Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood [Hardcover]

Donovan Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 10, 2009

After graduating from Princeton, Donovan Campbell, motivated by his unwavering patriotism and commitment, decided to join the service, realizing that becoming a Marine officer would allow him to give back to his country, engage in the world, and learn to lead. In this immediate, thrilling, and inspiring memoir, Campbell recounts a timeless and transcendent tale of brotherhood, courage, and sacrifice.

As commander of a forty-man infantry platoon called Joker One, Campbell had just months to train and transform a ragtag group of brand-new Marines into a first-rate cohesive fighting unit, men who would become his family: Sergeant Leza, the house intellectual who read Che Guevara; Sergeant Mariano Noriel, the “Filipino ball of fire” who would become Campbell’s closest confidant and friend; Lance Corporal William Feldmeir, a narcoleptic who fell asleep during battle; and a lieutenant known simply as “the Ox,” whose stubborn aggressiveness would be more curse than blessing.

Campbell and his men were assigned to Ramadi, that capital of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province that was an explosion just waiting to happen. And when it did happen–with the chilling cries of “Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!” echoing from minaret to minaret–Campbell and company were there to protect the innocent, battle the insurgents, and pick up the pieces. After seven months of day-to-day, house-to-house combat, nearly half of Campbell’s platoon had been wounded, a casualty rate that went beyond that of any Marine or Army unit since Vietnam. Yet unlike Fallujah, Ramadi never fell to the enemy.

Told by the man who led the unit of hard-pressed Marines, Joker One is a gripping tale of a leadership, loyalty, faith, and camaraderie throughout the best and worst of times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Campbell decided as a junior at Princeton that attending Marine Corps Officer Candidate School would look good on his résumé. Three years later, in the spring of 2004, he was in Iraq commanding a platoon known by its radio call sign, Joker One. Campbell tells its story, and his, in an outstanding narrative of the Iraq War. Joker One counted around 40 dudes: country boys and smalltown jocks; a few Hispanics and a single black. Some were college men with futures; some had pasts they preferred to forget. The battalion was assigned to one of Iraq's worst hot spots: the city of Ramadi, where faceless enemies found shelter among 350,000 Iraqi civilians. Joker One fought from street to street, house to house and ambush to ambush for seven straight months. By the end of the tour, even the Gunny's hands had started ceaselessly shaking, Campbell writes. Faced with urgent life-and-death decisions, Campbell had learned that there are no great options... you live with the results and shut up about the whole thing. For all his constant self-questioning, Lt. Campbell brought Joker One home with only one KIA—a record as impressive as his account. (Mar. 17)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

Critics praised Campbell as a gifted and deft writer who retells his Iraq tour in “powerful, exacting detail” (Dallas Morning News). While Campbell avoids much analysis of the war overall, or even his platoon’s specific mission, most critics found this to be a virtue. As the New York Times noted, Campbell “never quite puts his finger on the meaning, if any, of the extraordinary violence,” but he does “[lay] it all out for anyone else who wants to have a try.” Only the Denver Post found Campbell’s unreflective style trying, citing that the author “seems awkwardly obtuse when it comes to ascertaining the needs of other people.” Most reviewers, however, admired the book’s honest day-to-day look at attempting to quell the Iraqi insurgency.
Copyright 2009 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (March 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400067731
• ISBN-13: 978-1400067732
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (176 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donovan Campbell graduated with honors from Princeton University and Harvard Business School, finished first in his class at the Marines' Basic Officer Course, and served three combat deployments-two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon and a Bronze Star with Valor for his time in Iraq. He is now working for PepsiCo and living in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and daughter.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 125 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a Hollywood Blockbuster December 17, 2008

By Scott A. Larson

Format:Hardcover

Describing Joker One by Donovan Campbell in one word is a difficult task but if forced to do so the word would be poignant. Joker One is the story of the individual Marines who comprised one of the platoon's deployed to fight in Iraq. More than a story about a war, Campbell slaps the "Human Condition" on the face of the Iraqi War, and for good measure nail guns it in place. His story is one that needed to be told, not to sway your opinion of whether the United States occupation of Iraq is justified, but rather to put names and faces to the individuals who served their country. It doesn't matter whether you are pro or anti war what matters is that you understand the struggles of the individuals involved. The men in this story didn't wage the war but rather carried out their mission with courage, bravado, and outright selfless determination. If you are not touched by the words between the bindings of this book than I might suggest you send out a search party for your soul.

The Stateside news reports of the Iraqi War have been meaningless rhetoric up to this point. We have been feed the gruesome details of body counts and have seen the anti-American sentiments of the Iraqi people, but up until the story of Joker One these stories have been a benign representation of the actual happenings in Iraq. We haven't been told the stories of the "so-called" US allies who when forced with the decision of standing up for their own free society or their own mortality immediately switch their alliances and begin to open fire on our troops. Nor have we seen firsthand, the cowardly Iraqi insurgent's complete disregard of their own countrymen as they use them as human shields as a means to an end.

Some soldiers have returned to the States battered, beaten, and broken both physically and mentally. Others have returned Stateside in wooden boxes draped with the United States flag. Campbell has identified these soldiers by name. Soldiers like you and I who have families, dreams, and ambitions now which regardless of injury or death have become severely altered by their mere participation in the ugliest form of human interaction.

Lieutenant Campbell takes this opportunity to provide the reader a front row seat into the daily struggles of his platoon. It would have been easy for him to shed the spotlight directly upon himself in this story; in order to boost his own ego. But to the contrary, Campbell highlights the extraordinary camaraderie of the men under his charge. Instead of highlighting his successes, he focuses on the successes of his men and points out his errors in judgment. He continually second guesses the split-second decisions he was forced to make. If only I had done X rather than Y, things might have been different; is the common theme of his thought process.

Joker One reads like an action packed Major Motion Picture. I had to constantly remind myself that I was reading a true story and not a piece of fiction dreamed up by some overly imaginative author hammering away at the keys of his or her word processor.

Joker One is so vivid and alive with detail that it hits the reader in the solar plexus with unrelenting force. Thanks to Lieutenant Campbell, here is to the soldiers of Joker One, Semper Fi!

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest, Eye Opening, Unbiased, Sincere and Incredibly Interesting January 9, 2009

By Burgmicester VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The raw emotion that Campbell has laid bare in this poignant telling bluntly demonstrates his own passions and concerns for his men of Joker One and their return commitment and love for him. Donovan Campbell has in simple terms defined what it is to be a Marine.

The story begins with a brief encounter during Campbell's first stint in Iraq. From there he returns to the United States and begins to cover the short pre-combat training regimen for his next insertion into real combat action again in Iraq. This section of the book is extremely engaging, as Campbell describes his first days with his new platoon and battalion. Never having been in the Armed Services, it was overwhelming for me to begin to understand what a Marine believes and how he perceives his world. Campbell opens doors into the day to day training and the mindset of Marines that it is impossible to obtain without such a wonderfully written first hand account. From there this unit arrives in Iraq and begins the trials and tribulations of trying to keep a city from falling into the hands of insurgents.

Campbell has written a heartfelt, honest, incredibly readable and moving biography of his time with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. It is difficult to write about something that is so recent without emphasizing various experiences and then "over writing" these experiences. Campbell has such balance in this book that it is difficult to find any fault concerning the topics of his choosing. From beginning to end, I was totally engaged. By the end of the book, I couldn't find the words that would fit the sacrifices made by these young men; their commitment to their unit and to their mission is simply incredible.

His explanations are crisp, clear and concise. His tales of the patrols, the descriptions of the Iraqi citizens, the psychology of his men and leaders is just riveting. The fears that any man or woman would have in these circumstances are clearly told. There is not a dribble of bias that I can see coming through. He states his opinions, but they are based on factual evidence and observation. No matter a person's inclinations politically, this is a must read.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Moveing March 26, 2009

By Christopher Pope

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been an avid reader since the 6th grad, and during my life I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of books. I have ordered from Amazon since the beginning, but this is the first time I have decided to write a review.

I found this book to be a deeply moving experience. I have always been a sucker for war stories but this one is different. I really felt that this was the most honest presentation of one man's experience of war that I have ever encountered.

If you are looking for a cold clinical discussion of battle with diagrams and notes on troop deployment this is not it. This book puts you at street level from the POV of one man commanding his troops. The depictions of battle in this book are gritty, bloody, and real.

Donovan Campbell served his country well as a Marine and also by writing this book. By reading this book I came to a greater understanding of what our men have been through. I gained a profound respect for our combat forces and veterans. This book was so poignant at times that it reduced me to tears. It was a brutal read but the hours I spent reading this book where more than worth it. I have never been as moved in my life by a storey as I was by this account. It is well worth your time. Buy it! Read it! You will not regret it!