The gripping story of an extraordinary American hero, the most decorated man in US Marine Corps history, from a New York Times–bestselling author. “We are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can’t get away from us now!” —Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC In the glorious chronicles of the US Marine Corps, no name is more revered than that of Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller. The only fighting man to receive the Navy Cross five separate times—a military honor second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor—he was the epitome of a professional warrior. A son of the South, descendant of Robert E. Lee, and cousin to George S. Patton, Puller began his enlisted career during World War I and moved up through the ranks as he proved his battlefield mettle in Haiti and Nicaragua, with the Horse Marines in Peking, in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and in the nightmarish winter engagements of the Korean War. Fearless and seemingly indestructible, adored by the troops he championed yet forced into early retirement by a high command that resented his “lowly” beginnings and unwillingness to play politics, Puller remains one of most towering figures in American military history. Bestselling military biographer Burke Davis paints the definitive portrait of this extraordinary marine hero.

Featured on the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Reading List and the Chief of Naval Operation’s “Naval Power” Reading List The Marine Corps is known for its heroes, and Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller has long been considered the greatest of them all. His assignments and activities covered an extraordinary spectrum of warfare. Puller mastered small unit guerrilla warfare as a lieutenant in Haiti in the 1920s, and at the end of his career commanded a division in Korea. In between, he chased Sandino in Nicaragua and fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu. With his bulldog face, barrel chest (which earned him the nickname Chesty), gruff voice, and common touch, Puller became—and has remained—the epitome of the Marine combat officer. At times Puller's actions have been called into question—at Peleliu, for instance, where, against a heavily fortified position, he lost more than half of his regiment. And then there is the saga of his son, who followed in Chesty's footsteps as a Marine officer only to suffer horrible wounds in Vietnam (his book, Fortunate Son, won the Pulitzer Prize). Jon Hoffman has been given special access to Puller's personal papers as well as his personnel record. The result will unquestionably stand as the last word about Chesty Puller.

When Lewis Puller tripped a booby-trapped howitzer round in Vietnam, triggering a explosion that would cost him his legs, his career as a soldier ended--and the battle to reclaim his life began. "An extraordinary story of survival. And of love."--Mary Jordan, "The Washington Post."

The dramatic battlefield story Chesty Puller, Marine hero of World War II In 1942, when Chesty Puller first stepped foot onto Guadalcanal in America’s first major land campaign against Japan, he had already served two remarkable decades as a US Marine. Yet it was on that Pacific island where the Puller legend would come to life. For months, Chesty and his Marines fought the Japanese in close-up jungle combat, at times resorting to bayonets and even fists. During the Battle for Henderson Field, Puller’s Marines held off wave after wave of enemy attackers over the course of three consecutive nights. His courage under fire and unbreakable devotion to his men inspired not just those under his own command but Marines everywhere. As the war marched on, one bloody battle after another, from Guadalcanal to Peleliu, Chesty became the most decorated Marine in US history. Now, acclaimed military historian John Wukovits, author of Pacific Alamo, tells the story of Chesty Puller's incredible valor and combat leadership in the Pacific War.

Examines the life and military career of Lt. General Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller, USMC (Ret.), based primarily on a series of interviews with Puller and a review of his official record, with recollections of friends, family members, associates, and others.

Bruce Hoffman spent four years in the United States Marine Corps. Two of those years were spent in Vietnam and Okinawa. And My Mother Danced with Chesty Puller is the story of a young Marines adventures during the Vietnam War, sometimes humorous, sometimes hair-raising. The story begins with a young man drawn into the Marine Corps to become an Embassy Marine but he ends up stuck with an office job instead. He struggles to get into the fight in Vietnam, only to be stationed in South Carolina and is offered a part-time job with a bootlegger to ride shotgun. When he finally arrives in Vietnam he discovers that he isnt supposed to be there, but in Okinawa instead, which turns out to be the land of booze and brothels. He was able to find a few girlfriends along the way, not only in South Carolina and Okinawa, but in Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Marines werent all in combat; many were in the rear with the beer. After volunteering three times for Vietnam he was able to transfer to Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron VMO-2, and fly as an Aerial Gunner in UH-1E Huey Helicopters. Finally, he became a Marine in combat.

One of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, Operation Stalemate, as Peleliu was called, was overshadowed by the Normandy landings. It was also, in time, judged by most historians to have been unnecessary; though it had been conceived to protect MacArthur’s flank in the Philippines, the U.S. fleet’s carrier raids had eliminated Japanese airpower, rendering Peleliu irrelevant. Nevertheless, the horrifying number of casualties sustained there (71% in one battalion) foreshadowed for the rest of the war: rather than fight to the death on the beach, the Japanese would now defend in depth and bleed the Americans white. Drawing extensively on personal interviews, the Marine Corps History Division’s vast oral history and photographic collection, and many never-before-published sources, this book gives us a new and harrowing vision of what really happened at Peleliu--and what it meant. Working closely with two of the 1st Regiment’s battalion commanders--Ray Davis and Russ Honsowetz--Marine Corps veteran and military historian Dick Camp recreates the battle as it was experienced by the men and their officers. Soldiers who survived the terrible slaughter recall the brutality of combat against an implacable foe; they describe the legendary “Chesty” Puller, leading his decimated regiment against enemy fortifications; they tell of Davis, wounded but refusing evacuation while his men were under fire; and of a division commander who rejects Army reinforcements. Most of all, their richly detailed, deeply moving story is one of desperate combat in the face of almost certain failure, of valor among comrades joined against impossible odds.

This authorized biography of World War II hero John Basilone--who held off 3,000 Japanese troops after his unit was reduced to three men--is being published to coincide with Steven Spielberg's HBO miniseries, "The Pacific." Illustrations throughout.