U S Marine Corps Popular Books

U S Marine Corps Biography & Facts

The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial, and special operations forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The Marine Corps has been part of the U.S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834 with its sister service, the United States Navy. The USMC operates installations on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world. Additionally, several of the Marines' tactical aviation squadrons, primarily Marine Fighter Attack squadrons, are also embedded in Navy carrier air wings and operate from the aircraft carriers. The history of the Marine Corps began when two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting both at sea and on shore. In the Pacific theater of World War II, the Corps took the lead in a massive campaign of amphibious warfare, advancing from island to island. As of 2022, the USMC has around 177,200 active duty members and some 32,400 personnel in reserve. Mission As outlined in 10 U.S.C. § 5063 and as originally introduced under the National Security Act of 1947, three primary areas of responsibility for the U.S. Marine Corps are: Seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and other land operations to support naval campaigns; Development of tactics, technique, and equipment used by amphibious landing forces in coordination with the Army and Air Force; and Such other duties as the President or Department of Defense may direct. This last clause derives from similar language in the Congressional acts "For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps" of 1834 and "Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps" of 1798. In 1951, the House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee called the clause "one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps". It noted that the Corps has more often than not performed actions of a non-naval nature, including its famous actions in Tripoli, the War of 1812, Chapultepec, and numerous counterinsurgency and occupational duties (such as those in Central America, World War I, and the Korean War). While these actions are not accurately described as support of naval campaigns nor as amphibious warfare, their common thread is that they are of an expeditionary nature, using the mobility of the Navy to provide timely intervention in foreign affairs on behalf of American interests. The Marine Band, dubbed the "President's Own" by Thomas Jefferson, provides music for state functions at the White House. Marines from Ceremonial Companies A & B, quartered in Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., guard presidential retreats, including Camp David, and the Marines of the Executive Flight Detachment of HMX-1 provide helicopter transport to the President and Vice President, with the radio call signs "Marine One" and "Marine Two", respectively. The Executive Flight Detachment also provides helicopter transport to Cabinet members and other VIPs. By authority of the 1946 Foreign Service Act, the Marine Security Guards of the Marine Embassy Security Command provide security for American embassies, legations, and consulates at more than 140 posts worldwide. The relationship between the Department of State and the U.S. Marine Corps is nearly as old as the Corps itself. For over 200 years, Marines have served at the request of various Secretaries of State. After World War II, an alert, disciplined force was needed to protect American embassies, consulates, and legations throughout the world. In 1947, a proposal was made that the Department of Defense furnish Marine Corps personnel for Foreign Service guard duty under the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. A formal Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of State and the Secretary of the Navy on 15 December 1948, and 83 Marines were deployed to overseas missions. During the first year of the program, 36 detachments were deployed worldwide. Historical mission The Marine Corps was founded to serve as an infantry unit aboard naval vessels and was responsible for the security of the ship and its crew by conducting offensive and defensive combat during boarding actions and defending the ship's officers from mutiny; to the latter end, their quarters on the ship were often strategically positioned between the officers' quarters and the rest of the vessel. Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore. America's first amphibious assault landing occurred early in the Revolutionary War, on 3 March 1776, as the Marines gained control of Fort Montagu and Fort Nassau, a British ammunition depot and naval port in New Providence, the Bahamas. The role of the Marine Corps has expanded significantly since then; as the importance of its original naval mission declined with changing naval warfare doctrine and the professionalization of the naval service, the Corps adapted by focusing on formerly secondary missions ashore. The Advanced Base Doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. In 1987, the USMC Sea School was closed; in 1998, all Marine Detachments on board ships were disbanded. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers. Marine detachments served in their traditional duties as a ship's landing force, manning the ship's weapons and providing shipboard security. Marine detachments were augmented by members of the ship's company for landing parties, such as in the First Sumatran expedition of 1832 and continuing in the Caribbean and Mexican campaigns of the early 20th centuries. Marines developed tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II. During World War II, Marines continued to serve on capital ships, and some were assigned to man anti-aircraft batteries. In 1950, President Harry Truman responded to a message from U.S. Representative Gordon L. McDonough. McDonough had urged President Truman to add Marine representation on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Truman, writing in a letter addressed to McDonough, stated, "The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's." McDonough then inserted President Truman's letter, dated 29 August 1950, into the Congressional Record. Congressmen and Marine organizations reacted, calling President Truman's remarks an insult, and demanded an apology. Truman apologized to the Marine c.... Discover the U S Marine Corps popular books. Find the top 100 most popular U S Marine Corps books.

Best Seller U S Marine Corps Books of 2024

  • Corps Business synopsis, comments

    Corps Business

    David H. Freedman

    Fast. Motivated. Hardhitting.That's what every business wants to be. And that's why the U.S. Marines excel in every mission American throws at them, no matter how tough the odds. ...

  • Generation Kill synopsis, comments

    Generation Kill

    Evan Wright

    Based on Evan Wright's National Magazine Awardwinning story in Rolling Stone, this is the raw, firsthand account of the 2003 Iraq invasion that inspired the HBO® original mini...

  • Greatest U.S. Marine Corps Stories Ever Told synopsis, comments

    Greatest U.S. Marine Corps Stories Ever Told

    Iain Martin

    On Friday, November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress approved a resolution for the organization of the Corps, creating what would become the hallowed few, the proudthe Marines. S...

  • Making the Corps synopsis, comments

    Making the Corps

    Thomas E. Ricks

    The bestselling, compelling insider’s account of the Marine Corps from the lives of the men of Platoon 3086their training at Parris Island, their fierce camaraderie, and the unique...

  • Jarhead synopsis, comments

    Jarhead

    Anthony Swofford

    Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. When the marines or "jarheads," as they call...

  • The Long Gray Line synopsis, comments

    The Long Gray Line

    Rick Atkinson

    The New York Times bestseller about West Point's Class of 1966, by Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist and author Rick Atkinson. "A story of epic proportions [and] an awesome feat o...

  • Islands of the Damned synopsis, comments

    Islands of the Damned

    R.V. Burgin & Bill Marvel

    A remarkable eyewitness account of the most brutal combat of the Pacific War, from Peleliu to Okinawa, this is the true story of R.V. Burgin, the reallife World War II Marine Corps...

  • Attack Aircraft of the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps synopsis, comments

    Attack Aircraft of the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps

    Bert Kinzey

    Attack aircraft of the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps covers the history of the U. S. Navy’s attack category of carrierbased aircraft from its very inception, shortly after the end of...

  • Red Blood, Black Sand synopsis, comments

    Red Blood, Black Sand

    Chuck Tatum

    A story of heroism, friendship, and courage in World War 2as seen in the awardwinning HBO miniseries The Pacific.In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Divisionalso...

  • Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates synopsis, comments

    Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates

    Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger

    “Another blockbuster! Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates reads like an edgeofyourseat, pageturning thriller. You will love this book and also wonder why so few people know th...

  • Hogs in the Shadows synopsis, comments

    Hogs in the Shadows

    Milo S. Afong

    They have one mission? and they accomplish it with one bullet. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, there is a special breed of hunter for whom the prey is the enemy?and every day is huntin...

  • U.S. Marine Guidebook synopsis, comments

    U.S. Marine Guidebook

    United States Marine Corps

    Here is everything there is to know about the essentials of life as a Marine. From fitness to first aid to firing positions, this book covers all subjects in which every troop, reg...

  • With the Old Breed synopsis, comments

    With the Old Breed

    E.B. Sledge

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Eugene Sledge became more than a legend with his memoir, With The Old Breed. He became a chronicler, a historian, a storyteller who turns the extremes o...

  • U.S. Army Guide to Military Mountaineering synopsis, comments

    U.S. Army Guide to Military Mountaineering

    U.S. Department of the Army

    Mountains exist in almost every country in the world and almost every war has included some type of mountain operations. This pattern will not change, and soldiers will continue to...

  • U.S. Marine Corps Summer Survival Course, Training and Skills synopsis, comments

    U.S. Marine Corps Summer Survival Course, Training and Skills

    Department of Defense

    U.S. Marine Corps Summer Survival Course, Training and Skills:  U.S. Marine Corps Summer Survival Course, Training and Skills is an excellent manual for anyone who might find ...

  • The U.S. Marine Corps Combat Hunter In Doctrine and Training Video synopsis, comments

    The U.S. Marine Corps Combat Hunter In Doctrine and Training Video

    Jeffrey Jones

    DEFINITION AND MISSION OF THE COMBAT HUNTER.  A combat hunter selects, uses, and maximizes the appropriate optics available to see objects and events, both hidden and distant....

  • Helmet for My Pillow synopsis, comments

    Helmet for My Pillow

    Robert Leckie

    “A grand and epic prose poem . . . The purely human experience of war in the Pacific, written in the graceful imagery of a human being whosomehowsurvived.”Tom HanksSee Robert Lecki...

  • Ghost Sniper synopsis, comments

    Ghost Sniper

    Scott McEwen

    A topsecret band of elite warriors are forced to take a side in the Mexican drug wars in this “gripping, fastpaced adventure” (Dan Hampton, New York Times bestselling author of Vip...

  • Loon synopsis, comments

    Loon

    Jack McLean

    “Kids like me didn’t go to Vietnam,” writes Jack McLean in his compulsively readable memoir. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, but dec...

  • Flags of Our Fathers synopsis, comments

    Flags of Our Fathers

    James Bradley & Ron Powers

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  This is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of AmericaIn this unf...

  • Dagger 22 synopsis, comments

    Dagger 22

    Michael Golembesky

    The thrilling true story of a Marine special operations unit in a battle for their lives in Afghanistan.Level Zero Heroes, Michael Golembesky's New York Times bestselling account o...

  • US Marine Corps in the Second World War synopsis, comments

    US Marine Corps in the Second World War

    Michael Green

    The United States Marine Corps played a leading role in the war against Japan from Pearl Harbor in December 1941 until VJ Day on September 2, 1945. Living up to its motto the "Firs...

  • The Sniper synopsis, comments

    The Sniper

    Jim Lindsay

    Jim Lindsay's The Sniper reveals, for the first time ever, the full story of the deadliest sniper in Marine Corps history, Chuck Mawhinney, who served in the Vietnam war at age 18w...