"Chesty" Puller was a very good soldier. Burke Davis wrote a very readable biography and a pleasant time was created. Admittedly, the comfort was mostly of the "Glad I wasn't there" type but the combination of the career, circumstances and presentation are fortuitous. Leaving Office Candidate school in 1918, he enlisted as a Marine rifleman , but the war ended before he saw combat. However he volunteered for service in Haiti, and spent the next 37 years in military service, and died as a Lieutenant General, after fighting in Korea. ( )

This did not live up to my expectations. I did not realize I would be reading a book about a walking, talking cartoon character. This book is truly a book of its times. It was actually published in the 1960s and it shows. In this book you have some one who loves his mom, treats his wife to flowers weekly and is the roughest, toughest, fightenest, ruten, tuten, gun toten, he-man, fighting man the world ever did see. It comes across as silly. At one point in this book Chesty Puller is in a helicopter crash. He walks away from the crash with a piece of glass sticking out his neck. Yes, that is in this book. Someone pulls the glass out of his neck and he doesn't bleed. Seriously this is in the book. This is after he was in a battle shooting enemies with one shot each. Being shot at but not being hit once. All that just for him to beaten by politics and a medical discharge. It's just silly. I wanted to take it seriously but this book was just propaganda of its time.

I received this book via NetGalley. I thank them for this book. ( )

“Don’t forget that you’re First Marines! Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you!”

Chesty Puller to his Marines, when surrounded by the Chinese at Chosin Reservoir.


Marine!: The Life of Chesty Puller by Burke Davis is the biography of the Marine Corps most decorated man. Davis is the author of over thirty-five books, many of the dealing with the Civil War. He was known for his meticulous research.

Ask any Marine to name one person that personifies the Marine Corps and the most likely answer would be Chesty Puller. There are many stories told about Chesty Puller and remarkably they are all true. He stared down a grenade in WWII simply proclaiming to those around him it was a dud. He was a great leader and those who he pulled aside and corrected would later claim that Puller inspired them to be better Marines. He also knew the importance of the people under him. Whether a senior Non-Commissioned Officer or a private he was fair and knew they were key to his success. Once he saw a Second Lieutenant standing in front of a private who was repeated saluting him. He asked the Lieutenant what was going on. The lieutenant said the private did not salute him and to teach him a lesson he was making the private salute one hundred times. Puller said that was fair and that the lieutenant rates the salute, but he reminded the lieutenant that he is required to return ever salute the private gives. Puller watched as the lieutenant now returned each and every salute.

Puller believed in leadership by example. The senior men should always be last. Juniors were always first to the chow line, first to receive medical treatment and Puller was not shy in enforcing this to all those in his command. He was a rare officer that was respected and liked by all those who served under him. When the troops were sleeping in the mud, Puller was sleeping in the mud too. When the men marched, Puller marched with them rather than ride. Although serving under Puller was physically challenging, he believed that the harder his people trained the more effective they would be in combat and success in combat was the Marine Corps' goal.

Marine! follows Puller from his childhood to his retirement. Puller's entire military career is covered from his beginnings in Virginia Military Institute, through Parris Island and the end of WWI. What helped make Puller a successful leader was his early service in Central America. This experience was in a time when military valued staff positioning over combat. Puller gained a practical advantage for service in both World War II and Korea. He became the most decorated Marine in history and the only person to earn five Navy Crosses.

For the military historian or Marine wanting to learn leadership or history, Marine! is a very worthwhile read. Although Puller is known for his military actions, his personal life is also covered. I never thought Puller had time for a wife and children. Davis writes a well-rounded biography that does not disappoint anyone looking for a larger than life (true) story.

“Take me to the Brig. I want to see the “real Marines”.
– Major General Chesty Puller, USMC – while on a Battalion inspection. ( )

Traces the career of Chesty Puller from his early life through his years in South and Central America to his service in WWII and Korea. ( )

A real warrior. We need more like him. ( )