Three-War Marine: The Pacific - Korea - Vietnam [Paperback]

Francis F. Parry (Author), Leonard F. Chapman (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

These memoirs of a retired Marine artillery officer are among the finest military autobiographies of the decade. A 1941 graduate of Annapolis, Parry served at Guadalcanal and Okinawa, commanded an artillery battalion at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, and ended his career in a key position on General William Westmoreland's staff in Vietnam. Along the way he accumulated a wide variety of both professional and personal experiences, which he relates frankly, literately, and with a great many insights into problems ranging from military marriages to the strategic errors in Vietnam. A perceptive self-portrait of the best sort of professional soldier and a welcome profile of the U.S. Marines over a period of nearly two generations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Parry spent 30 years in the corps in a wide variety of assignments (climaxed by his directorship of Gen. William Westmoreland's Combat Operations Center during the Vietnam War) but was first and foremost an artillerist. In easy-to-understand terms, he explains what artillery is all about and how the big guns contributed to such campaigns as Guadalcanal and Chosin. This is also the autobiography of a man who has had many interesting experiences outside the war zone: these include early efforts to please a stern, demanding father; hell-raising days at the Naval Academy; a period in a psycho ward; and one very unusual marital problem during World War II (learning that his wife had become a Conover model and nightclub singer, he obtained emergency leave, flew from the Okinawa battlefield to New York and snatched her barely in time from the claws of show biz). Parry is a salty, tell-it-like-it-was writer whose comments on the military milieu are well worth reading. Photos.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Pacifica Press (CA) (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935553428
• ISBN-13: 978-0935553420
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,422,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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