Most Marine and Navy Corpsmen who have seen active combat have, at one time or another, experienced a close call when they were seconds or perhaps inches from death yet survived because of a quick reaction, divine intervention or just plain luck. From Pearl Harbor to Baghdad, this volume contains the stories of 62 Marines who narrowly escaped death while fighting in America’s wars. Inspired by the author’s own close call in May 1968, it recounts a great variety of harrowing experiences. Personal background from before and after the close calls provides a more human facet while additional research adds historical information to these fascinating stories of Marines and Navy Corpsmen.

Robert A. Simonsen served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam and has written several articles and books about military history. He lives in Riverside, California.

Edited by Robert A. Simonsen

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 347
Bibliographic Info: maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3821-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
List of Maps      xi
Preface      1

PART ONE: WORLD WAR II
1. USMC Sergeant John Egan      7
2. USMC Lieutenant Bob Johnson      14
3. USMC Private First Class Harry Drendall      18
4. USMC Private First Class Jack Porter      27
5. USMC Corporal Earl Dunlap      33
6. USMC Corporal Andrew Samo      38
7. USMC Private James Seidler      43
8. USN Hospital Corpsman First Class Beryl Bonacker      50
9. USMC Sergeant George Peto      56
10. USMC Corporal Jim Anderson      64
11. USN Hospital Corpsman Second Class Benton Corry      68
12. USMC Private First Class Charles Nichols      78
13. USMC Private First Class Kenneth Stevens      82
14. USMC Warrant Officer-1 George Green      92
15. USMC Private George Smyth      103
16. USMC Private First Class William Byrd      113
17. USMC Private First Class Lee Bergee (Part 1 of 2)      118

PART TWO: KOREA
18. USMC Private First Class Herbert Luster      125
19. USMC Sergeant Kermit Wilhelm      136
20. USMC Staff Sergeant Lee Bergee (Part 2 of 2)      144
21. USMC Sergeant Joe Ohman      149
22. USMC Corporal Renald Valkenburg      153
23. USMC Private First Class John Bastian      160
24. Korea: “Hell Fire Valley”      165
25. USMC Sergeant Elbert Koonce      170
26. USMC Sergeant Forest Heistermann      172
27. USMC Sergeant William Palizzolo      177
28. USMC Private First Class Richard Aiple      180
29. USMC Private John Graham      182
30. USMC Acting Sergeant James Larkin      185
31. Korea: “Calls of Nature”      195

PART THREE: VIETNAM
32. USMC Private First Class Bruce Horton      203
33. USMC Captain John McLaughlin      212
34. USMC Corporal Robert Simonsen      218
35. USMC Lance Corporal Arthur Riordan      226
36. USMC Corporal John Wear II      232
37. USMC Corporal Jay Vincens      238
38. USMC Private First Class Mike Stagner      245
39. USMC Sergeant Ralph Bohannon      250

PART FOUR: THE WARS AGAINST TERRORISM
40. Beirut: Bombing of the Marine Barracks      259
41. Iraq: Female Search Force      266
42. Afghanistan: “The Nightfighters”      272
43. USMC Gunnery Sergeant Michael Burghardt      280
44. Iraq: Combat Train One      286
45. Iraq: Kevlar Helmet Headshots      291
46. Iraq: Body Armor Shots      297
47. Iraq: Combat Photographers      303

Chapter Notes      309
Bibliography      319
Index      325