MCA RECOMMENDS
FAITH THROUGH THE STORM: MEMOIRS OF MAJOR JAMES CAPERS, JR.
by Maj James Capers Jr. USMC (Ret.)
This is the story of a warrior’s faith in the face of struggle and losses few people face in today’s world. Major James Capers Jr. was born in South Carolina in the late 1930s. As a child in a family of sharecroppers in the segregated South, he had few advantages other than his faith in God and his tenacity and drive. He and his family would allow no obstacles to stand in the way of a better life. Enlisting in the Marines after high school he would serve in the elite 3rd Force Reconnaissance Battalion and become the first African-American Marine to receive a battlefield commission. His heroism in the crucible of special operations in Vietnam was truly remarkable and in 2008 he was recommended for the award of the Congressional Medal of Honor by Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina. From March 31 to April 3, 1967, in the vicinity of Phu Lac, Vietnam, Capers, then a second lieutenant, led a patrol during a reconnaissance mission in which his team, code named “Broadminded,” supported Company M, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment. On the final day, the nine-man patrol was ambushed and every man wounded. Despite severe shrapnel wounds to his lower body, Lt Capers continued to direct his team in a hasty defense while calling for supporting arms and arranging their evacuation. He personally ensured all of his team made it out alive.
The first African-American Marine officer to appear on a Marine recruiting poster, recognized in the Commando Hall of Honor; awarded the Bronze and the Silver Stars, this book describes a man who personifies the word “hero” although he himself would never use this word. A humble warrior and quiet professional, Maj Capers is a family man who endured tragedies in his professional and personal life, trusting in his faith to weather any storm.
Learn more about the inspiring story of this remarkable Marine here:
www.dvidshub.net/video/783442/major-james-capers-jr
HANGAR 4: A COMBAT AVIATOR'S MEMOIR
by LtCol Isaac G. Lee, USMC (Ret.)
From Officer Candidates School to squadron commanding officer, Isaac G. Lee, LtCol, USMC (Ret.), reached the finish line at Hangar 4 on MCAS Miramar at the conclusion of seven deployments during his two decades of service. In this memoir, he shares the lessons, the rewards, the losses, and ultimately, the personal cost.
Isaac pushed every boundary he encountered as a combat aviator, repeatedly testing his own mettle under harsh wartime conditions. He sets a high standard in HANGAR 4 with his candid accounting of a transformative journey that took place while he endeavored to balance life in the squadron, in the cockpit, in war zones, and at home.
Combat defines every warfighter, along with episodes of survivor’s guilt, emotional numbness, and lingering grief. Personal reckoning occurs in the aftermath of war.
Truth triumphs. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
FIRE IN THE HOLE! THE UNTOLD STORY OF MY TRAUMATIC LIFE AND EXPLOSIVE SUCCESS
by Bob Parsons with Laura Morton
You may know Bob Parsons because of GoDaddy or PXG Golf, but this is the story of the remarkable man behind those and many other successful corporate ventures. Bob describes his humble beginnings and how the Marine Corps gave him a spirit for boldness and mission accomplishment. He recounts lessons learned at each stage of his life, and shares his many successes but also near-failures, and Bob is able to do that with the funny stories that were part of each stage. Most of all, Bob pays tribute to the Marines he served with as an infantryman in Vietnam and he is willing to open up about his own PTSD struggles and how so many veterans of all wars are affected by them. This is an entertaining story of great success and how the Marine Corps was part of making Bob Parsons who he is today.
BATTLE SCARS
by Chip Reid
The most eye-opening, and terrifying, story in Chip Reid’s career as a journalist was the six weeks he spent with 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, as a correspondent for NBC News. Traveling shoulder-to-shoulder with the young Marines, he had unparalleled access, witnessing them in combat, and interviewing as many as he could persuade his bosses to put on air, allowing them to tell their war stories in their own words.
It took only 22 days for the Marines of 3/5 to fight their way to Baghdad, but the effects on those who fought have lasted a lifetime. They lost a number of their own in battle, and others suffered life-threatening injuries. Of those who returned – even if they avoided physical scars – many have had to find their own way through survivor’s guilt and the nightmare of post-traumatic stress.
Chip sat down with the Marines of 3/5 twenty years later. They told him inspiring stories of heroism in battle, of camaraderie and comrades lost, of patriotism and belief in mission, of recovery and success in both military and civilian life, and of the new appreciation for life that results from post-traumatic growth. Visceral and searingly honest, this book is a tribute to the Marines for their service, and for the many sacrifices they made then, and that many still make today.
GHOSTS OF BAGHDAD
by Col Eric "Ferris" Buer, USMC (Ret)
Climb in the cockpit and join a Marine attack helicopter pilot in this authentic and compelling firsthand account of the opening days and nights of the Iraq War.
Experience the sights, smells, and sounds of the Cobra, hanging on tight as you’re hurled into the chaos of night combat operations. Step through an otherwise closed door and explore the emotions, physical danger, and successes that would shape a generation of aviators.
Author Eric Buer lived to fly the Cobra, delivering incredible firepower and devastating America’s enemies in the aircraft that would become both his home and office. Wherever Marines fought and whenever their commanders needed support, he and his fellow Cobra aircrew were there. In Ghosts of Baghdad, you can be there too. Feel these pilots’ frustrations, experience their exhaustion, and lament alongside them in the face of tragedy. Ultimately, you will come to understand how a sense of duty, service, and shared sacrifice develops into an unbreakable trust and bond.
Strap in–this true story will take you inside the Cobra for a heart-pounding, fist-pumping, adrenaline-rush-filled thrill ride!
When the Tempest Gathers
by Col Andrew Milburn, USMC (Ret)
These are the combat experiences of the first Marine to command a special operations task force, recounted against a backdrop of his journey from raw second lieutenant to seasoned colonel and task force commander; from leading Marines through the streets of Mogadishu, Baghdad, Fallujah and Mosul to directing multi-national special operations forces in a dauntingly complex fight against a formidable foe.
The journey culminates in the story’s centerpiece: the fight against ISIS, in which the author is able to use the lessons of his harsh apprenticeship to lead the SOF task force under his command to hasten the Daesh’s eventual demise.
Milburn has an unusual background for a US Marine, and this is no ordinary war memoir. Very few personal accounts of war cover such a wide breadth of experience, or with so discerning a perspective. As Bing West comments: “His exceptional skill is telling each story of battle and then knitting them into a coherent whole. By the end of the book, the reader understands what happened on the ground in the wars against terrorists over the past twenty years.”
Milburn tells his extraordinary story with self-effacing candor, describing openly his personal struggles with the isolation of command, post-combat trauma and family tragedy. And with the skill and insight of a natural story teller, he makes the reader experience what it’s like to lead those who fight America’s wars.
