Product Description

They were the soldiers who pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein — the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, led by Lt. Col. Bryan P. McCoy (radio call sign: Darkside). And this is the story of their war, seen from the inside by the reporter they called Paperboy. From the build-up in Kuwait to the first push into Basra, from the briefings to the heat of battles planned or stumbled upon, San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Koopman captures the war in Iraq as it was lived, fought, and felt — the nitty-gritty as well as the guts-and-glory of it — and as he saw it firsthand from Darkside’s humvee or riding with the sergeant major (the Marine infantry battalion’s "most feared, respected, loved, and hated man"). A former service Marine himself, Koopman was seeing combat for the first time, too. His account, part memoir, part biography, part battle history, encompasses all the bravery and fear, camaraderie, excitement, humor, and sorrow experienced on the shifting front line of America’s war in Iraq. In spring of 2004, author Koopman returned to Iraq and reunited with McCoy’s Marines following their return to Iraq and the new insurgent war. This "rest of the story" makes for a fascinating epilogue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #517305 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Booklist
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. Koopman occasionally dwells on his own emotions at excessive length, and the book is sometimes jumbled; but one keeps turning pages. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“War, death, pathos, personal sacrifice, courage, bravery, leadership, charisma, history…these are but a few of the issues Koopman addresses in his gripping true account of ‘McCoy’s Marines’ in Iraq”

From the Back Cover
Praise for McCoy's Marines: Darkside to Baghdad:

War, death, pathos, personal sacrifice, courage, bravery, leadership, charisma, history . . . these are but a few of the issues Koopman addresses in his gripping true account of McCoy's Marines in Iraq.--Follow Me (the newsletter of the 2nd Marine Division)

[Koopman] writes in a clipped, hard-boiled prose and stays away--in the manner of the soldiers with whom he travels--from politics. Instead, his book is a description of the day-to-day progress of the Three-Four on their way north to Baghdad, where they encountered some of the worst fighting of the early days of the war. Koopman's story could have taken place anywhere--as far back as the Napoleonic wars. It's an unpleasant tale most of the time. But again, that seems to be the point.--San Francisco Chronicle

Personal battle accounts, interviews and anecdotes--as well as a look at McCoy's philosophy of "hands-on" motivational leadership--are at the core of this gripping 300-page front-line report detailing the vast campaign with the courage of ordinary Marines. This deeply human look into the spirits, hearts and minds of our men and women during life-or-death skirmishes deserves to be read by all Americans.--Army Times

McCoy's Marines is a brilliant intersection of journalism and combat. In addition to detailing candid views of the war from the ground up, Koopman vividly portrays the brutal realities of killing without jingoism and cheerleading. This deeply human look into the spirits, hearts and minds of our men and women during life-or-death skirmishes deserves to be read by all Americans. More then 30 color photos, most taken by Koopman, add to the integrity of the text.--Air Force Times

Customer Reviews

Koopman's War
By Major Keith F. Kopets, USMC

Sometimes, you can't judge a book by its cover. This is one of those cases. LtCol Bryan P. McCoy and the Marines of 3d Battalion, 4th Marines provide most of the material for this book, yes, but McCoy's Marines is not really about them. It is, essentially, one part memoir, three parts combat report, refracted through the lens of author John Koopman. He was on a mission to cover the war in Iraq for the San Francisco Chronicle. He met the battalion in February 2003 at Camp Ripper, Kuwait, and stayed with them north into Iraq, all the way to Firdous Square, Baghdad.

Censure was not a problem for Koopman. "I don't expect you to be a cheerleader for the Marines," McCoy told him. "That's not your job. Just be fair and accurate, that's all I ask. If we screw something up, I expect you to write about it. If it's something that needs to be fixed, a story will speed things up."

Koopman got along well with the men in the battalion. He had been a Marine himself in the late 1970s, reporting to Parris Island after high school in 1976. He was 17 years old, from a small town in Nebraska. "I was pretty naïve back then," Koopman remembers. He finished his enlistment a 21-year old sergeant at Camp Lejeune. He met his wife, Isabel, on liberty in Spain during his last deployment.

He left her and their eight-year-old son in San Francisco to report on the war. Koopman, like the Marines he covered in Iraq, felt the sting of separation. "I called home," Koopman says, on his satellite phone from Iraq:

"Isabel cried when she heard my voice. I couldn't understand it at the time. But that's how it works. When you're at home, thinking about the war or anything you've not actually experienced, the not knowing is what kills you. When you're there, and you can touch and feel the dirt, and see other people, and understand the risk and threat, it's not so bad."

That's immediacy. If you served in Iraq, you know what Koopman felt like; if you were back home with a friend or loved one in the war, you know what Koopman's wife was feeling. The family separation was another bond Koopman shared with the men of 3/4. "What I came to look forward to in the war," Koopman writes, was "the look on a Marine's face when I handed him the handset and told him to call his mom."

Koopman does not wear the reader down with metaphor or political abstraction. His writing is linear, direct, and without pretension. "The Marines went in heavy," he writes, for example. "That's their way. Nothing subtle about them. Walk in with a gun in your hand and start asking questions." At times, Koopman is profane; at times, he is funny. He is never boring. But he reminds you, though, more often than he should, that he is a journalist writing his first book. The sentence fragments are the give-away. You have to bear with them.

When it comes down to it, Koopman is faithful to what he saw and what he felt. His view of 3/4 and the war may have been through a soda straw, but the book works because he stays in his lane. He is less concerned with the larger picture or making sense out of the war than he is in simply setting to print his own observations. In his conclusion, he writes, "People ask me my opinion all the time. They think because I was in Iraq a couple of times that I have some knowledge, some answers. But I know nothing."

If McCoy himself were the reviewer, I imagine he would judge this book faithful to the guidance he gave Koopman before the war. He would probably censure Koopman, though, for the hagiographic inference of the title. But Koopman, I think, would dig in and defend. He would say that 3/4, as he saw it from the outside looking in, was a battalion that took on the personality of its commander.

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.

Solid reporting but a bit narrow
Writing was good but I found some typos. Wasn't much of a story here, actually, and that surprised me. Not about the battalion commander so the title misleads. It's good...but not the best around. Wanted more action, to be frank.