The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Regardless of how you feel about the invasion of Iraq you can't help but admire the professionalism, dedication and sense of duty shared by the young men at the tip of the American war machine. West and Smith, without glorifying anything or overdoing the Gung Ho banter, provide a precise Abrams tank's optical gunsight on one of America's elite fighting forces and, despite some errors and initial setbacks, the Marines come out smelling like roses. What other branch of service would allow two "lowly" grunt rifle squads to seize one of the war's most important objectives, the oil processing facility known as "the Crown Jewel?"

In action after action the Leathernecks come across almost as chained dobermans, straining for their chance to get into the thick of it. The riflemen are disappointed numerous times when their chance to take out an enemy position is missed, when it's over before they get their licks in. They curse the tankers who "get all the shots" at long range. They're eager to close with the enemy and destroy him. That's what they're there for and I'm darn glad we have them.

No other authors/journalists could have gotten as much access with the Marines as Smith and West did. Only former Marines can understand and, consequently, garner respect from the young hard chargers currently in the thick of it. I doubt if a retired Army general would have gotten as much respect or sense of camaraderie from the 3rd I.D. over on the left. The authors saw everything with experienced eyes and it shows in their reporting. If you want to know what really happened during those three weeks this is the book to read.

For one, I was interested to see some myths dispelled, especially the account of Iraqis surrendering en masse only to pull out weapons at the last second. I also enjoyed learning about what our modern weapons can do. You gotta love those optics and computers. From honing in on lone infantrymen with tanks' automatic weapons to calculating the azimuth of incoming artillery rounds, it doesn't behoove any foe to take our fighting force lightly. Nobody can touch us...in open combat. Consequently, we're now faced with cowardly guerilla tactics. They know they'd be obliterated with any other method.

There's an underlying feeling of Marine superiority (justifiably so, I think), especially when compared to our Army brothers-in-arms. One gets the feeling from the book that if it had been up to the Marines we'd have been in Baghdad in a week. Granted, there'd be some major mopping up to do but our casualties might have been even lighter in the end. I get the sneaking suspicion that if all of Iraq were occupied by these disciplined Marines we'd have fewer civilian deaths, less resentment and far less friendly fire incidents. Marines aren't perfect, just trained better. Just imagine if they had the armor the 3rd I.D. did.

Congrats to the authors on an excellent piece of work. They even got it on bookstore shelves with Marine Corps speed and efficiency. This must be the first (and will probably be the best) work on America's most recent war.

This story is filled with masterful anecdotes conveying brutality, indiference to danger, empathy to tragic circumstances, grievous mistakes, ignorance, fleeting command confusion, survival, death, anguish, and trial by fire. The technical capability of the troops, the competency of the officers, the capabilities of the NCOs, and the combat readiness of the Marines shine forth in this book. However no one is perfect, yet even the faults displayed are simply a contrast to a well organized and disciplined professional fighting force, more than any detraction of ability. The grit is as real as the dust layered on the vehicles of 1st MarDiv as they smashed into Baghdad, and what you experience will leave you with pride in the young men this country still produces to serve as Marines. Semper Fi.

Their familiarity with Marine Corps culture and tactics enabled the authors to engage the Marines and uncover stories that might otherwise go unnoticed. Given their backgrounds, one might expect Smith and West to be overly forgiving or generous in addressing the mistakes and shortcomings they observed. But this is not the case. The authors do an admirable job of remaining objective and taking the Corps to task for civilian casualties, tactical errors and the like. I was impressed with the integrity of this book.

The March Up is somehwat narrow in scope and more anecdotal than comprehensive. The definitive history of the Second Gulf War has yet to be written. But until it is, this book will provide useful insights on the impressive achievements, and shortcomings, of the First Marine Division on the road to Iraqi liberation.