According to the book description of We'll All Die As Marines: One
Marine's Journey from Private to Colonel, "For seventeen-year-old high
school dropout Jim Bathurst, the Marine Corps's reputation for making men out of
boys was something he desperately needed when he enlisted in March of 1958. What
began as a four-year hitch lasted nearly thirty-six years and included an
interesting assortment of duty stations and assignments as both enlisted and
officer. We'll All Die As Marines narrates a story about a young, free-spirited
kid from Dundalk, Maryland, and how the Corps captured his body, mind, and
spirit. Slowly, but persistently, the Corps transformed him into someone whose
first love would forever be the United States Marine Corps. It documents not
only his leadership, service, and training but also regales many tales of his
fellow Marines that will have the reader laughing, cheering, and at times
crying. In this memoir, Bathurst reveals that for him-a former DI who was
awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" Purple Heart, and a
combat commission to second lieutenant-the Corps was not a job, a career, or
even a profession; it was-and still is-a way of life."
|