Customer Reviews

His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France: The World War I Memoir of Warren R. Jackson

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Warren R. Jackson was a private then later a corporal with the 6th Marine regiment in France during World War I. What is so distinct about this book is the fact that Jackson fought in every major battle his regiment was involved in without once being wounded. He survived the entire war unscathed; according to Jackson only one other Marine in his company (the 95th) accomplished this feat.
Jackson's narrative begins with his enlistment and training at Paris Island (yes Paris, it wasn't changed to Parris Island until after the war) Jackson's memoir is highly detailed, though incredibly readable as he recounts numerous episodes of life while training for war. Also refreshing is Jackson's lack of true enthusiasm for the war; despite volunteering for service. He was not a gung-ho soldier by any means, rather like many he felt that he had to do his duty for his country. His memoir is at times choppy, but his honesty and modesty more then make up for it. His account is often times quite humorous, such as his description of crossing the Atlantic; needless to say Jackson was not enthused about the journey. Another prevalent theme in Jackson's book is his attempts to secure food; his unit was not well fed during the war, a point he raises a number of times.
Jackson saw combat in seven different engagements throughout the war, beginning with the trenches at Verdun in March of 1918, where the Marines were trained in the art of trench warfare by their French liaisons. He states that while Verdun was not an "active" sector of the line, it was still his baptism of fire. He also fought at Belleau Wood, where he provides an invaluable account of his experiences. For those not familiar with the name, Belleau Wood is a place of legend in the Marine Corps. Along with the 2nd U.S. Army division the Marines stopped the third and last major offensive by the Germans in 1918. He depicts the horrors of war, though in moderation, never sensationally describing what he saw. He vividly recalls the experience of being under shell-fire, and suffered shell-shock, as did many WWI soldiers, though not severely enough to be removed from combat. Next for Jackson was Soissons where in a matter of hours his company was decimated as was most of the 6th Marine Regiment; his company suffered over 200 casualties from shell and machine gun fire. Following this are his accounts of St. Mihiel, Blanc Mont, where he won all his decorations and finally the Meuse-Argonne, the costliest battle for U.S. forces in the war. He continues his narrative through the Armistice and on into the occupation of Germany, ending with a moving passage on his return home.
Jackson never shies away from his fallibility in his memoir, often times illustrating his attempts to get out of harms way, and at several points he states that he "fell behind." However through this we see a brave Marine, a man who would win two Silver Stars and a Croix de Guerre, something he does not go into great detail about.
In closing this is a valuable book, which along with Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die by Elton Mackin; give us an excellent portrait of the enlisted Marine in World War I. It is carefully and informatively edited by Mr. George B. Clark, a noted Marine Corps historian, and it is through his efforts that these memoirs are available. I highly recommend this book.

I have read a couple WWI memoirs now. Before that I had read everything there is about WWII and Vietnam.

You cannot imagine what WWI was like until you have read this. A very good first person account. These guys fought with no technological advantage. The only advantage anyone had here was who had the most guts.

An incredible true story of Warren Jackson's life in Europe. How little this country knows what kind of conditions our fore fathers went through during World War I. Jackson tells his story from the heart, during the entire book. Some parts of his story, you'll be wishing there was more he would of said, but definately a good read.

This is an interesting history book if for no other reason that it is a first person account of World War One. Books of this nature remain fairly rare. To the best of my knowledge there are not that many first person accounts available for pint. The great news is this is a great read!

The story is pretty simple. A young man from Texas saw a poster suggesting that the Marine Corp was the place to be. He decided the big warm in Europe was just what he needed. And the rest is the story of what happened.

Jackson saw an amazing amount of combat and was lucky to survive. His descriptions of walking through no-man's land and dodging massive artillery attacks are quite gripping. I thought it was interesting he gave a first person account to the air battles that raged over his position. This includes very interesting reading about balloon warfare.

He speaks about being in the trenches...but I think his modesty precludes him from being as detailed in his actions as I would like. However, any man who returned from The Great War as well decorated as he was must have done very well for himself.

One of the things I liked most about this book is its story. It was found in a college library special collection and edited by a Marine for publication. So while Jackson never saw his book in print, it eventually found its way to light.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would suggest anyone interested in it should also consider reading another first person account in William McBride's A Rifleman Goes to War.

A good book that describes the Marine Corps actions in World War I. The book is very interesting as it comes from a marine's point of view. The book does sometimes leave something to be desired with its to the point writing style.