Marine!: The Life of Chesty Puller

Burke Davis

Mar 2016 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

The gripping story of an extraordinary American hero, the most decorated man in US Marine Corps history, from a New York Times–bestselling author.

“We are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can’t get away from us now!” —Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC
 
In the glorious chronicles of the US Marine Corps, no name is more revered than that of Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller. The only fighting man to receive the Navy Cross five separate times—a military honor second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor—he was the epitome of a professional warrior. A son of the South, descendant of Robert E. Lee, and cousin to George S. Patton, Puller began his enlisted career during World War I and moved up through the ranks as he proved his battlefield mettle in Haiti and Nicaragua, with the Horse Marines in Peking, in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and in the nightmarish winter engagements of the Korean War.
 
Fearless and seemingly indestructible, adored by the troops he championed yet forced into early retirement by a high command that resented his “lowly” beginnings and unwillingness to play politics, Puller remains one of most towering figures in American military history. Bestselling military biographer Burke Davis paints the definitive portrait of this extraordinary marine hero.

Ratings and reviews

Good read...Chesty would be spinning in his warm grave if he saw the Corps today....Good Marine's, bad brass as of late......

The life of General Puller needs to be required curriculam for all High School Freshman! Learning & applying the habits and traits of this man would prevent many a 30 y/o couch potato gamer from living in his patents basement. This narrative reveals the real foundation of manhood.

My son is currently in boot camp in San Diego, and although reading about actual warfare is hard to do, this book was inspirational.

About the author

Burke Davis (1913–2006) was an American author and journalist best known for his narrative histories of the Civil War, including To Appomattox: Nine April Days, 1865 (1959), Sherman’s March (1980), and The Last Surrender (1985). His acclaimed biographies of military and political figures include They Called Him Stonewall (1954), Gray Fox: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War (1956), Marine!: The Life of Chesty Puller (1962), and Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson (1977). A longtime special projects writer for Colonial Williamsburg, Davis also published many works of historical nonfiction for young readers. His numerous honors include the Mayflower Cup, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and election to the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame.