Iraq War Marines

At a time when the United States debates how deeply to involve itself in Iraq and Syria, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Zacchea, USMC (Ret.), holds a unique vantage point on our still-ongoing war. Deployed to Iraq in March 2004, his team's mission was to build, train, and lead in combat the first Iraqi army battalion trained by the US military. Zacchea tells a deeply personal and powerful story while shedding light on the dangerous pitfalls of training foreign troops to fight murderous insurgents.

From the author of Marine Sniper—the classic true account of Sergeant Carlos Hathcock—comes a gripping and gritty new novel about a sniper on the trail of al-Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in post-9/11 Iraq... At age twenty, Marine Scout-Sniper Jack Valentine had his first kill in...

From foot patrols, deadly enemy engagements, and sinister insider attacks to meals and conversations with the men of the Afghan Border Police, Izant's account confronts the gauntlet of violence and anguish that transformed a generation of American and Afghan warriors from idealist volunteers for a just war to disillusioned veterans of a lost cause.

Noah Lindt heard the call of duty after the tragic events of 9/11. Despite a hampering medical condition that kept him on the outskirts of his high school class, he was accepted into the Marines where he found out he had a singular skill. He could outshoot almost anyone. Marksmanship alone is not enough to be a successful scout sniper. Teamwork and mental discipline are paramount, and the self-professed loner has problems adjusting to his spotter as well as the rest of his platoon when they deploy to Ramadi, "the most dangerous city on earth".

Zachary Cannon joined the Navy to get trained as a radiology tech, a skill he could use to get a job and support his family after his enlistment. But the needs of the Navy take priority, and much to his surprise, he was given orders to the Fleet Marine Force as a corpsman to an infantry battalion deploying to Iraq. As part of a rifle squad in Ramadi, Zach joins the Marines on patrol, in assaults, and on security duty, facing the same dangers and hardships.

"A majestic book." --Bessel van der Kolk, MD, author of The Body Keeps the Score A unique joint memoir by a U.S. Marine and a conflict photographer whose unlikely friendship helped both heal their war-wounded bodies and souls "The dueling-piano spirit of SHOOTING GHOSTS works because its authors...

“Riveting and morally complex, Volunteers is not only an insider’s account of war. It takes you inside the increasingly closed culture that creates our warriors.” —Elliot Ackerman, author of the National Book Award finalist Dark at the Crossing As a child, Jerad Alexander lay in bed...