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ktriplett
01-23-03, 01:22 AM
This book may or may not be on one of the book lists that wrbones has posted (I must confess, I haven't yet gone through all the books) but I just started reading it this evening. "Into the Crucible" by James B. Woulfe. I'm about halfway through, and the information within is extremely helpful. Every poolee getting ready to ship should read this book, as it's got a little hint of what we'll face in book camp and the Crucible.

wrbones
01-23-03, 02:01 AM
LMAO. There's a hell of a lot of book titles posted on this site ain't there!

Glad to see some of you guys are doin' some 'studying'! LOL

ktriplett
02-03-03, 01:53 AM
Another good book for poolees who like to read: Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield. It's a novelization of the Spartan resistance against the Persian army at Thermopylae in the BC's sometime. The book describes the inner-workings of the Spartan army and holds such examples of leadership, teamwork, loyalty and courage as to be an educational read for a poolee, since these are virtues we will need to know about and possess when we go to boot camp, and after.

RoboRobinson17
02-03-03, 11:06 PM
I have now been officially broken financially; as a result of textbooks and wrbones' postings on recommended readings. A site that has helped me with the money is called bigwords.com. It searches different sites, and comes up with the best prices. (You can also buy your textbooks here, also) Just thought it would be helpfull, before we go spending all the money we were promised......;)

Yours in Intensity,

Joe

wrbones
02-03-03, 11:14 PM
LMAO. That was a cheap shot! ROTF :D

I'm glad that you are doing the research! In time, you'll be glad you did! I guarantee it will pay off for you, your troops and your career!

Clash
02-06-03, 10:07 AM
ithat book called "In to the crucibale", is it a story or information.




-Clash

ktriplett
02-06-03, 03:32 PM
Into the Crucible follows a platoon of recruits through each obstacle of the Crucible. Each chapter is based on a station of the Crucible and it talks about what the obstacle is, why it's there (many of them are based on actions taken by Marines who were awarded the Medal of Honor), how they got through it and the debriefing afterward by the Platoon Sgt. It's a good dose of story, history and information.

ktriplett
02-13-03, 06:47 PM
For those of you poolees who love to read as much as I do, I've got another one for ya! Flags of our Fathers, by James Bradley. It's the stories of the six men who raised the second flag on Mt. Suribachi. It's a motivating read.

DevilPup2004
02-13-03, 07:17 PM
"Generally Speaking," by LtGen Claudia Kennedy (only female 3-star in the history of the United States Army) and "It Doesn't Take A Hero," by Gen H. Norman Schwartzkopf are both absolutely outstanding. They may be the autobiographies of Army leaders, but they both share a myriad of things they learned while in US military leadership positions. I've already started to apply what I've learned through these books to the places where I hold leadership positions.

Good stuff, good stuff...

USMC-FO
02-13-03, 07:51 PM
I mentioned this previously but it is worth noting again: "KEEPING FAITH" Frank and John Schaeffer is excellent and a quick read.

firstsgtmike
02-13-03, 09:07 PM
Drifter posted this in another forum. It is background for the above ecommended book, Keeping Faith.

"Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps."
My Heart On The Line

Washington Post
November 26, 2002
By Frank Schaeffer


Before my son became a Marine, I never thought much about who was defending me. Now when I read of the war on terrorism or the coming conflict in Iraq, it cuts to my heart. When I see a picture of a member of our military who has been killed, I read his or her name very carefully. Sometimes I cry.

In 1999, when the barrel-chested Marine recruiter showed up in dress blues and bedazzled my son John, I did not stand in the way. John was headstrong, and he seemed to understand these stern, clean men with straight backs and flawless uniforms. I did not. I live on the Volvo-driving, higher education-worshiping North Shore of Boston. I write novels for a living. I have never served in the military. It had been hard enough sending my two older children off to Georgetown and New York University. John's enlisting was unexpected, so deeply unsettling. I did not relish the prospect of answering the question "So where is John going to college?" from the parents who were itching to tell me all about how their son or daughter was going to Harvard. At the private high school John attended, no other students were going into the military.

"But aren't the Marines terribly Southern?" asked one perplexed mother while standing next to me at the brunch following graduation. "What a waste, he was such a good student," said another parent. One parent (a professor at a nearby and rather famous university) spoke up at a school meeting and suggested that the school should "carefully evaluate what went wrong."

When John graduated from three months of boot camp on Parris Island, 3,000 parents and friends were on the parade deck stands. We parents and our Marines not only were of many races but also were representative of many economic classes. Many were poor. Some arrived crammed in the backs of pickups, others by bus. John told me that a lot of parents could not afford the trip.

We in the audience were white and Native American. We were Hispanic, Arab and African American and Asian. We were former Marines wearing the scars of battle, or at least baseball caps emblazoned with battles' names. We were Southern whites from Nashville and skinheads from New Jersey, black kids from Cleveland wearing ghetto rags and white ex-cons with ham-hock forearms defaced by jailhouse tattoos. We would not have been mistaken for the educated and well-heeled parents gathered on the lawns of John's private school a half-year before.

After graduation one new Marine told John, "Before I was a Marine, if I had ever seen you on my block I would've probably killed you just because you were standing there." This was a serious statement from one of John's good friends, an African American ex-gang member from Detroit who, as John said, "would die for me now, just like I'd die for him."

My son has connected me to my country in a way that I was too selfish and insular to experience before. I feel closer to the waitress at our local diner than to some of my oldest friends. She has two sons in the Corps. They are facing the same dangers as my boy. When the guy who fixes my car asks me how John is doing, I know he means it. His younger brother is in the Navy.

Why were I and the other parents at my son's private school so surprised by his choice? During World War II, the sons and daughters of the most powerful and educated families did their bit. If the immorality of the Vietnam War was the only reason those lucky enough to go to college dodged the draft, why did we not encourage our children to volunteer for military service once that war was done? Have we wealthy and educated Americans all become pacifists? Is the world a safe place? Or have we just gotten used to having somebody else defend us? What is the future of our democracy when the sons and daughters of the janitors at our elite universities are far more likely to be put in harm's way than are any of the students whose dorms their parents clean?

I feel shame because it took my son's joining the Marine Corps to make me take notice of who is defending me. I feel hope because perhaps my son is part of a future "greatest generation." As the storm clouds of war gather, at least I know that I can look the men and women in uniform in the eye. My son is one of them. He is the best I have to offer. He is my heart.

Frank Schaeffer is a writer. His latest book, co-written with his son, Marine Cpl. John Schaeffer, is "Keeping Faith: A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps."

jenrmurray
02-19-03, 02:32 AM
I ordered 'Into the Crucible' this afternoon, I can't wait for it to arrive. I also purchased, 'Boot' by Daniel Da Cruz... I'm eating it up.

Has anyone read Sun Tzu's 'Art of War?' My OSO said it was a must read, but I never seem to remember it when I am actually standing in a bookstore.

wrbones
02-19-03, 05:35 AM
Look around Jen. It just might be posted on the site. :D

Look for it, it's there. It's not a long book, so I said to myself, "One of the most important books on military science ever written! I need to post it on leatherneck.com!" So.



I posted it.

RoboRobinson17
04-30-03, 12:44 PM
Bump for the new guys. I just finished "Into the Crucible" today, and it is an excellent book. If you are looking for answers on how to survive the Crucible, and how to solve the obstacles, this is not the book for you. This merely gives you insight into what can be expected (if literature can do that), and teaches you that the Crucible is about teamwork and critical thinking. No one can survive on thier own, and the team is only as strong as its weakest link. Good Luck.

Yours in Intensity,

Joe

Echo_Four_Bravo
04-30-03, 07:45 PM
Robo, I think you have the idea of what the Cruicible was designed to do. Keep that in mind, and relay that information on to your fellow recruits as you begin it, and again when problems come up.
I am glad to see that many of you are reading all the books you can before you begin your journey with the Marine Corps. I know that I read every book I could get my hands on, both about boot camp, military history, and first hand accounts from people involved in the battles. Things are always changing, so you never know exactly what is ahead of you, but the knowledge you bring with you (in each step of your Marine Corps life) will not only help you, but also all those around you.

Semper Fi

CrazyBrave83
05-01-03, 05:21 PM
I've read "Flags of our Fathers"...amazing book
I want to read "Keeping the Faith" and "Into the Crucible", I'm gonna keep my eyes out for both of them while I'm at bookstores. I've read "The Art of War" multiple times...it is quite a good read, although it's not what many think it is. It's purely a philisophical book. I'm currently reading the "US Army Survival Guide", It's pretty awesome and worth picking up, even if you're not going to boot. It tells you everything from how to make weapons to what types of plants to look out for...it should help in the future, me going Infantry and all. Where are those book lists Sgt.Bones put up? I'd like to check them out.
Thanks.

RoboRobinson17
05-01-03, 05:57 PM
In the Poolee Hall.....hehehehe. C'mon, I know you didn't look! It takes about 5 - 10 minutes. On the bottom of the page, it will have something like show posts in ascending/descending order, from the last 10/30/60/beginning, something like that. Just pick one, ya might get lucky.

Yours in Intensity,

Joe

RoboRobinson17
05-01-03, 06:21 PM
Or it could be in the Marine mentor forum....fergot cause he posts so many books....:banana:

Sixguns
05-01-03, 07:43 PM
A mind is a terrible thing to waste!!!

READ BOOKS!!!!

Of course my personal favorite is "Making The Corps" by Thomas E. Ricks. The author first observed Marines in Somalia and then went to PI to observe how Marines are trained (made). Mr. Ricks was also a writer who reported from Operation Iraqi Freedom in recent months.

SIXGUNS

marinemom
05-01-03, 10:29 PM
One of the finest books ever written about the Corps - With The Old Breed by Eugene Sledge, a memoir of the First Marine Division's crossing of the Pacific, ending with the battle of Okinawa.

A great account - definite must-read

wrbones
05-16-03, 02:20 AM
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2164&highlight=books



http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2491&highlight=books



http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2240&highlight=books

some things are posted on other forums....

http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2277&highlight=books

not a book, but kinda handy to know about....

http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4609&highlight=books

http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4197&highlight=books


http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3214&highlight=books

http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2609&highlight=books


That ain't all of 'em listed on this site, but it's a helluva good start.

wrbones
05-16-03, 02:37 AM
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2159

firstsgtmike
05-16-03, 04:46 AM
Nah,

Best book I ever read had a title like "Everything I Needed to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten."

It was filled with life-serving wisdom:

Haven't learned much since then that contradicts it.

If e-bay has a copy, I just might order one for my children.

Jim
05-16-03, 03:01 PM
Three books I didn't see on the list. Maybe they are there and my eyes just blurred; anyhow.

On Valors Side by T. Grady Gallant (WWII especially Guadalcanal)
Helmet for my Pillow by Robert Leckie (WWII again)
March to Glory by Robert Leckie (Frozen Chosin)

and of course if you want classic fiction then it's gotta be Battle Cry by Leon Uris. My son brought back a copy in Portuguese when he returned from UNITAS. Funny thing is I've read the book so much it almost seems as if I can read it in Portuguese and my Dutch copy as well.

Cement03
05-29-03, 01:19 AM
i have recently bought and read Jarhead by Anthony Swafford. now it doesnt have too much info about boot camp in it but it is a great book and a definate read.

semper fi
Simon Litke

Patrick8605
06-03-03, 05:07 PM
I forgot who posted the thread about "Into the Crucible" I'm pressed for time right now but would like to thank the person who recommended that book ITS AWSOME. Thanks