen and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2018-11-30 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jared McGowen’s time as a U.S. Marine consisted of some of the most tedious, miserable, exciting, and terrifying days of his life. When his days of getting shot at ended, he hung up his boots and traded a rifle for a laptop. He had a lot of questions: • Now what am I supposed to do? • I don’t have to shave? • Can I put my hands in my pockets? With a pat on the back and a certificate in hand, he was lost and wondering how he could translate his infantry skills to talents that would appeal to employers. With these questions heavy on his mind, he fought constant confusion and depression and covered it all up with long nights of drinking. But a chance meeting with a special woman at the gym combined with a lot of hard work changed the trajectory of his life. McGowen shares journal entries, letters to family members, interviews with fellow Marines, and recalls fighting in some of the most violent battles during the Iraq War. In doing so, he provides a framework for anyone facing difficult circumstances to achieve victory with The Heart of a Marine.
Download or read book Heart for the Fight written by Brian Stann and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2010-11-10 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The champion former MMA fighter recounts his time on the Naval Academy football team, his service with the Marines in Iraq, and his career in the ring. Heart for the Fight is the story of Brian Stann, a kid from the wrong side of Scranton who made it to the Naval Academy, played linebacker for the Navy football team, became a Marine officer, graduated first in his infantry officer class, led his men in two intense combat tours in the Anbar Province of Iraq, received the Silver Star for gallantry, and emerged as one of the most interesting figures in the mixed martial arts (MMA) professional circuit. A former light-heavyweight champion in the WED (World Extreme Cagefighting), he also fought in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the “big leagues” of mixed martial arts. Praise for Heart for the Fight “Brian Stann has a remarkable story to tell and Heart for the Fight is a worthwhile read for those interested in the Iraq War or Stann’s MMA career.” —Los Angeles Times “After reading [Stann’s] book, Heart for the Fight, the only word that will come to your mind about Brian Stann is respect. This is an autobiography about a man who has been through and seen so much more than the average American citizen . . . When you finish reading this book, it becomes evident that ‘All-American’ is not just his MMA nickname, it’s exactly what he is.” —Bleacher Report “Reason to Read: Stann is a badass. There’s just no other way to describe him. If he never wins another fight in the Octagon, he’ll still be a badass. The man led his troops through two intense combat tours and received a Silver Star for gallantry. Now, he fights for the UFC and works as Executive Director of HireHeroes USA, a link to job opportunities for servicemen and women.” —FightMagazine
Download or read book A Marine Discovery written by Jax Meyer and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-26 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In more than five years together, Marines Cameron Warren and Sharon Rodriguez have weathered every challenge thrown at their relationship - including "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But the world changed on September 11, leaving Cam to face civilian life on her own while Sharon deploys to Iraq. For seven months, Cam reluctantly faces new challenges: making new friends, supporting those left behind, and realizing for the first time that she's autistic. Life is hard, but everything returns to normal when Sharon comes home. Right?
Download or read book Black Hearts written by Jim Frederick and published by Crown. This book was released on 2010-02-09 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Riveting. . . a testament to a misconceived war, and to the ease with which ordinary men, under certain conditions, can transform into monsters.”—New York Times Book Review This is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment—a unit known as “the Black Heart Brigade.” Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq’s so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country’s most dangerous location at its most dangerous time. Hit by near-daily mortars, gunfire, and roadside bomb attacks, suffering from a particularly heavy death toll, and enduring a chronic breakdown in leadership, members of one Black Heart platoon—1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion—descended, over their year-long tour of duty, into a tailspin of poor discipline, substance abuse, and brutality. Four 1st Platoon soldiers would perpetrate one of the most heinous war crimes U.S. forces have committed during the Iraq War—the rape of a fourteen-year-old Iraqi girl and the cold-blooded execution of her and her family. Three other 1st Platoon soldiers would be overrun at a remote outpost—one killed immediately and two taken from the scene, their mutilated corpses found days later booby-trapped with explosives. Black Hearts is an unflinching account of the epic, tragic deployment of 1st Platoon. Drawing on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with Black Heart soldiers and first-hand reporting from the Triangle of Death, Black Hearts is a timeless story about men in combat and the fragility of character in the savage crucible of warfare. But it is also a timely warning of new dangers emerging in the way American soldiers are led on the battlefields of the twenty-first century.
Download or read book One Bullet Away written by Nathaniel Fick and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2006 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ex-Marine captain shares his story of fighting in a recon battalion in both Afghanistan and Iraq, beginning with his brutal training on Quantico Island and following his progress through various training sessions and, ultimately, conflict in the deadliest conflicts since the Vietnam War.
Download or read book Planet Ocean written by Laurent Ballesta and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning the vast range of Earths marine environments, this collection reveals hidden landscapes of unsurpassed beauty and awe. With engaging text and more than 400 photographs presented in a stunning oversize format, Ballesta and Descamp lead readers on a compelling voyage of discovery.
Download or read book Underdogs written by Aaron B. O'Connell and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-29 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Marine Corps has always considered itself a breed apart. Since 1775, America’s smallest armed service has been suspicious of outsiders and deeply loyal to its traditions. Marines believe in nothing more strongly than the Corps’ uniqueness and superiority, and this undying faith in its own exceptionalism is what has made the Marines one of the sharpest, swiftest tools of American military power. Along with unapologetic self-promotion, a strong sense of identity has enabled the Corps to exert a powerful influence on American politics and culture. Aaron O’Connell focuses on the period from World War II to Vietnam, when the Marine Corps transformed itself from America’s least respected to its most elite armed force. He describes how the distinctive Marine culture played a role in this ascendancy. Venerating sacrifice and suffering, privileging the collective over the individual, Corps culture was saturated with romantic and religious overtones that had enormous marketing potential in a postwar America energized by new global responsibilities. Capitalizing on this, the Marines curried the favor of the nation’s best reporters, befriended publishers, courted Hollywood and Congress, and built a public relations infrastructure that would eventually brand it as the most prestigious military service in America. But the Corps’ triumphs did not come without costs, and O’Connell writes of those, too, including a culture of violence that sometimes spread beyond the battlefield. And as he considers how the Corps’ interventions in American politics have ushered in a more militarized approach to national security, O’Connell questions its sustainability.
Download or read book Shadow of the Sword written by Jeremiah Workman and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Awarded the Navy Cross for gallantry under fire, Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Workman is one of the Marine Corps’ best-known contemporary combat veterans. In this searing and inspiring memoir, he tells an unforgettable story of his service overseas–and of the emotional wars that continue to rage long after our fighting men come home. Raised in a tiny blue-collar town in Ohio, Jeremiah Workman was a handsome and athletic high achiever. Having excelled on the sporting field, he believed that the Marine Corps would be the perfect way to harness his physical and professional drives. In the Iraqi city of Fallujah in December 2004, Workman faced the challenge that would change his life. He and his platoon were searching for hidden caches of weapons and mopping up die-hard insurgent cells when they came upon a building in which a team of fanatical insurgents had their fellow Marines trapped. Leading repeated assaults on that building, Workman killed more than twenty of the enemy in a ferocious firefight that left three of his own men dead. But Workman’s most difficult fight lay ahead of him–in the battlefield of his mind. Burying his guilt about the deaths of his men, he returned stateside, where he was decorated for valor and then found himself assigned to the Marine base at Parris Island as a “Kill Hat”: a drill instructor with the least seniority and the most brutal responsibilities. He was instructed, only half in jest, to push his untested recruits to the brink of suicide. Haunted by the thought that he had failed his men overseas, Workman cracked, suffering a psychological breakdown in front of the men he was charged with leading and preparing for war. In Shadow of the Sword, a memoir that brilliantly captures both wartime courage and its lifelong consequences, Workman candidly reveals the ordeal of post-traumatic stress disorder: the therapy and drug treatments that deadened his mind even as they eased his pain, the overwhelming stress that pushed his marriage to the brink, and the confrontations with anger and self-blame that he had internalized for years. Having fought through the worst of his trials–and now the father of a young son–Workman has found not perfection or a panacea but a way to accommodate his traumas and to move forward toward hope, love, and reconciliation.
Download or read book Hell in the Pacific written by Jim McEnery and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-06-11 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In what may be the last memoir to be published by a living veteran of the pivotal invasion of Guadalcanal, which occurred almost seventy years ago, Marine Jim McEnery has teamed up with author Bill Sloan to create an unforgettable chronicle of heroism and horror McErery’s Rifle Company—the legendary K/3/5 of the First Marine Division, made famous by the HBO miniseries The Pacific—fought in some of the most ferocious battles of the war. In searing detail, the author takes us back to Guadalcanal, where American forces first turned the tide against the Japanese; Cape Gloucester, where 1,300 Marines were killed or wounded; and bloody Peleliu, where McEnery assumed command of the company and helped hasten the final defeat of the Japanese garrison after weeks of torturous cave-to-cave fighting. McEnery’s story is a no-holds-barred, grunt’s-eye view of the sacrifices, suffering, and raw courage of the men in the foxholes, locked in mortal combat with an implacable enemy sworn to fight to the death. From bayonet charges and hand-to-hand combat to midnight banzai attacks and the loss of close buddies, the rifle squad leader spares no details, chronicling his odyssey from boot camp through twenty-eight months of hellish combat until his eventual return home. He has given us an unforgettable portrait of men at war.
Download or read book To Be a U S Marine written by S. F. Tomajczyk and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2004-11-20 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprised of smart, highly adaptable men and women, the Marine Corps serves as the aggressive tip of the U.S. military spear. Theirs is a smaller, more dynamic force than any other in the American arsenal, and the only forward-deployed force designed for expeditionary operations by air, land, or sea. It is their size and expertise that allow them to move faster. Working to overcome disadvantage and turn conflict into victory, they accomplish great things, and they do so together. In the Marine Corps, there is a motto that describes their commitment to each other, their organization, and their country. It is Semper Fidelis or "Semper Fi." Translated from Latin, it means "Always Faithful."- Superb full-color action photos- Behind the scenes look at the training and structure- Next book in the colorful and successful series covering America's military forces- Still one of America's most combat efficient forcesFeatures:Chronological photographic displays, with personal stories, of a class of recruits as they progress through Marine recruit training.Steve Tomajczyk gains unprecedented access to the men in training around the country, including California, North Carolina, Virginia, and Okinawa.Superb full-color action photos.Author Steve Tomajczyk takes you through Marine recruit training - "Boot Camp" - the 13-week process that transforms a young person with the courage to succeed into a mature, highly disciplined, and fully capable Marine. During this time drill instructors teach individuals how to care for themselves and others, function as a member of a team and to achieve success together. Training includes first aid, water survival skills, marksmanship, tactics and other related topics. Training also focuses on customs, traditions and history that have made the Marine Corps respected around the world.About the AuthorS.F. Tomajczyk has written numerous books on weapons, agencies, and other aspects of the U.S. military and warfare, including Black Hawk, Bomb Squads, and Carrier Battle Group. Tomajczyk lives in Loudon, New Hampshire.
Download or read book A Marine s Conflict written by Elle Armstrong and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-08 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mags Newsome has already given over a decade of her life to the Marine Corps. She's learned to compartmentalize her life to survive the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that keeps servicemembers from serving openly. But that's also kept her from any meaningful relationships.Elaine 'Lane' Chapman moved to the US from England with her girlfriend who soon left her. Remaining in sunny southern California, Elaine built a life for herself as a college math professor, content to experience love through romance novels rather than risk her heart again.A chance encounter in a bookstore cafe brings the two women together where they discover an off the charts attraction. As they battle their feelings to maintain their 'friends with benefits' agreement, another war looms in the Middle East, threatening everything they've built.A Marine's Conflict is a standalone lesbian romance in the Marine's Heart series, with overlapping events from A Marine Discovery.
Download or read book Marry Me Marine written by Rogenna Brewer and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2012-02-07 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Like any good mother, Angela Adams wants a better future for her little boy. And the one way she can provide that is to enlist with the Marines. Unfortunately, there needs to be a husband on the scene for that to happen. Fortunately, her recruiter connects her with "Hatch" Henry-Miner--a wounded former Navy SEAL willing to help out a fellow soldier. Problem solved. But marriage, even to a stranger, is complicated. Especially when beneath the gruff exterior, there's a man with a heart of gold. It doesn't take long for Hatch to prove he's a good dad ... and has the potential to be an even better husband. Suddenly Angela has a hard time convincing her heart this is a temporary operation!"--Publisher.
Download or read book Top Dog written by Maria Goodavage and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-10-23 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling author of Secret Service Dogs and Soldier Dogs delivers the incredible, true story of K-9 Marine hero Lucca, and the handlers who fought alongside her through two bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Maria Goodavage knocks it out of the park in this fast paced, spell binding page turner" --John W. Pilley, co-author of Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words Maria Goodavage takes readers into the life of Lucca K458, a decorated and highly skilled military working dog. An extraordinary bond develops between Lucca and Marine Corps dog handlers Chris Willingham and Juan Rodriguez, in what would become a legendary 400-mission career. A specialized search dog, Lucca belongs to an elite group trained to work off-leash at long distances from her handler to sniff out deadly explosives. She served alongside both Special Forces and regular infantry, and became so sought-after that platoons frequently requested her by name. Here, in gritty detail, is the gripping account of Lucca's adventures on and off the battlefields, including tense, lifesaving explosives finds and rooftop firefights, as well as the bravery of fellow handlers and dogs they served with. Ultimately we see how the bond between Lucca and her handlers overcame the endless brutalities of war and the traumas such violence can inflict. Top Dog is a portrait of modern warfare with a heartwarming and inspiring conclusion that will touch dog lovers and the toughest military readers.
Download or read book We Ll All Die as Marines written by Colonel Jim Bathurst USMC (Retired) and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2012-12-03 with total page 565 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For seventeen-year-old high school dropout Jim Bathurst, the Marine Corps’s reputation for making men out of boys was something he desperately needed when he enlisted in March of 1958. What began as a four-year hitch lasted nearly thirty-six years and included an interesting assortment of duty stations and assignments as both enlisted and officer. We’ll All Die As Marines narrates a story about a young, free-spirited kid from Dundalk, Maryland, and how the Corps captured his body, mind, and spirit. Slowly, but persistently, the Corps transformed him into someone whose first love would forever be the United States Marine Corps. It documents not only his leadership, service, and training but also regales many tales of his fellow Marines that will have the reader laughing, cheering, and at times crying. In this memoir, Bathurst reveals that for him—a former DI who was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”, Purple Heart, and a combat commission to second lieutenant—the Corps was not a job, a career, or even a profession; it was—and still is—a way of life.
Download or read book In Too Deep written by Cherry Adair and published by Ivy Books. This book was released on 2002-08-27 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beauty can be deceiving. . . . Tally Cruise has come to Paradise Island for a long-awaited reunion with the father she never knew. But when she arrives, he is nowhere to be found. Still, she is so thrilled by the seductive beauty of the island that she doesn’t see the danger that is boiling right below the surface—until a mysterious explosion nearly kills her. She is rescued by an enigmatic man whose intensity is as undeniable as his sex appeal . . . a mysterious stranger who is not what he seems. Michael Wright is on Paradise to settle an old score with Tally’s father, the man responsible for the accident that ended his Navy SEAL career . . . and killed his best friend. But even though he hopes to use Tally to reach his target, Michael cannot deny the deep feelings she inspires within him, or the fact that her life is in serious danger. Paradise Island is a place full of hidden intrigue and peril, as deadly as it is beautiful, and Michael will need every skill he learned as a SEAL to ensure that he and Tally escape alive. . . . IN TOO DEEP
Download or read book In the Heart of the Sea written by Nathaniel Philbrick and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2007 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Number One best-selling, epic true-life story of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the 19th century, beautifully reissued.
Download or read book Level Zero Heroes written by Michael Golembesky and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An elite Marine special operations team, a battle to save downed soldiers in Afghanistan, a fight for survival—an incredible true story of war that became a New York Times bestseller. In Level Zero Heroes, Michael Golembesky follows the members of U.S. Marine Special Operations Team 8222 on their assignment to the remote and isolated Taliban stronghold known as Bala Murghab as they conduct special operations in an effort to break the Taliban's grip on the Valley. What started out as a routine mission changed when two 82nd Airborne Paratroopers tragically drowned in the Bala Murghab River while trying to retrieve vital supplies from an air drop that had gone terribly wrong. In this one moment, the focus and purpose of the friendly forces at Forward Operating Base Todd, where Team 8222 was assigned, was forever altered as a massive clearing operation was initiated to break the Taliban's stranglehold on the valley and recover the bodies. From close-quarters firefights in Afghan villages to capturing key-terrain from the Taliban in the unforgiving Afghan winter, this intense and personal story depicts the brave actions and sacrifices of MSOT 8222. Readers will understand the hopelessness of being pinned down under a hail of enemy gunfire and the quake of the earth as a 2000 lb. guided bomb levels a fortified Taliban fighting position. A powerful and moving story of Marine Operators doing what they do best, Level Zero Heroes brings to life the mission of these selected few that fought side-by-side in Afghanistan, in a narrative as action-packed and emotional as anything to emerge from the Special Operations community contribution to the Afghan War.
