Born and raised in New Paltz, NY, Larry Winters entered the United States Marine Corps after high school and served in Vietnam 1969-1970. Twenty-five years later, by then a licensed mental health counselor at Four Winds Hospital in Katonah, he returned to Vietnam with other health care professionals to study P.T.S.D. in the Vietnamese people and to make peace with his past. Larry is a widely published poet, men's group leader and group psychotherapist. This is his story.

Tyler E. Boudreau is a twelve-year veteran of the Marine Corps infantry. He trained and committed himself physically and intellectually to the military life. Then his intense devotion began to disintegrate, bit by bit, during his final mission in Iraq. After returning home, he discovered a turmoil developing in his mind, estranging him from his loved ones and the bill of goods he eagerly purchased as a marine officer. Packing Inferno is the spectacularly written story of the ordeal of a marine officer in battle and then coming home. It is the struggle with a society resistant to understand the true nature of war. It is the fight with combat stress and an exploration into the process of recovery. It is the search for conscience, family, and ultimately for one's essential self. Here are the reflections of a man built by the Marine Corps, disassembled by war, and left with no guidance to rebuild himself. This is Tyler E. Boudreau's first book. He currently lives in western Massachusetts, where he works with other veterans on many projects related to war.

An ex-Marine captain shares his story of fighting in a recon battalion in both Afghanistan and Iraq, beginning with his brutal training on Quantico Island and following his progress through various training sessions and, ultimately, conflict in the deadliest conflicts since the Vietnam War.

The Marine Corps has always considered itself a breed apart. Since 1775, America’s smallest armed service has been suspicious of outsiders and deeply loyal to its traditions. Marines believe in nothing more strongly than the Corps’ uniqueness and superiority, and this undying faith in its own exceptionalism is what has made the Marines one of the sharpest, swiftest tools of American military power. Along with unapologetic self-promotion, a strong sense of identity has enabled the Corps to exert a powerful influence on American politics and culture. Aaron O’Connell focuses on the period from World War II to Vietnam, when the Marine Corps transformed itself from America’s least respected to its most elite armed force. He describes how the distinctive Marine culture played a role in this ascendancy. Venerating sacrifice and suffering, privileging the collective over the individual, Corps culture was saturated with romantic and religious overtones that had enormous marketing potential in a postwar America energized by new global responsibilities. Capitalizing on this, the Marines curried the favor of the nation’s best reporters, befriended publishers, courted Hollywood and Congress, and built a public relations infrastructure that would eventually brand it as the most prestigious military service in America. But the Corps’ triumphs did not come without costs, and O’Connell writes of those, too, including a culture of violence that sometimes spread beyond the battlefield. And as he considers how the Corps’ interventions in American politics have ushered in a more militarized approach to national security, O’Connell questions its sustainability.

The Making and Unmaking of Colonial Cities is a comparative study of architectural space in four (post-)colonial capitals: Belfast, Northern Ireland; Windhoek, Namibia; Bridgetown, Barbados; and Hanoi, Vietnam. Each chapter takes up one of these cities, outlining its history of building and urban planning under colonial rule and linking that history to its contemporary shape and scope. This genealogical information is drawn from primary source documents and archival materials. The chapters then look to local literary texts to better understand the lingering impact of colonial building practices on individuals living in (post-)colonial cities today. These texts often foreground the difficulty of moving through a city that can never feel comfortably one's own; legacies of racial segregation, buildings that disregard indigenous resources, and street names that serve as constant reminders of a history of oppression, for example, can produce feelings of anxiety, even of unbelonging, for native subjects. However, the literature also highlights ways in which the subversive wanderings of particular pedestrians--taking shortcuts, trespassing in forbidden places, diverting spaces from their intended uses--can contest 'official' topography. Bodies can therefore move against the power of a repressive regime, at least to some degree, even when that power is literally set in stone. Obert argues for the significance of these small gestures of reclamation, suggesting that we must counterpose the potential flexibility of lived space to the prohibitions of the map in order to more fully understand (post-)colonial power relations.

“This is a book for all Marines and future Marines. . . . [and] will also appeal to Marines of the ‘Old Corps’ since it shows we still ‘make ‘em like we used to.’”—Leo J. Daugherty III, Marine Corps Gazette “Something so tough, so powerful, that unless you join together, you can’t accomplish the defining moment. Your team will not make it unless you pull together.”—General Charles C. Krulak, Commandant, United States Marine Corps Welcome to the Crucible Event. This is the culmination of Marine Corps basic combat training, boot camp. The Crucible Event is the “defining moment” for young Marine recruits. Once inside the crucible, the recruits are faced with fifty-four gruelling hours with little sleep, little food, and a series of events that will tax them physically and mentally. The recuirt platoon will be profoundly tested as individuals. Even more important, they will discover that they are unable to pass through the crucible except as a team. Beyond the Crucible Event’s physical demands of endurance is the reinforcement of the core values of the United States Marines: honor, courage, and commitment. The crucible creates a change of mind, body, and spirit that will alst a lifetime, whether one wears the uniform for four years or forty—a constant reminder of the supreme responsibility that comes with the title “United States Marine.” Praise for Into the Crucible “Provides a wealth of factual information and insider insights. . . . [and] provides a fascinating first-hand look at the revolutionary training ‘event’ and shows why it has become so effective. Readers—whether Marines, civilians, or other members of other services will find Woulfe’s book a worthwile read.”—SeaPower Magazine “A powerful and inspiring book.”—Terry Mapes, Mansfield, Ohio, News Journal

The memoir of a young man's induction into the United States Marine Corps, and his journey at Parris Island, South Carolina from recruit to a U.S. Marine--the making of a Marine.

Inside the marine corps and what it takes to become "One of the few, the proud, the Marines."