Customer Reviews

We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is incredible. And no, that isn't an overstatement.

O'Donnell isn't going to win any awards for his writing talents---his allegories are like stale Stephen King at best---but the story alone sells this book and made it (for me at least) the first read in a very long time that I just simply couldn't put down.

It made me
1. Proud to be an American
2. Sorrowful for the soldiers who experienced this battle
3. Reconfirm my hatred for Islamic extremists
4. Understand the petty manipulation of our media concerning the Iraq war

and quite possibly more than anything...

5. Ashamed for not serving my country.

God Bless America----and God Bless the Marines

I was a member of 3/1 in the late 70's and was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1990 after recovering from injuries incurred in Beirut. I have spent most of my life reading military history and first hand accounts of combat and have experienced it myself. This book is one of the best I have ever read. All Marines, historians and those who want to know what Marines are like in combat and what combat is like in Iraq should read this book. Kudos to the author for going through what so few else would do to get t he story first hand. My only regret is that as in Vietnam these men were misused by politicians who themselves would never make the ultimate sacrifice for others.

As a mother of a Marine, who is currently deployed in Al Anbar province, I wanted to read this book to see if I could get some insight regarding what my son is going through everyday. Sadly Mr.O'Donnell did not disappoint me. I say sadly because it was very real and I could picture my son in every one of the Marines Mr. O'Donnell immortalized. He painted a very clear and honest picture of who these young men are, how they felt, and how the daily activities they faced impacted them. I must say that at times it was a little too honest for me; the language was little rough, remember I am a Marine Mom, not a Marine. After reading this book I felt as though I knew each of these young men and I said another prayer of thanksgiving for their bravery and sacrifices. Although it was a hard story to read I am glad I read it. I am very proud of these young men and even more committed to the job that needs to be finished. I am just sorry it is true.

I just finished reading your book, "We Were One" and wanted to share my thoughts with you. Being a female in my mid twenties who had a hard time sitting through the war scenes in "Forest Gump", I NEVER would have read a book of this nature. The only reason that I picked it up is because one of my truly dearest friends, Corporal "Jack Rabbit" Roberts is in it. Corporal Roberts once told me that he was in Fallujah. Being the naive and sometimes ignorant person that I am, I had no idea what that meant. In fact, I hadn't even followed the war because I didn't agree with it. All I knew about the war was what I heard on the news.

This past summer, Justin and I became very close friends. When he told me he was in a book, of course I felt compelled to read it. I put it off for a while but finally last week I picked up a copy. I read through it in 3 days. It brought me to tears while opening my eyes. How could I have been so ignorant about the war and what my very good friend had gone through (he never talked to me about what he had done)? Men my own age (at the time) were fighting and experiencing things that never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine. I want to thank every Marine for what he has done. You have made me proud.

I want to thank Pat O'Donnell for writing this book. Right now, having just closed the back cover, I feel like it has changed my view of the world- my world in particular. I have this sudden urge to do everything I can to support our troops and to let them know that they are appreciated and honored. I also want to thank Pat for giving me the opportunity to understand what my dear friend had to endure and still struggles with today. Marines, you truly have moved and inspired me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

We Were One is a true tribute to the US military's harrowing assault on Fallujah, and Pat O'Donnell's vivid account comes from his own willingness to sacrifice it all to capture this critical moment in history. This book is impossible to put down.

You can feel the friendships forming at the onset of the book, as though they are your own brothers, and then witness the first-hand account of the assault from the eyes of the Marine Corps. The book makes us ever proud to be an American and is a tribute to those Marines who served in some of the most fierce fighting since Vietnam. Fantastic reading!

"We Were One" Shoulder to shoulder with the Marines who took Fallujah is an objective, real time report on Lima Co. 3/1's assault on Fallujah. The author, through great personal sacrafice and danger, takes you into a battle so ferocious with house to house fighting that has not been witnessed since Stalingrad. Patrick O'Donnell keeps with his style of telling it from the veterans point of view as he did with his other books, Beyond Valor, Into the Rising Sun and Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs. In this book, he does it in real time witnessing the battle himself, then recording it each night in the "safe houses" he and the Marines hunkered down in while AC-130U gunships circled, firing cannon and minigun to keep the Islamofascists at bay all night long. I read his other books, I've lived WWII through the eyes, hearts and minds of the veterans of the European and Pacific theaters. Now I have lived it real time from the Marines on the front line of a battle that joins the ranks of Marine Corps historical lore. This is a book for those who appreciate small unit tactics and close personal combat. These Marines did not have much armor support and had to do it the old fashioned way, even using Bangalore Torpedoes. It is a must read for all us armchair warriors.

"We Were One: Shoulder-to-shoulder with the Marines who took Fallujah" is the story of Lima Company, a close-knit squad of Marines who saw the toughest fighting in the November 2004 battle to take Fallujah in Iraq. (This is a different squad than the Columbus, Ohio based Lima company.)

The book touches on Lima company's training and early patrols as they are deployed to Camp Abu Ghraib (yes, the famous prison). What comes through is the close friendships the Marines form with each other as they go through the grueling training regimen, and the difficult task they face in Iraq as they try to build a rapport with the local population. They are asked to build trust, but it is dangerous for Iraqis to be seen as too close to the Americans - they are likely to get killed for it. They must also deal with cultural barriers as well as the fog of war. In one case, the neighborhood where the Marines have ingratiated themselves is fired upon by a separate Army unit. The frustration of having the trust you've built up destroyed by errors on your own side is palpable.

The heart of the book, though, is its on-the-frontlines report of the battle for Fallujah. By November 2004, Fallujah had become the locus of the insurgency in Iraq. An estimated 7,500 - 10,000 hardcore jihadis - known as the mujihadeen or "muj" for short to the Marines - were entrenched in the city. From it, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi directed the insurgents all over Iraq, established bomb-making factories that supplied the IEDs put to devastating use throughout the country, and set up torture facilities for the muj's captured victims. The jihadists are a motley crew of Islamists, criminals, and former Saddam regime elements. The Marines would later find out that jihadis in Fallujah came from 18 different countries. The most deadly enemies were highly trained veteran fighters of the Chechen civil war. All of them would have to be cleared out of Fallujah in dreadful urban, close-quarters combat.

Lima company's 1st platoon, which is the focus of the action, fought in Fallujah for 10 days, and at the end only 14 of the unit's 46 soldiers were unharmed. They saw the heaviest fighting of the battle. Their mission was to "clear" every house between their starting point and their objective - ranging from several hundred meters to nearly a mile away. "Clearing" a house consists of kicking down the doors of every room in it and verifying that it's empty or killing its occupants. Entering the room is the most dangerous part - the door is a killzone for any enemy inside. They know the Marines are protected by body armor and have been instructed to aim for their exposed heads. Every jihadist's hope is to take a Marine with them before they themselves die.

The survivors of Lima company tell their stories first hand, while we also get the recollections of military historian and author Patrick O'Donnell, who encountered the 1st platoon during the battle for Fallujah and asked to go along with them. The reader experiences the intensity of battle and the fatigue of a long combat operation, the frustration of fighting under political constraints and the despair of seeing comrades-in-arms fall. The dedication of the Marines is astounding, as is their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their buddies. When a Marine unit is in combat, they are not fighting for country, God, or honor, but for the fellow soldiers at their sides. They know the objective and they will achieve it, and every Marine wants to be the first in line. Every one would rather take a bullet himself than see his friend get hurt.

The striking thing about the book is its portrayal of individuals and their loyalty to each other, but the big picture comes through in subtle ways as well. It is clear that the Marines feel that politicians back home have unfairly constrained them. They have established rules of engagement that give a marked advantage to the enemy. The soldiers are frustrated with fighting an enemy who breaks every law of war, and who will never be held to anything like the standards the Marines themselves are. Muj can use a mosque or hospital as a weapons cache and the Marines can't do anything about it, because if they do the media will portray it as a war crime. The rules for holding an Iraqi prisoner are so lenient that roughly half of the 2,500 enemy combatants taken prisoner during the battle for Fallujah are set free again within 72 hours. This kinder, gentler way of war results in more American lives lost.

Fallujah was the worst urban combat the Marine corps has seen since the battle of Hue City in Vietnam. The men who fought there belong in the annals of American history as some of the toughest, bravest warriors who have ever served their country, under some of the worst conditions and restraints imaginable. "We Were One" reports that some of the World War II and Korean War veterans who greet the soldiers when they come home from Iraq have taken to calling them the "next Greatest Generation". We are lucky to have them, and we should all be grateful.

Pat O'Donnell lived with Lima 3/1 and went house to house during the November-December 2004 battle called Fallujah II. He describes exactly what it was like to be a member of a rifle squad in urban combat. A superb book that reflects the pride and brotherhood of the grunts. Highly recommended.

One of the best things that the military has been able to do is the embedded journalist program. Instead of the reporters sitting back in the equivalent of Saigon listening to PR types talk about body counts, we have writers actually seeing what our troops are going through.

As a result, we are not seeing the kinds of comments being made about our people at the sharp end of the stick. Instead newsmen, commentators, letter writers to the paper are praising the troops even while they are attacking the administration for not having a realistic plan to put a government in place and get out of there.

The overall story here is a lot like the stories of small units in combat everywhere, and in every time. Here the troops are marines, the battle was Fallujah, the time was just a couple of years ago. The battle was vicious. The small units suffered huge losses. This is how it is.

My own experiences were Army rather than Marines, and occurred long before these kids were born. I'm glad to see that our country still produces troops like these.

Having served in the Marine Corps from 67-71 I am pround to state that according to Patrick O'Donnell Marines are still doing what Marines do....serving this country even though I'm not sure we deserve their sacrifice. We Were One by Patrick K. O'Donnell tells the story of the assault on Fallujah by the Marines of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. It is the story of personal sacrifice and personal heroism in the face of a crazy and determined enemy. America must never forget the sacrifice of these young Americans and so many more just like them serving in other branches of the military.

O'Donnell, as in all of his books tells the story in real time....as it is happening. He tells the story of individuals in insane situations, and also manages to convey the hopelessness of combat and war. The smells, sounds, and confusion of combat are presented to the reader in as real a manner as it is possible to do on a written page.

Marines from other generations need to read this story as do Americans in general.

The only reason I didn't give the book five stars is because of the sloppy editing. As another reviewer points out, who ever edited this book needs to spend about 12 weeks on Parris Island to get their head out of the dark.

Semper Fi