Guardians of the Eagle [Paperback]

John Messer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2002

This is a true story about a young boy who grew up on a tenant farm in rural Arkansas. Having no hope of obtaining a higher education, he joins the Navy.As you read, youll share the cultural shock he experienced from the rigors of military life upon entering bootcamp. Youll feel his pain when he learns that hell be going aboard ship instead of to a technical school.Youll revel with him when he finally discovers his niche as a Navy Hospital Corpsman. Youll learn to love, as he did, the Navy Nurse who eventually became his wife. The joy at the birth of his first two children turns bittersweet when he finds himself discharged from the Navy and unemployed.The decision to re-enter the Navy, after learning his wife was pregnant with their third child, is gut wrenching. Youll experience his frustration with the outbreak of the Vietnam War.In a very short time, he finds himself attached to the Marine Corps serving in an infantry battalion. Youll come to know what its like to be an ordinary man in combat as he describes his struggles to stay alive and remain sane.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The author is a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer living in San Diego California. His desire that future generations have the opportunity to learn about the daily life of the men who served during the Cold War and Vietnam conflict motivated him to document his experiences during this extraordinary time in our history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (November 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595256872
• ISBN-13: 978-0595256877
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,345,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insider Look at an Enlisted Man's Naval Career, September 14, 2006

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guardians of the Eagle (Paperback)

Author John Messer does a wonderful job for all those military people out there who have worked hard and have served gallantly in the shadows of others. Those men he represents are really the vast percentage of our military forces. They honor their uniform and country everyday through the most simple and humble of tasks at times but always with pride. The men he represents were not those big heroes that got all the medals or who were an officer in charge of anything. However, when duty calls and they must face the dangers of being in combat they do so without complaint. He paints a portrait of his own career as an enlisted man in the US Navy in his insightful book about his own life called "Guardians of the Eagle". But as we learn from reading his personal life story he was much more then he humbly claims to be.

John's opening chapters of his childhood on a farm give you some insight into his character and perhaps even why he chose to stay and serve in the Navy. There is sensitivity in the story telling as it unfolds across his life. He gives us his life with warts and all at times but it comes across as an honest attempt at understanding what he went through and why things happened to him.

His experiences in the Vietnam War as a medic attached to the Marines shows you the kind of man he was then and why he is who he is today. He shares with us the horror and senselessness of that time and place. You can almost feel his heart beating when he is under attack and huddled in a bunker and sense the outrage at seeing the brutality and insanity all around him. Some of the things he saw he still carries with him after all these years. He tells us of young men in battle who change and not necessarily always for the best. He survived his "tour of duty" but he was changed forever by that war in ways that may not be evident to others or even himself.

It is easy to like the author as he takes the reader through his ups and downs of his life and career in the navy including his time in Nam. You will find yourself truly interested in his life as you begin to feel a kinship for him. This man has no pretenses and no delusions as to who he is and what he has done but I think he understates the importance of his own contributions to others and the Navy. In my book, he is one of those unsung heroes that the makes the military function. He did what was asked and did so even at risk to his own life at times.

I recommend this book for all career and former career military. They will find that it has many pearls of wisdom and some common observations on life in the service regardless of which branch they served in. It is an easy read and makes for good entertainment.