What military themed books do you like to read?

2015-01-24T17:35:47-05:00

A fraternity brother of mine recently contacted me on Facebook to ask me if I had ever heard of Carlos Hathcock. My response was a very witty, "Asking a Marine if he's ever heard of Carlos Hathcock is like asking an Irish Catholic if they've ever heard of JFK." It did get me thinking though, what is my favorite military bases book? I don't have an answer to that because the study varies. So my question is: what military themed books do y'all read? Could be either fiction or nonfiction, Sci fi, historical, methodology, or even (if you're one of THOSE guys) a manual like an MCI or whatever the equivalent is in the other services.

Response by LTC David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® made Jan 24 at 2015 5:42 PM

2015-01-24T17:42:03-05:00

One of the first was "Letter to Garcia." Very short book and gives a good account on the type of person you want to be and have people work for you. I remember "Duffer's Drift" was a good one to read as well.

Response by Col Kyle Taylor made Jul 27 at 2015 10:12 PM

2015-07-27T22:12:02-04:00

I have tried to vary my military reading but am always drawn back to Vietnam helicopter pilot stories. I am sure it is partially because I am biased as a helo pilot but the stories can be so different from a gunship to rescue to scout or troop lift. They always keep me interested.

Response by CDR Laurel Meadows made Aug 1 at 2015 8:22 PM

2015-08-01T20:22:17-04:00

20 years ago I started listening to audiobook while driving to drills... sometimes over 2 days. I liked the Flight of the Intruder series and any of the series by WEB Griffen. They made the trips go by so fast!

Response by SGT Joshua Craig made Aug 25 at 2015 1:14 PM

2015-08-25T13:14:30-04:00

I am an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy, and other non-fiction genre books. However, when it comes to non-fiction genre books, I mostly stay with military historical books. I have in my collection Band of Brothers and various books written by the soldiers featured in BoB. I also read memoirs from soldiers who have served in the modern wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. That includes American Sniper and The Last Survivor, but I also have read Warlord which was written by a former Marine officer who was erroneously accused of wrongfully firing his rifle while in combat. Good read.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 2 at 2015 3:56 PM

2015-12-02T15:56:29-05:00

Usually I like non-fiction military novels about battles or units, think "Black Hawk Down", "They fought for each other", and "The Outpost". Recently though, I've been really interested in modern fiction novels like "Matterhorn", "Redeployment", and "Fives and Twenty-fives". The latter two novels especially, since they're examples of the new trend of Afghanistan/Iraq themed fiction books that will likely grow in the coming years.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 12 at 2016 1:32 AM

2016-01-12T01:32:11-05:00

W.E.B Griffin, Dale Brown, Jeff Shaara, and Stephen Coonts, are the authors that I like to read.

Response by PO1 Cameron Rhyne made Jan 12 at 2016 2:26 AM

2016-01-12T02:26:30-05:00

I've always thought Starship Troopers was a rather fascinating Sci-fi take on the military, written by someone who has obviously been there.

Not to be confused with the film of the same name, which apparently was meant to be a satire on propaganda films.