Customer Reviews

The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Dittos to the above reviewers. As a former Marine I find it hard to be truly objective about this book. The overwhelming impression about "The March Up" is honesty. The Marines, after reading this concise and crisp piece of work, come across as a stellar fighting force of the highest caliber. Isn't that what they've always been known for?

Regardless of how you feel about the invasion of Iraq you can't help but admire the professionalism, dedication and sense of duty shared by the young men at the tip of the American war machine. West and Smith, without glorifying anything or overdoing the Gung Ho banter, provide a precise Abrams tank's optical gunsight on one of America's elite fighting forces and, despite some errors and initial setbacks, the Marines come out smelling like roses. What other branch of service would allow two "lowly" grunt rifle squads to seize one of the war's most important objectives, the oil processing facility known as "the Crown Jewel?"

In action after action the Leathernecks come across almost as chained dobermans, straining for their chance to get into the thick of it. The riflemen are disappointed numerous times when their chance to take out an enemy position is missed, when it's over before they get their licks in. They curse the tankers who "get all the shots" at long range. They're eager to close with the enemy and destroy him. That's what they're there for and I'm darn glad we have them.

No other authors/journalists could have gotten as much access with the Marines as Smith and West did. Only former Marines can understand and, consequently, garner respect from the young hard chargers currently in the thick of it. I doubt if a retired Army general would have gotten as much respect or sense of camaraderie from the 3rd I.D. over on the left. The authors saw everything with experienced eyes and it shows in their reporting. If you want to know what really happened during those three weeks this is the book to read.

For one, I was interested to see some myths dispelled, especially the account of Iraqis surrendering en masse only to pull out weapons at the last second. I also enjoyed learning about what our modern weapons can do. You gotta love those optics and computers. From honing in on lone infantrymen with tanks' automatic weapons to calculating the azimuth of incoming artillery rounds, it doesn't behoove any foe to take our fighting force lightly. Nobody can touch us...in open combat. Consequently, we're now faced with cowardly guerilla tactics. They know they'd be obliterated with any other method.

There's an underlying feeling of Marine superiority (justifiably so, I think), especially when compared to our Army brothers-in-arms. One gets the feeling from the book that if it had been up to the Marines we'd have been in Baghdad in a week. Granted, there'd be some major mopping up to do but our casualties might have been even lighter in the end. I get the sneaking suspicion that if all of Iraq were occupied by these disciplined Marines we'd have fewer civilian deaths, less resentment and far less friendly fire incidents. Marines aren't perfect, just trained better. Just imagine if they had the armor the 3rd I.D. did.

Congrats to the authors on an excellent piece of work. They even got it on bookstore shelves with Marine Corps speed and efficiency. This must be the first (and will probably be the best) work on America's most recent war.

There are going to be a lot of books about OIF. There were simply too many reporters for their not to be in the next year. However, to get a book, and such an excellent book written by two men (both former Marines themselves), that understand combat, logistics, operations, the fog of war, and most importantly the Marines involved in The March Up is going to make this book stand out from those that follow it's lead.

This story is filled with masterful anecdotes conveying brutality, indiference to danger, empathy to tragic circumstances, grievous mistakes, ignorance, fleeting command confusion, survival, death, anguish, and trial by fire. The technical capability of the troops, the competency of the officers, the capabilities of the NCOs, and the combat readiness of the Marines shine forth in this book. However no one is perfect, yet even the faults displayed are simply a contrast to a well organized and disciplined professional fighting force, more than any detraction of ability. The grit is as real as the dust layered on the vehicles of 1st MarDiv as they smashed into Baghdad, and what you experience will leave you with pride in the young men this country still produces to serve as Marines. Semper Fi.

The book The March Up was extremely accurate in accounting the war in Iraq. I had the unique experience to help write this book by my companys actions in Iraq. I serve with 1/7 Suicide Charley, 1st Marine Division. I was with the squad as they took over the Crown Jewel oilfields and eventually, Baghdad. The authors account truly depict the feelings the Marines felt from the start to the end. Every Marine in our company has read this book and couldnt agree with it more.

This is a candid, hard-hitting, first-hand account of the war to topple Saddam Hussein, written by men who personally witnessed the events they describe. Smith and West, now civilians, are both Marine combat veterans. They were given a unique opportunity to travel as unattached civilian observers with the First Marine Division on its march through Mesopotamia and on to Baghdad. Unlike imbedded journalists, Smith and West were free to jump from unit to unit within the division at their own discretion.

Their familiarity with Marine Corps culture and tactics enabled the authors to engage the Marines and uncover stories that might otherwise go unnoticed. Given their backgrounds, one might expect Smith and West to be overly forgiving or generous in addressing the mistakes and shortcomings they observed. But this is not the case. The authors do an admirable job of remaining objective and taking the Corps to task for civilian casualties, tactical errors and the like. I was impressed with the integrity of this book.

The March Up is somehwat narrow in scope and more anecdotal than comprehensive. The definitive history of the Second Gulf War has yet to be written. But until it is, this book will provide useful insights on the impressive achievements, and shortcomings, of the First Marine Division on the road to Iraqi liberation.

Cutting, intense, wrenching, and poetic, this is a masterpiece of the literature of combat. American warriors today are commanded by leaders the likes of whom haven't been seen since the days of the Roman legions. They are equally well served by chroniclers such as West and Smith. THE MARCH UP is searing in its narration, unsparing and yet compassionate in its judgments, magnificent in its portrayal of valiant American men and women at war in the cause of human freedom. Impossible to encapsulate, it must be experienced in its entirety, preferably in two or three sittings. Truly a modern ANABASIS. Xenophon is cheering.
William Altimari, author of LEGION: A Novel of the Army of Rome

I just started reading this book and I can tell you that so far I am very impressed. Reading this book is like looking through the eyes of the Marines and Sailors of the 1st MARDIV. I know because I was in RCT 1 as a corpsman with E Co 2/23. I will never forget the experiences that we had during the war and this book helps the folks back home understand what we saw and felt during our journey north ("The way home is through Baghdad"!). General Smith and Mr. West have written a detailed and accurate account of my generation's contribution to history.

Semper Fi,
Doc Duke

Bing West and Ray Smith have seen more war than most soldiers, to say nothing of most civilians. They bring their hardwon expertise as Vietnam veterans to this enthralling account of the Iraq War. They advanced alongside the Marines all the way to Baghdad, moving a large part of the way in a Nissan SUV "liberated" from an Iraqi general. In this completely unarmored vehicle they braved Iraqi fire to provide this frontline account. They are by no means uncritical of US troops; when friendly fire incidents or shootings of civilians occur, they can be scathing in their criticism. But overall they provide an inspiring glimpse of warriors who are disciplined, brave and professional, and who hold civilian life in much higher regard than do their enemies. They provide many facts and interpretations that will markedly revise the picture of the war painted by the news media at the time. Their account will be of great value to future historians and anyone else who wants to know what happened--as well as to anyone who simply wants to read a great story.

Both authors write a frank unvarnished book observing the marines spearhead the invasion of Iraq. It deftly pinpoints the marines strengths as well as the enemie's deficiencies. This is a very well written book about a tragic subject-war on Iraq.

As the dust jacket states this book is really only the experience of the two authors as they traveled with the Marines during the campaign to Baghdad. The book does not give the reader an overall view of the war or probably even a good overall view of what the Marines accomplished. The authors do not give the reader the detail of say a Clancy or the overall talented writing of Ambrose, but they provide a gritty, hard nosed view of the combat that is exciting to read. You may thing, given the first few lines of this review, that I did not enjoy the book. The opposite is in fact true, I found the book every enjoyable and fast reading. It is a in a nicely detailed and written work that given you a good idea of what the average Marine went through during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

What an interesting, exciting and dangerous experience these two retired Marines share with the world. I was concerned that the authors would use the book as either an overly positive Marine recruiting piece or as so kind of back handed justification for the war, but they stayed away from these two areas. The book was just equal parts good old reporting and mature story telling that really gave the reader a wonderful insight to what the troops went through. There will be untold number of books about the war, there always is, but I bet that more often then not the March Up will be credited in the footnotes. This book will probably be one of few early attempts that stand the test of time.

I was anxiously awaiting a good book that detailed our latest war in Iraq and I was not disappointed. This book is OUTSTANDING! West and Smith managed to write a book that not only shows you the big picture, but all the little smaller pictures too. They don't overload you with names and their description of the fighting makes you feel as if you are there. The most impressive thing about this book is they don't try to paint a "US Military is always right" picture in this book. They write openly about what some might consider murder of innocent civilians by Marines yet they balance it with the compassion Marines showed to innocent Iraqis caught in the cross fire. Overall this book is well worth every penny and I a glad I purchased it.