We’ll all die as marines: a marine’s journey from private to colonel

“Reading Jim’s book is like coming home!” So says the 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, USMC (Ret), in his endorsement of Colonel Jim Bathurst’s book “We Will All Die as Marines: A Marine’s Journey from Soldier to Colonel.” In it, Colonel Bathurst recounts his nearly thirty-six years as a United States Marine, from the day he arrived at the training ground on Parris Island, South Carolina, on March 6, 1958, until his ceremony. retreat at Camp Geiger, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, October 1, 1993.

In his in-depth account of his journey from private to colonel, Bathurst vividly describes his boot camp experience and provides a comprehensive portrait of his service at all his duty stations and subsequent assignments, including as an exercise instructor on Parris Island. to Vietnam, where, as a Sergeant, he led an infantry platoon in combat and was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”, a Purple Heart, and ultimately a combat commission to the second lieutenant. You live your life vicariously every step of the way, starting from the perspective of a low-ranking enlisted man on each rung of the ladder to his last day on active duty when he stood on the parade field as a colonel in the Marine Corps being honored. for his long and honorable service to his Body and country.

Includes assignments such as your shipment to Marine Barracks, 8th & I Streets, Washington. DC, as a platoon commander of the world-renowned Special Ceremonial Platoon famous for its precision drill performances, as well as Commander of the largest Marine Corps Recruiting Station (Chicago), and many others. His story is replete with the daily challenges he experienced as a leader of the Marine Corps at all levels, in all circumstances, in various geographic locations.

Colonel Bathurst accurately characterizes his book: “What you now have in your hands took fifty-five years to produce, almost thirty-six years living and nine years writing.” Reading the details and description of what his life as a Marine entailed, it is obvious that he put a great deal of thought into the book, written in an easy-to-read and fluent style that invites one to accompany him on his day. adventures of the day and make the reader a part of them. The book is extremely emotional in some parts, especially in its combat ordeals, while it is funny in others.

The writer’s main drive is leadership, from squad and platoon level in combat (Vietnam) to being a peacetime battalion commander of an infantry unit, a commanding officer of a Navy barracks (NAS , Lemoore) and his final tour as Commander of the Infantry School (Camp Lejeune), and presents the reader with an up-close and personal account of the many challenges leaders of any level experience on a daily basis. Give explicit examples of many of them and offer the solutions that have worked best for you over the years.

Colonel Bathurst accurately summarizes his intentions in writing this book at the beginning in the “Acknowledgments” section when he says: “I have endeavored in this document to write honestly and frankly about my life as a United States Marine, to put in words the fundamental nature of what it was like to live such an adventure, both the good ones and the maybe not so good ones, and tell the unique experiences that a Marine has had for many years: the true essence of my service in indisputably one of the best military organizations in the world – and some of the many brothers and sisters I acquired over those many years, many of whom I will remember deeply until my last days. ” Couldn’t have said it better.

I found the book fascinating from cover to cover perhaps due to my own time as a United States Marine, but I am sure that anyone who enjoys and learns from real life success stories will enjoy the book. It is an entertaining exposition of one person’s commitment to excellence, fierce determination to succeed, and unwavering loyalty to his Body and his country. I found the heartfelt combat stories, especially the heartbreaking depiction of the sheer violence and heartbreaking loss of fellow Marines killed in action, the most emotionally engaging parts of the book. Bathurst takes you to the battlefield where you feel the intensity of combat, smell the acrid smell of gunpowder, and hear the dreaded cry “Corpsman!” as if you were there. His description of the war, both physically and emotionally, is that precise and sensory.

You don’t stop reading this book without your own favorite aspects of his exploits and without getting intimately involved in the passionate life of this man as a Marine on the long journey from private to colonel with all that goes with it. It is a well done saga in all aspects.

As General Pace says on the cover: “… Marines past and present remember the camaraderie, courage, teamwork, and humor that make our Corps a shared, life-changing experience, regardless of when. or where we serve “.

In short, Jim Bathurst says it best on the cover of his book when he writes “… the Corps was not a job, a career, or even a profession; it was, and still is, a way of life.”

The book, published by iUniverse®, is available online in hardcover and paperback (paperback) versions, as well as in e-book format. The retail price is $ 42.95 for the hardcover, $ 32.95 for the paperback, and $ 7.99 for the downloadable e-book, although actual prices are typically lower.

Exceptionally, the author offers autographed copies of his work by contacting him at [email protected]

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