McCoy's Marines: Darkside to Baghdad

By John Koopman

Book Overview

San Francisco Chronicle reporter and marine veteran Koopman was embedded in the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, during the most recent war in Iraq. He enjoyed a close working relationship with the CO, the battalion sergeant major, and several other members of the battalion. This didn't destroy his ability to distance himself from aspects of the military that he never liked, or from political judgments on the war. The combination of embedding and prior service did give him a rare perspective on the gritty (literally, when a sandstorm blew up) details of ground combat in Iraq and how the modern American marine relates to his buddies, his enemies, and his family back home. The conclusion of the book offers equally rare material on the nation-building efforts that continue, with sympathy for both the U.S. military and most shades of Iraqi opinion.--ALA Booklist

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760337381
• ISBN13: 9780760337387
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Zenith Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

An eye-opening story of war experience from an insider's view

McCoy's Marines: Darkside to Baghdad blends memoir and biography with a battle history of experiences fighting in the Middle East, and comes from a newspaper reporter who captures the war in Iraq as it was lived, fought and felt. He rode with the Marines in saw combat for the first time himself, and provides an eye-opening story of war experience from an insider's view. Military and general libraries strong in Iraq experience will find it involving.

My comparative review

Great book! I was glued to it from the first few pages. I found myself reading this until the sun rose in the morning it was that good. John does a great job of describing the fighting in Iraq. My compliments to the author.

fun view of the grunts

This is not just a view of the BC...the entire battalion shines. Loved this view of a grunt battalion!

By a Marine, About the Marines

The Iraq war was easily the most reported, most televised war in our history. But I find that you don't really know what happened until the books come out. This book is a perfect example. This is the story of the 3rd battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment - the Three-Four Marines - and their march from Kuwait to downtown Baghdad. The author was embedded with the Three-Four during the war. More important, however, the author had been a marine himself. He understood what the grunts were going through, he also understood what the leaders, especially Lt. Col. McCoy was doing. More than a story of combat, this is a story of leadership in action. McCoy leads from the front, inspires his men, all the things that the talk about, but he seems to do it naturally. It's also a story of the author learning a lot about himself by examining his own thoughts and feelings about the war. This is one of those books that you just have to be glad was written.

A Journalist with a Marine's Insight

I disagree with the previous reviewer, Barth. McCoy's Marines isn't about the author, Koopman, wanting to be the main hero. This is about a former Marine going to war as a journalist and everything experienced along the way. The author writes about Col. McCoy. But because Koopman was also involved in the events described, he has to write about his experiences, too. This is nonfiction storytelling, not an egomaniac's version of war. Anyone thinking poorly of Koopman for including those letters is wrong. Including the families' letters is a tribute to the families and those they love.