Marines

Title: Obediently Yours, Orson Welles
Author: Ulmon Bray
Genre: Military, Marines
Reviewer: Bob Ruerhdanz

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1608444570

This is the story of a young Marine's struggle through unwanted separation from friends and family caused by the consequences of the Great Depression and by the demands of World War II. During the twenty-two months he served in the Corps, the Marine wrote more than sixty letters to a young woman who save fifty-seven of them. The substance of those letters and the recollections that emerged from a number of conversations the author had with the young girl more than sixty years later formed a theme upon which to build an account of the young man's military and non-military experiences, both factual, as well as fictional. The letters revealed not only his military encounters and life behind the lines but also focused on homefront fears and concerns. His military records established a schedule of movement and location of training and combat during his tour of duty.

Title: Lullabies for Lieutenants: Memoir of a Marine Forward Observer in Vietnam, 1965-1966
Author: Franklin Cox
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Reviewer: Hodge Wood

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0786447192

Capturing the chaotic nature of the U.S. Marine experience at war in Vietnam, this memoir recounts the experiences of a young officer in a series of unrelated short pieces. In a narrative as fragmented as the war itself, the only resolution is the same one reached by the Marines who fought--the conclusion of a tour of duty with no happy ending. Each chapter describes a specific event, a story of emotion, or a remarkable person (some are heroes, some are cowards). The reader lives the experience alongside the author, gaining a true sense of the pulse-pounding contact, surrealism, pathos, humor, and beauty that defined one of the low points of the American experience.

Title: Wing Wife: How To Be Married to a Marine Fighter Pilot
Author: Marcia J. Sargent
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Reviewer: Hodge Wood

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1453809260

Marcia never flew high performance aircraft, yet she learned to appreciate and maneuver through the irreverent, technical, and dangerous world of the Marine aviator--at and under her husband's wing. In WING WIFE: How to Be Married to a Fighter Pilot, a memoir of the first few years of her marriage to a Marine jet jockey, Marcia navigates the unfamiliar skies of officer's wives, military expectations, and the loss of loved ones. Over time she realizes what she risks by loving a man who flies. WING WIFE brings the reader intimately into the bawdy, comedic, and tragic world of the Marine Corps aviator and the aviator's wife.

Title: Lucky Enough (Audio)
Author: Eddie Beesley
Genre: Audio Book
Reviewer: Joyce Gilmour

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0966327675

In August, 1965, Marine Corporal Eddie Beesley stepped on a landmine near Chu Lai in Vietnam. The resulting explosion changes his life forever. Lucky Enough is the inspiring story of how Eddie dealt with the most terrible moment of his life.