Dog Company Six

by Edwin Howard Simmons and Edwin H. Simmons

Book Overview

A Marine who wielded both pen and sword in a long, distinguished career captures the heroism and horror of the early days of the Korean War in this gripping novel. As a young man--with his own... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557508984
• ISBN13: 9781557508980
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
• Length: 303 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Mini Masterpiece

I loved this book. One cannot doubt that the author knows his soldiers, knows the terrain and knows the weapons. An immense authority infuses the story.The action begins slowly, as the war began slowly, builds in intensity, ends in retreat.The scenes in Japan were not quite as convincing. There can't be all that many beautiful willing women waiting at the bar, although many Marines must wish for them.I don't understand why this little masterpiece didn't get more attention.

Great book; great reading

Don't let the title fool you. This book is not about dogs. Dog Company is the phonetic alphabet designation for D Company that was used by the U.S. armed forces in World War II and Korea. Dog Company Six is the kind of book that many will want to read at least twice because it's so good. It's a novel about Marines in combat written by a Marine combat veteran. The prose is spare and to the point. The combat scenes are realistic and exciting. The book begins with an inexperienced infantry captain struggling with fears and doubts about his ability to lead Dog Company into war in Korea. As Dog Company fights its way through the Inchon Invasion, the battle for Seoul and the Chosin Reservoir - some of the most honored and storied battles in U.S. Marine Corps history - the commander matures into a tough, capable and brave captain of Marines. Author Edwin Howard Simmons is a retired Marine brigadier general who also fought his way up and the down the Korean peninsula in the same battles. His dialog is true to the Corps and his combat scenes have the realism that only a man who's been there can write. Dog Company Six isn't just a book about war and killing. It's about bravery, sacrifice and dedication to duty. Dog Company Six isn't just a book for and about Marines. It's an entertaining story, well told and deserving to be read by a wide audience.

Among the best war novels

"Dog Company Six" is one of the best war novels I ever read, and I'm a fan of the genre. Without swashbuckling heroics, it shows what war is really like from the point of view of an infantry company commander. That it is set during the Korean War is coincidental. It could have been set in any modern war. The courage, loyalty, self-sacrifice, exhaustion, grief and heartbreak experienced by the officers and men of Dog Company are universal. They have been experienced by the men fighting all mankind's wars throughout history. The author's own experience as a combat Marine in Korea give it an authenticity that is rare in war fiction. "Dog Company Six" deserves a lot more attention than it has received.

Well written book

Dog Company Six: This is an excellent book, exceedingly well written. Although presented as a novel, this work of fiction provides a thorough history of Marine Corps action in Korea, from the landings at Inchon up to the end of the war. The author, General Edwin Howard Simmons, records the Marines' struggles, up and down the peninsula, north and south, through the eyes of Captain Bayard, the commanding officer of Dog Company. General Simmons writes with an excellent command of the English language, which he employs to describe the foul-ups and successes of the Marines in Korea. This book is definitely written from the point of view of the "grunt" in the mud (or snow). The highest rank for a character in the book is a light colonel. I would highly recommend this book.

Telling it like it was

While "Dog Company Six" is billed as a novel, it might well be viewed as a diary of a Marine rifle company, the down-and-dirty war fighters, during its long guelling days of combat in a miserable war that shouldn't have happened. Author Simmons knows all-to-well of which he writes. He's been there and back, having commanded every kind and size of Marine Corps combat unit from platoon to a division while serving as a Marine during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He is also an accomplished writer and Marine Corps historian with a shelf full of fine books to to show for it. Throughout the battles that ensue, from the mud flats of Inchon to the frozen wastelands of the Chosin Reservoir, Simmons masterfully and meticulously sets the scenes in which the company operates, allowing the reader to share in the intensity and realism experienced by Dog's Marines. The ongoing dialogue, expertly and abundantly woven throughout the book, will indeed be familiar to those who have endured and survived combat.