J. T. O'Brien served as enlisted (Chief Scout of the First Regiment of Korea) and as an Officer (Naval Flight Officer in Vietnam).  J. T. O’Brien is the author of The Raw Edge of Hell; Mercilessly Unforgiving; Giretsu; and, Top Secret: An Informal History of Sixty Years of Marine Corps Aviation Reconnaissance.  He is also the co-author of Collision Forensics.

According to the book description of The Raw Edge of Hell, “A Marine Rifle Company fights through the last six months of the First Korean War.  Fighting against over whelming odds, the Commander, the lieutenants, the sergeants and the men battle valiantly for survival knowing as they do that the peace can arrive at any time.  Perhaps the ultimate futility for any soldier is to die moments before the shooting stops.”

As the diplomats dither over their seating arrangements at the peace conference, Marines were being maimed and killed to hold an imaginary 38th Parallel.  Politically the line is vital, militarily it is untenable, to their eternal glory the Marines held that line despite the odds and marched into history as they did so.  The events mentioned were real, the characters are fictional.”

According to the book description of Top Secret: An Informal History of Sixty Years of Marine Corps Aviation Reconnaissance, “This is a unique history of the Evolution of Aerial Reconnaissance told as the aircrewman and mechs would tell it. Told in ready room and flight line jargon, this book relates the story of years of determination and deprivation. It is a understatement to describe our congress as being frugal when it comes to paying for military preparedness. Traditionally, it is only after the bombs explode that our legislators find that it is time to "beef up" the armed forces. The Marine Corps having always been at the bottom of the fiscal ladder, has to improvise and make do to be ready for any exigency. When the Corps found that we needed a particular type of aircraft we had to darn near design it ourselves. We had to filch discarded models from the junkyard and almost literally piece them together with bailing wire to build the finest Tactical Aerial Reconnaissance Program that the country has ever had. Marine Corps Aviation has been described as a "Pocket Air Force," complete unto itself. It possesses all of the capabilities and potential of the other services, but on a reduced scale.

One reason for this self sufficiency was that at Guadalcanal, during WWII, the Corps learned the value of being able to defend itself as the Navy sailed away to battle the Japanese. From 1940 to 2000 the aviators and ground crewmen of the Marine Corps Recon Squadrons toiled to make the Corps the finest in the business and they succeeded. This book is a classic on how to do with out and still accomplish the job. It should be required reading for all Program managers and military historians. As we move into an era of Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft we look back and have reason to believe that we have had the good fortune to have participated in the most exciting and personally rewarding era of military flight.”

According to the book description of Mercilessly Unforgiving, “January 1944 an entire Squadron of Marine Corsairs goes down in the South Pacific, not due to enemy action, but because of adverse weather and poor planning.  A Marine Investigator encounters threats of his personal political destruction as he tries to unravel the causes for this disaster.

Individuals perform with courage and skill as their leader takes them into harms way.  Shrouded in secrecy this event goes unreported in the press, but heads will roll when the investigation comes to an end.  Inspired by an actual event, the book is historical fiction.”

According to the book description of Giretsu, “J.T. O'Brien has written a great fictional adventure story around this actual event. The combat is described from the viewpoint of the Japanese Commander and that of an American Marine. It is a riveting account.

The Japanese Army had seldom met defeat until they encountered the United States Marines on Guadalcanal. The primary mistake, from the perspective of the Imperial Staff, was the insertion of replacements in a piece-meal fashion. It was a fatal mistake, but one that would save Australia.

Colonel Mitsuro Sato was trained to be "the" soldier, but his candid remarks concerning the conduct of the war led to his being assigned to a backwater command doomed to training civilians for the anticipated invasion of Japan. Then came the chance to lead the Commando. This was one last opportunity for the Colonel to die as a soldier should.”