We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah

By Patrick K. O'Donnell

Book Overview

The platoon included four pairs of best friends. Each of the four would lose a best friend forever. Five months after being deployed to Iraq, Lima Company's 1st Platoon found itself in Fallujah, embroiled in some of the most intense house-to-house, hand-to-hand combat since World War II. Civilians were used as human shields or as bait to lure soldiers into buildings rigged with explosives; suicide bombers approached from every corner hoping to die and take Americans with them; radical insurgents, high on adrenaline, fought to the death. The Marines of the 1st Platoon (part of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment) were among the first to fight in Fallujah, and they bore the brunt of this epic battle. When it was over, the platoon had suffered thirty-five casualties, including four dead.This is their story.Award-winning author and historian Patrick O'Donnell stood shoulder-to-shoulder with this modern band of brothers as they marched and fought through the streets of Fallujah, and he stayed with them as the casualties mounted. O'Donnell captures not only the sights, sounds, and smells of the gritty street combat, but also the human drama of young men in a close-knit platoon fighting for their lives-and the lives of their buddies. We Were One chronicles the 1st Platoon's story, from its formation at Camp Pendleton in California to its near destruction in the smoldering ruins of Fallujah. We Were One is an unforgettable portrait of the new "Greatest Generation."With 16 pages of extraordinary photographs from the front lines of the Battle for Fallujah.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306814692
• ISBN13: 9780306814693
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Must read for platoon leadership

Pat provided an in-depth and descriptive look at the challenges faced by young men— especially those in leadership positions. Pat’s experience provides young lieutenants and new platoon sergeants with what it’s like to train a group of men/marines and how their lives directly affect those around them; thus, new leaders are able to circumvent the challenges faced by Pat and instead have a bit more experience to work off of.

Fantastic Account

We Were One is a true tribute to the US military's harrowing assault on Fallujah, and Pat O'Donnell's vivid account comes from his own willingness to sacrifice it all to capture this critical moment in history. This book is impossible to put down. You can feel the friendships forming at the onset of the book, as though they are your own brothers, and then witness the first-hand account of the assault from the eyes of the Marine Corps. The book makes us ever proud to be an American and is a tribute to those Marines who served in some of the most fierce fighting since Vietnam. Fantastic reading!

Shoulder to Shoulder

"We Were One" Shoulder to shoulder with the Marines who took Fallujah is an objective, real time report on Lima Co. 3/1's assault on Fallujah. The author, through great personal sacrafice and danger, takes you into a battle so ferocious with house to house fighting that has not been witnessed since Stalingrad. Patrick O'Donnell keeps with his style of telling it from the veterans point of view as he did with his other books, Beyond Valor, Into the Rising Sun and Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs. In this book, he does it in real time witnessing the battle himself, then recording it each night in the "safe houses" he and the Marines hunkered down in while AC-130U gunships circled, firing cannon and minigun to keep the Islamofascists at bay all night long. I read his other books, I've lived WWII through the eyes, hearts and minds of the veterans of the European and Pacific theaters. Now I have lived it real time from the Marines on the front line of a battle that joins the ranks of Marine Corps historical lore. This is a book for those who appreciate small unit tactics and close personal combat. These Marines did not have much armor support and had to do it the old fashioned way, even using Bangalore Torpedoes. It is a must read for all us armchair warriors.

Every American SHOULD read this book!

I just finished reading your book, "We Were One" and wanted to share my thoughts with you. Being a female in my mid twenties who had a hard time sitting through the war scenes in "Forest Gump", I NEVER would have read a book of this nature. The only reason that I picked it up is because one of my truly dearest friends, Corporal "Jack Rabbit" Roberts is in it. Corporal Roberts once told me that he was in Fallujah. Being the naive and sometimes ignorant person that I am, I had no idea what that meant. In fact, I hadn't even followed the war because I didn't agree with it. All I knew about the war was what I heard on the news. This past summer, Justin and I became very close friends. When he told me he was in a book, of course I felt compelled to read it. I put it off for a while but finally last week I picked up a copy. I read through it in 3 days. It brought me to tears while opening my eyes. How could I have been so ignorant about the war and what my very good friend had gone through (he never talked to me about what he had done)? Men my own age (at the time) were fighting and experiencing things that never in my wildest nightmares could I imagine. I want to thank every Marine for what he has done. You have made me proud. I want to thank Pat O'Donnell for writing this book. Right now, having just closed the back cover, I feel like it has changed my view of the world- my world in particular. I have this sudden urge to do everything I can to support our troops and to let them know that they are appreciated and honored. I also want to thank Pat for giving me the opportunity to understand what my dear friend had to endure and still struggles with today. Marines, you truly have moved and inspired me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

What a great book

I was a member of 3/1 in the late 70's and was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1990 after recovering from injuries incurred in Beirut. I have spent most of my life reading military history and first hand accounts of combat and have experienced it myself. This book is one of the best I have ever read. All Marines, historians and those who want to know what Marines are like in combat and what combat is like in Iraq should read this book. Kudos to the author for going through what so few else would do to get t he story first hand. My only regret is that as in Vietnam these men were misused by politicians who themselves would never make the ultimate sacrifice for others.