Why Marines Fight

James Brady

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9780312372804
• eBook ISBN: 9781429922630
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

James Brady, bestselling war memoirist, and Marine officer in Korea, returns with one of his most memorable works to date--exploring what it means to be a soldier and why Marines fight.
United States Marines, for more than two centuries, have been among the world's fiercest and most admired of warriors. They have fought from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan and Iraq, in famous battles become bone and sinew of American lore. But why do Marines fight? Why fight so well? Why run toward the guns? Now comes a thrilling new book, pounding and magnificent in scope, by the author some Marines consider the unofficial "poet laureate" of their Corps.
James Brady interviews combat Marines from wars ranging from World War II to Afghanistan, their replies in their own individual voices unique and powerful, an authentically American story of a country at war, as seen through the eyes of its warriors.
Culling his own correspondence and comradeship with hundreds of fellow Marines, Brady compiles a story--lyrical and historical--of the motivations and emotions behind this compelling question. Included are the accounts of Senator James Webb and his lance corporal son, Jim; New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly; Yankee second baseman (and Marine fighter pilot) Jerry Coleman, and of teachers, firemen, authors, cops, Harvard football players, and just plain grunts, as well as the unforgettable story of Jack Rowe, who lost an eye and other parts and now grows avocados and chases rattlesnakes. Their stories poignantly and profoundly illustrate the lives and legacies of battlefront Marines.
Why Marines Fight is a ruthlessly candid book about professional killers not ashamed to recall their doubts as well as exult in their savagely triumphant battle cries. A book of weight and heft that Marines, and Americans everywhere, will want to read, and may find impossible to forget.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 France, 1918. “Come on, you sons of bitches!”
• 2 Born fighting, Senator James Webb and his Lance Corporal son, Jim
• 3 A college boy dodges the draft but ends up going to war.
• 4 Yale student John Chafee frets we will defeat Japan before he gets there.
• 5 Ron Christmas outwits the Corps and stays on duty despite his wounds.
• 6 Sergeant John Fitzgerald: “I killed an awful lot of people in two days”
• 7 George Howe, one of the last of the Chinaside Marines
• 8 “Iraq is lost” says Colonel Ward Scott, who’s been there twice.
• 9 A Dubliner wanders into Times Square, joins the Marines, and heads to Vietnam.
• 10 Mack Allen, a southern gentleman who fought the Japanese and Chinese
• 11 Iwo Jlma Revisited By The Marines Who Fought There.
• 12 He fought at the “Chosin” and later joined the cast of Romper Room.
• 13 Coleman of the Yankees who played in World Series and flew in two wars
• 14 A Long Island detective with a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts
• 15 A “proud mustang” who was in three wars and ended up a general
• 16 Jack Rowe lost an eye and other parts and now grows avocados and chases rattlesnakes.
• 17 Combat engineer captain Lauren Ewards and her first firefight
• 18 Bestselling author “Mick” Trainer learned his trade in Korea and lectured at Harvard.
• 19 General Smedley Butler, “I could have given Al Capone a few hints”
• 20 New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly cites the USMC’s “principles of leadership.”
• 21 A Browning Automatic Rifleman on the day he became “a real Marine.”
• 22 Gunnery Sergeant Milks and his Afghan adventures
• 23 A Marine who wouldn’t have missed the “Choosin” “for a million dollars.”
• 24 A sailor, a Marine, and now a U.S. Senator, John Warner of Virginia
• 25 After the war, Ramon Gibson plays it safe, becomes a test pilot.
• 26 Medal of Honor winner Hector Cafferata says, “I was a Marine-happy kid.”
• 27 A young lieutenant hits the beach “sprayed with his sergeant’s brains.”
• 28 Joe Owen was too tall and skinny for the paratroops. So the Marines took him.
• 29 Some Marines handle war better than peace.
• 30 Chuck Curley took a buddy’s body home from Korea to Olean, NY.
• 3I An old man remembers Belleau Wood and those who died there.
• 32 The Jesuits taught Pierce Power Latin; Hill 749 taught him the rest.
• 33 Frank Kiss won the Silver Star atop a tank on his “last raid.”
• 34 Why Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace joined the Marines.
• 35 Gonzalo Garza worked in the fields, became a Marine, and earned a Ph.D.
• 36 “I was ‘Dirty Harry’ of the Marine Corps,” said Bill Phillips.
• 37 Before he was a Marine, Jack Vohs joined the army. And the navy.
• 38 A machine gunner they all called “Hollywood”
• 39 “Wild Hoss” Callan Was Saving His Combat Pay To Help Keep The Ranch Going.
• 40 Harvard footballer Doug Bradlee hoped in war to “find God.”
• 41 Stacking the rifles, one last time, and sounding “Recall”