Semper Fi (Corps Book 1)

Love how well Marine Corps life is betrayed. Feels so authentic. Can't wait to see the next book. Must read

Excellent series by Griffin. A great story weaved into real life events fraught with danger at every turn. Highly recommended

This story begins in Shanghai, China, on 2 January, 1941, with 21 year old PFC Kenneth J. McCoy, USMC, standing with his hands on his hips, trying to make up his mind about whether or not to leave the compound armed, and if so, how.His problem was, on Christmas Eve at a dance hall, there had been a fight between United States Marines and Italian marines.McCoy had heard that as many as 18 Italians were dead, and there were eight U S Marines in very serious condition. Rumor had it that there were bands of Italian marines roaming town looking for U S Marines. Rumor had it that there were bands of Italian marines roaming town looking for U S Marines. McCoy had not been at the dance hall that night, because a Marine who wanted to be there had paid him $5.00 to take the duty.He had just re-enlisted for another four years, with the understanding that, once he had done so, he would be promoted to PFC. With the promotion, came the right to take the exam for Corporal. He had already taken the exam, done very well, and was sure his name would be on the promotion list.Unless he got into a brawl with a bunch of Italian marines.There were two things wrong with going out wearing a cartridge belt and bayonet. For one thing, he'd look pretty silly walking into the poker game at the Cathay Mansion House wearing that stuff. And if he did run into some Italian marines, they would take his possession of a bayonet as a sure sign he was looking for a fight.He decided to take his "Baby Fairbairn", which he'd won in a poker game.A police officer on the Shanghai Police Force had invented a really terrific knife, sort of a dagger.McCoy's was made exactly like the original, except that it wasn't quite as long, or quite as big. It was just long enough to be concealed in the sleeve, with the tip of the scabbard up against the joint of the elbow, and the handle just inside the cuff.McCoy installed the knife, got dressed, and left to play poker at the Cathay Mansion Hotel, on a rickshaw.U S Marines were not welcome in the fancy upstairs regions of the hotel. He walked down the sidewalk, and then into an alley, which led to the rear of the building. He went down a flight of stairs to a steel basement door, and knocked on it.A small window opened in the door, and Chinese eyes became visible. McCoy was examined, and the door opened. He walked down a corridor to a steel door identified as "Store Room B-6", knocked, and it opened for him.McCoy was welcome here, because he almost always brought fifty dollars with him sometimes a good deal more, which he was prepared to lose with a certain grace, and without whining.In the nearly four years that he had been in China, McCoy had evolved a gambling system that had resulted in a balance of nearly two thousand dollars at Barclays Bank. He thought of it as his retirement system.Over three hours later, only he and Detective Sergeant Chatworth had any money left. The other three players had gone bust. Chatworth and McCoy decided to quit. McCoy strapped on his knife and followed the other players out of the room and back out on the street. He had a little more than $250.00. That was too much money to be carrying around in his pocket. The smart thing to do was to return to the compound, so he flagged down a rickshaw and told the driver to take him down Ferry road (which was the way back to the compound).Three blocks from the compound, he saw Italian marines, hiding in an alley. There were four of them, in uniform, a mixture of army and navy. He thought, with a little bit of luck they will let me pass. They didn't say anything as the rickshaw pulled past the alley. For a moment, he thought they'd decided to wait for Marines who were looking for a fight.Then the rickshaw was turned over on its side. The rickshaw started to howl with fear and rage, even before McCoy hit the ground.McCoy sat up and looked around to see if there was someplace he could run to, but the Italians had picked their spot well. There was no place to run to.Then he saw the Italian marines advancing on him, one with a length of bicycle chain swing in his hand."I don't know who you're looking for," he said in Italian, "but it isn't me."The Italian marine told him he was going to mash him in the groin.The bicycle chain missed, but struck the pavement. It came close enough to catch his trouser leg and leave the imprint of the chain there. McCoy quickly slid sideward, taking the knife from his sleeve as he got to his feet.The Italian marine told him he was going to take the knife away and stick it up his ass.McCoy sensed, rather than saw, that the other marines were making their way behind him. Their idea was that two would grab him and hold him while the other one used the bicycle chain on him.He made a feinting motion with the knife, and the marines backed up.It looked like it might work, and also, there was nothing else to do.H made another feinting move; a savage leap accompanied by a ferocious roar, at the exact moment the marine lunged at where McCoy's knife had been. The tip of the knife punctured the marine's chest at the lower extremity of his ribs, and then immediately sank to the hand guard. The knife was snatched from his hand as the marine continued his plunge.The man grunted, fell, dropped the bicycle chain, rolled over, sat up, and started to pull the knife from his abdomen. He gave it a hearty tug, and it came out. A moment later, a stream of bright red blood erupted from his mouth. He looked puzzled for a moment, and then fell to one side, dead.One of the three remaining marines crossed himself and ran away. The other two advanced on McCoy, one of them trying to work the action of a tiny automatic pistol.McCoy picked up his knife and advanced on the two marines. He made it to the one with the pistol, and started to try to take it away. The other one tried to help his friend. McCoy lashed out with his knife again. The blade slashed the Italian's face, but that didn't discourage him. He got his around McCoy's arms and held him in a bear hug. The other one managed to work the action of his pistol.With a strength that surprised him, he got his right arm free and swung it backward at the man who had been holding him. He felt it cut and strike something, something not anywhere like a ribcage, but something, and it went in far enough so that he couldn't hang on to it when the man fell down.Then, free, he jumped at the man with the pistol. The pistol went off, and he felt something hit his leg hard. And then he knocked the piston from the Italian's hand and dove after it.He picked it up and aimed at the Italian. Then he followed his eyes, and saw that what he had done when he swung his knife hand backward, was stick it in the man's groin. The man was now holding his groin with both hands. The handle of his knife was sticking out between his fingers. The man was whimpering, and tears were on his face.Down the street, McCoy could hear the growl of the hand cranked siren at the compound. This is going to screw up my promotion, he thought. Damn these Italians.The U S Government decided to prosecute McCoy. The charges were named "United States of America versus PFC Kenneth J. McCoy, USMC.Captain Edward J. Banning, USMC, was appointed his Defense Counsel.Major Delaney was named as Prosecutor.A Colonel advised Captain Banning that the Italian Consul General and Colonel Maggiani of the Italian marines would attend the trial. Banning realized that his meant he was going to spend many hours in preparation for the court martial, and who knew how many more hours going through the appeal process.Banning was a Marine officer. Even worse, he was a Marine Intelligence officer.Banning went by the Orderly Room of Company D, First Battalion and read through McCoy's records. He also talked to his company commander, his platoon leader, his platoon sergeant, and his bunk mate.The picture they painted of McCoy was the one reflected by his records.But, there were several things out of the ordinary; he didn't have a Chinese girl friend, but he had a Chinese girl, so he wasn't queer. He didn't have a buddy, either.What was most unusual, were his as a typist, and his language ability. Dog Company had a natural linguist who could type 75 w.p.m. assigned as a machine gunner.When he was convinced that he had learned all he could about McCoy, he went to the infirmary, to see the accused for the first time.McCoy's medical records showed that he had been admitted suffering cuts and abrasions, and a penetrating would in his upper right thigh, probably caused by a small caliber bullet. A surgical procedure had removed a .25 caliber from the thigh. The prognosis was a complete recovery.Banning found McCoy in the infirmary. He introduced himself, and told McCoy he had been appointed his defense counsel. Then he made sure that McCoy understood his predicament, and told him he didn't think there was any chance he would be found guilty of 1st degree murder, but that he would, very likely, be found guilty of "a lesser included offense." There was no question that there 2 dead Italian marines, or that McCoy had killed them. Neither was there any question that they had been killed with his, and that this offense would not be ignored.The two lesser offenses, Banning had said, were Manslaughter, and negligent homicide.Then Banning had said that he hadn't discussed this with Major Delaney, because he had wanted to talk to him first, but the possibility exists that when you come to trial, you will have the option of pleading guilty to one of the lesser offenses, and Delaney would have no objection if you pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and I would pressure him to accept a plea of guilty to involuntarily manslaughter. And if you did plead guilty to either of the lesser offenses, the sentence would be reviewed by the Colonel, and by General Butler, both of whom have the authority to reduce sentences.McCoy had replied, "Sir, it was self defense."Banning replied that he didn't have any witnesses.McCoy then told him that there was the rickshaw boy, and 20 to 30 Chinese who saw what happened.Banning then asked McCoy how he planned to find them, and McCoy had shrugged and said "Ask around, I suppose."Then Banning, presumably thinking that the witnesses couldn't be found, said that he thought he could get the prosecutor to accept a charge of manslaughter, and he would probably get a sentence of 20 years to life. The sentence would then be reviewed by the Colonel, who will decide that you're not guilty of manslaughter, but of involuntary manslaughter, and reduce the punishment accordingly.McCoy had asked what the punishment would be reduced to, and Banning had replied that the maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter is five years.Then, McCoy had replied "Sir, the court martial manual says that I can have the defense counsel of my choice."Banning replied "Who do you want to defend you," and McCoy had replied that he wanted Lieutenant Kaye to defend him.After thinking things over, Banning believed that McCoy actually believed, since it was the true, and that it was his duty to pursue McCoy's self defense claim.They next thing that happened was that McCoy was promoted to Corporal, which was extremely annoying to the Italians, who believed that McCoy was promoted because he had killed the two Italians! And then, two Chinese sere found, Constable Hang Chee, and Sr. Patrolman Kin Tong, who confirmed McCoy's story that he had acted in self defense.Then, Banning called the Colonel and told him the news that there was no longer any reason to go ahead with a court martial, and McCoy was cleared to go back to duty."But not to Dog Company," Banning said. "You're being transferred to Headquarters Company. A man of your many talents would be of more use in S-2. And there's more. You're going to Peking for awhile. You're a problem, McCoy. The Italians want you punished. We can't do that any more. We want to get you out of sight. And we're going to do that by truck. A truck convoy is leaving on Thursday. Did you know that?'McCoy had then said that the word going around, is that what the convoys really do is spy on the Japs.Banning had then asked if that would bother him, and McCoy had replied that not only didn't it bother him, it sounded interesting.And McCoy was then told that he would be in a truck in that convoy, and that he would spy on the Japs, and that he would report back to him through a Lieutenant Mackling what Banning told Macklin to look for.And he got his knife back, and was known as "Killer McCoy."And he didn't report through Lieutenant Macklin, because Macklin was not as bright as he thought he was, and had been caught snooping by the Japs.Instead, he did his own snooping, wasn't caught, and reported the results of his snooping directly to Banning.This novel should have been very exciting, and still is, for the most part, except for many pages of detrimental factors that require skimming to find content.Even with these detrimental factors, SEMPER FI is still an exciting novel to read.McCoy had not been at the dance hall that night, because a Marine who wanted to be there had paid him $5.00 to take the duty.He had just re-enlisted for another four years, with the understanding that once he had done so, he would be promoted to PFC. With the promotion came the right to take the exam for Corporal. He had already taken the exam, done very well, and was sure his name would be on the promotion list.Unless he got into a brawl with a bunch of Italian marines.There were two things wrong with going out wearing a cartridge belt and bayonet. For one thing, he'd look pretty silly walking into the poker game at the Cathay Mansion House wearing that stuff. And if he did run into some Italian marines, they would take his possession of a bayonet as a sure sign he was looking for a fight.He decided to take his "Baby Fairbairn", which he'd won in a poker game.A police officer on the Shanghai Police Force had invented a really terrific knife, sort of a dagger.McCoy's was made exactly like the original, except that it wasn't quite as long, or quite as bib. It was just long enough to be concealed in the sleeve, with the tip of the scabbard up against the joint of the elbow, and the handle just inside the cuff.McCoy installed the knife, got dressed, and left to play poker at the Cathay Mansions hotel, on a rickshaw.U S Marines were not welcome in the fancy upstairs regions of the hotel. He walked down the sidewalk and then into an alley, which led to the rear of the building. He went down a flight of stairs to a steel basement door, and knocked on it.A small window opened in the door, and Chinese eyes became visible. McCoy was examined, and then the door opened. He walked down a corridor to a steel door identified as "Store Room B-6", knocked, and it opened for him.McCoy was welcome here, because he almost always brought fifty dollars with him, sometimes a good deal more, which he was prepared to lose with a certain grace, and without whining.In the nearly four years that he had been in China, McCoy had evolved a gambling system that had resulted in a balance of nearly two thousand dollars at Barclays Bank. He thought of it as his retirement system.Over three hours later, only he and Detective Sergeant Chatworth had any money left. The other three players had gone bust. Chatworth and McCoy decided to quit. McCoy strapped his knife on and followed the other pkla

OK. OK. Everyone knows Griffin is a superior writer. The story moves, characters are developed, there’s just enough suspense to make you wonder if what you want to happen will. And the story faithfully recounts history. If I were to pick a nit to pick at, it would be a bit too much enlisted versus officer preoccupation in the first third of the book. But that is truly nit picking and it’s the only nit I can find to pick on.If you like historical novels that are well written. Read this. It stands in company with Uris and Wouk.

First off, this book is a novel and the genre is drama, not war. It is not about war but about the culture and relationships, history and traditions of men who fight wars. The story of course is set against a war, but it could be any modern war in any theatre. What you are getting is a perspective on what goes on in mens minds when they make decisions about their fates or how to get a box of bullets onto an island in the middle of no where.The reader meets the various characters as they meet one another and sees and thinks what they do from their various perspectives. They tell their own stories, ambitions and worries so you know whats going on in their minds. At times, the reader gets to walk in the shoes of the young private thrust into new situations, then the reader is in the head of a more experienced soldier who meets private. Everything in the military tradition informs an officer that his word is gold and a private's is meaningless and then the private exhibits characteristics that makes the officer contemplate his original presumption. If he acts on the private's words, whill his own judgement be questioned? If he's wrong, will his career or life be over? Those thoughts go through people's minds at every level of decision making. There are the career elisted men, the younger and older officers, the career trouble makers and cilivians who have put on uniforms, there are men whose sons are fighting beside them or wives who worry about them both. There are men who advance quickly and men who the war exposes as being out of their league. They all have historical reasons to mistrust one another but they must work together because there is simply no one else.Generally, the men must form quick impressions of their comrades. Then the impressions change or deepen. Men of oddly different backgrounds form deep friendships or intense animosities. Men find one another personally challenging, useful, an obstacle or whatever. The reason this is all important is because their lives and the future of the country hangs on every decision they make and this is what makes for such interesting and compelling reading.There are countless tomes about battles and campaigns but very little exploration, especailly at the lower ranks, of why one man puts his life in another mans trust and almost no writing the explores all the back channels and double dealing that goes on in the military culture.While this novel is unlikely to fill in your knowledge of any particular battle, it may inform your understanding of every other historical book you read by letting you get into the heads of men at every level of the fighting.This series is fairly condensed compaired to the Brotherhood of Arms series. It covers from around 1940 to 45 with some extra books taking the characters into the Korean War. The BoAs series introduces you to another great cast of characters but the time range takes you from 1942/3 til 1970 and visits them more often than not when the country is not at war. Also, check out the Honor Series, which takes you to South America during the war. Awesome stuff.

As a former Marine, I found this book, which was the first of a very good series, as an exciting and reasonably accurate depiction of the Corps and its marines and bureaucracy. I admit that I have read the entire series more than once and loved it every time. The same goes for the Army series and the books about espionage and special operations. I will say as Griffen got older the quality declined and the characters got a little strange (who calls a beautiful woman "Sweaty?) One thing though, throughout his novels, the characters drink Famous Grouse, a scotch that he depicts as the nectar of the Gods. With some effort, I tracked down a bottle of Famous Grouse and found it to be vile beyond belief. He may have been an entertaining author but the the man hade no taste for whiskey.

WEB Griffin is/was a stand-alone chronicler of military story telling. Semper Fi!

I read a few of this series called "The Corps" at my local library a few years ago however being a library, the books in written order were never there for me to read...in fact I don't think the library never had the entire series!! Then the library had a 'clear-out' and out went the few books written by W.E.B. Griffin to be sold off cheap... Fast forward to July 2015 and I decided to see if I could put in a 'special request' at my local library to read the series. The Librarian looked up the books in the library computer and found that there were none in the central depot to eeeerrrrr...borrow! I suggested to the Librarian..."Amazon??!"....I now have the books arriving at my home via Amazon. The books so far ('Semper Fi' being the first in the series) read in correct order are wonderful and in several instances only cost me ...one penny...plus postage. A great purchase and reading from the book instead of my Kindle is far more enjoyable.

Great series.... As is Brotherhood of War...

I have all the Corps Series of Books it really is a pity that it ends at Book 10 and does not continue to the present time I am Sure Ken and Ernie will have had kids so surely the series cound continue through Vietnam , Iraq ,Afganistan and all the other places where the US Marines have served since Korea it really is a shame not to continue the Corps Series a lot of readers would like to know what happens to the Pickerings ,McCoys, Bannings and all the other Characters in the series Please Contiue the Series Mr Griffin

Irritating and boring