Customer Reviews

American Spartans: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History from Iwo Jima to Iraq

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A concise history of the USMC told in a very readable context, from Iwo Jima (the Marine Corps finest hour) to the present day. How the Marine Corps operates, is funded, the infighting among the services, its Commandants over the decades, and the glorious battles this elite world renowned force has participated in. Excellent documentation and footnotes abound for further reading.

Americna Spartans relates sixty years of the 230 year history of the Marine Corps from Iwo Jima to Iraq. After reading the first seventy pages it seemed that the book was an antithesis to the creed of MTSgt Percy Webb, a pioneer public relations type from the early 1900s who said, "I had the utmost faith in the service I was writing about and so I did not need to "gild the lily. Warren was writing a masterful tale of "cheerleading". But from that point on it became increasingly evident that the author does not "gild the lily". American Spartans is not written in the gray areas of history. It is written in black and white, reciting the bad along with the good.
The Ribbon Creek Incident in 1956 is reported by telling what happened, how it happened and what resulted from its happening. The excesses in training experienced by recruits are also realted with no excuses offered. Casualities from friendly fire are included in the battle summaries. The dismal "State of the Corps" in the period of 1972-1975 is brutal, but accurate in stating that 50% of the recruits were non-highschool graduates, just under 50% of those who joined in this period "washed-out" prior to completing their first enlistment and 20% were mental group IVs (borderline intelligence). Keep in mind that this 20% was in part forced on the Corps by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's 100,000.
The Corps was in danger of losing it's reputation as an elite force. The sociological attitudes of the junior leaders within the Corps at that time contributed to this sad state of affairs. Warren also brings to the fore a number of SNAFUs, such as Mayaguez, of the Corps. This mess and others were generally brought about by combining the Marines with their sister services causing errors in coordination and control. Splitting of the air and ground elements of the Corps lead to many of these errors and unnecessaary casualities resulted.
The leadership of the Marines became cognizant of this state and brought the Corps back from the ashes of the Phoenix Bird to it's rightful position of being the nation's "force-in-readiness".
As the history proceeds from World War II to Korea, the author shows an increasing knowledge of what occurred between the lines. The early years are reported factually but without great depth. As the distance in years is shortened the author includes more and more insight for the reader. This insight adds excitement and thrist for more of what makes history live and breath. The in-depth detail of the post World War "China Marines" creates a beginning of the thrist for more in this history of the Marine Corps and it then continues to the last page.
James Warren shows that the Marine Corps is unique over it's sister services by instilling in its leaders a "can-do" attitude expressed by Elbert Hubbard in "A Letter to Garcia" written in 1899. The senior (at whatever level) issues the order to the junior but does not tell the junior how to compete the mission. The senior expects the junior to employ his own imagination and resources to accomplish the task. This attitude is paramount in the philosophy of the United States Marine Corps.
Warren uses 50-cent words from time to time which created a need for trips to the "Webster". The author may have used these words to keep the readers attention and to insure that alertness was maintained. Warren uses "won" in place of "awarded" in reference to Medals of Honor or Silver Stars which irratates many within the "Brotherhood".
American Spartans expresses a value stated in an axion of Col. John W. Thomason, Jr., "The profession of the military is a noble one and I chose to follow it".
The United States Marine Corps has had its ups and downs but will continue to live in concert with a quote of President Teddy Roosevelt's:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out where the strong stumbled, or how the doer could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena, his face marred by dust, sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and falls short again and again: there is no effort without error.
But he who tries, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions who spends himself in a worthy cause, at best knows the triumph of achievement, and at worst, fails while daring. His place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat". The book does "cheerlead" but it does not "gild-the-lily".

Students of World War II will want to read a different view in American Spartans: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History From Iwo Jima To Iraq. It's the first modern battle history of the Marines in a generation and examines how they performed in key conflicts from World War II to modern times - and how they've changed. The evolution of their strategies and tactics have really undergone transformation over six decades, and American Spartans traces these changes using dozens of interviews, hundreds of print sources, and firsthand observation of modern Marine exercises.

How much do we really know about the US Marine Corps? Like many, I knew the basics in that the Corps spearheaded nearly every major battle in the Pacific during WW2. I also was familiar with their victory at Inchon and their yes, victorious retreat from the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. As to their combat history during VietNam, Khe Shan is their most well known battle. Who could not know about the Marines during Gulf War 1 and 2. The embedded media during Gulf War 2 help many know about their exploits in the rapid taking of Iraq.

What most do not know and which Warren brings forth in this book is the deep character that exists within Marine Corps veterans, retirees, and those serving today. It is the character that is taught in their basic training of enlisted and officer personnel that sticks with each and every one who has earned the title of United States Marine.

Warren also highlights the many innovations of the Marine Corps as it literally had to fight tooth and nail for its existence. That's right, in times leading up to WW2, after WW2 and up until the end of the Korean War there were those who sought to disband what is today American's mobile 911 response force.

As to those innovations mostly in the area of warfighting; it was the Marine Corps that developed the amphibious warfare doctrine used from WW2 until today, it was the Marine Corps that first used heliocopters on the battlefield during Korea; and it was the forward thinking of Marine leaders that adapted their organization to changes in the geopolitical world so that America can project its might over 600 miles inland from the coast of any hostile nation.

While at times a bit overly detailed, Warren has drawn on the best sources to compile a solid must read for those who consider themselves military history fans. At the end, one can not help but recognize the leadership buidling that goes on within the Corps and that application of leadership that has made the US Marine Corps an elite organization that we should be proud of.

If you're interested in the history of the Marines and how they have maintained their independence and their relevance, this is a great book for you. I enjoyed learning more about how the Marines train their recruits to instill Marine values. Some elements of the military think this sort of thing is outdated; this book makes a good case that it's not.

The book makes an interesting point that in some ways the Marines are diverging more today than they used to from the mainstream civilian American lifestyle. America today has fallen for the idea that happiness lies in buying more stuff. The Marines reject this in favor of loyalty, duty to country, hard work, etc. Materialism is not part of the ethics they teach. I had not thought of the Marines as a force for good in this area before. In a way it gives me hope. As an ecological economist I put a lot of effort into trying to get people to understand that the present American way of life centered around driving to the mall is not making us happier. That lifestyle has no future in any case; the passing of the oil peak and the end of the cheap oil era will see to that. It's great to know that there are some unexpected allies out there. For more on this, see "The Long Emergency" by Kunstler.

One thing the book left me wishing is that the Marines would play more of a role in asking questions about when, where, and why America should fight wars. The Marines have lost a great many good men fighting in utterly pointless wars like Vietnam. The war in Iraq, sadly, looks to be going down the same tragic pathway. Our nation simply cannot afford this sort of war. The Marines clearly love their country. Why aren't they doing more to see that America spends its money and men where they will do some good, instead of pouring them down rat holes?

The book is overall fairly interesting as it offers a general overview of the actions of America's most elite fighting force. It gets a little dull in parts depending on what area you are interested in but for the most part i enjoyed it and would reccomend it.

This book came in excellent condition and as promised. I can't say enough about the book resources on Amazon. Especially for used books. I know it must help a lot of well read people for a source to recycle their books too.

I found this book in my local library while searching for information on the activities of the modern United States Marine Corps. While it goes pretty far in meeting this interest, its got some really annoying baggage.

The basic premise of Mr. Warren's story seems to be the United States Marine Corps is the only organization capable of defending the interests of the nation. The other services are failed organizations lacking in the martial skill, charisma and intelligence to do much more than thwart Marines in their activities and to occasionally produce a leader who will praise their greatness. To apparently reinforce this, the author almost always uses lower case terminology when referring to members of the supposedly inferior branches. I really don't see the point of all this. The Marines have an illustrious history which does not need the belittling of other services to help it along.

If Mr. Warren could have proved his premise, I would not be so harsh. But the man just does not seem to have much of a clue when it comes to the background of the "lesser" services and their histories. This can best be seen in his take on activities in Somalia in the early 1990s. From the author's vantage, the Marines pretty much had Somalia stabilized when the Army took over and screwed up everything by not using Marine techniques. This is a massive oversimplification given that the Marine and Army missions in Somalia were so different comparisons just do not make sense. Perhaps if he delved into a little Army specific research he might have realized this. Sadly, it appears the author just relied on official Marine sources such as one would get from Public Affairs Officers. How does one otherwise explain the author's bizarre comment that Marines pioneered the use if helicopters in warfare (yeah, Marines were first to actually use them but most of the innovations came from the Army during the Vietnam War).

The only part I liked was Warren's recounting of recent Marine combat activities. While a bit dry at times, he does managage to pull together the big picture and a foxhole view pretty well. But even then, youve got to put up with lots of propaganda.

begins with wwii works forward. has many of the standard historical errrors of the tet and misses most of the final victories in the late sixties.

This one's a pass. Starts with some blah-blah-blah about warrior mystique with quotes obviously approved by the public affairs department. Follows with mostly sterile description of battles in the manner of "this division went up the mountain, got repulsed, regrouped and then destroyed the enemy. Then this other division..." These battles are supposed to be stirring but all we get here is a mind-numbing list of names, events and dates.