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Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood |  | Author: Donovan Campbell
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $8.98
as of 9/8/2010 01:36 MDT details
You Save: $7.02 (44%)
New (32) Used (16) from $7.35
Seller: BRILANTI BOOKS
Rating:  132 reviews
Sales Rank: 31628
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0812979567
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9780812979565
ASIN: 0812979567
Publication Date: January 12, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780812979565 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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| Also Available In:
| • | Audible Audio Edition - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood | | • | Preloaded Digital Audio Player - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Nonfiction) | | • | Kindle Edition - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood | | • | Audio CD - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood | | • | Audio CD - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood | | • | MP3 CD - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood | | • | Hardcover - Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood |
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Product Description
After graduating from Princeton, Donovan Campbell wanted to give back to his country, engage in the world, and learn to lead. So he joined the service, becoming a commander of a forty-man infantry platoon called Joker One. Campbell had just months to train and transform a ragtag group of brand-new Marines into a first-rate cohesive fighting unit, men who would become his family. They were assigned to Ramadi, the capital of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province that was an explosion just waiting to happen. And when it did happen—with the chilling cries of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" echoing from minaret to minaret—Campbell and company were there to protect the innocent, battle the insurgents, and pick up the pieces.
Thrillingly told by the man who led the unit of hard-pressed Marines, Joker One is a gripping tale of a leadership and loyalty.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 132
 Awesome book August 19, 2010
Tank (Wisconsin USA)
This is an excellent book. It gives you a first hand account of the courage and sacrifice that our young Marine Corps heroes display in their OIF deployment. The author does a good job of describing the intense decision making required of a Platoon lieutenant and the role his faith played in the deployment. I highly recommend this book. I listened to the audio book which was very well done.
Faith, love, and hope abide August 13, 2010
Jordan M. Poss (Georgia, United States)
I bought Joker One on a whim at a college bookstore. I'm glad I did. Donovan Campbell's combat memoir has all the hallmarks of a good war story--sharp detail, fast pace, gut-wrenching combat, and emotional frankness--and a few meaningful observations that make it transcendent.
Campbell had already served in Iraq when he finally got what he had wanted out of the Marine Corps--a shot at leading men into combat. He had been promised a scout-sniper platoon, but instead found himself at the head of First Platoon, Golf Company, a 40-man unit of grunt infantry. It wasn't what he wanted, he confesses, but he would never get a better opportunity to learn and exercise leadership. His platoon--called "Joker One" (i.e: first platoon of Joker, Golf Company's callsign) was understrength and undertrained, but Campbell immediately set to whipping both the platoon and himself into shape.
Their projected training time was cut short by deployment to Iraq in the spring of 2004. There they found themselves acting as an occupying force in Ramadi, upriver from Fallujah in the restless Anbar province. Joker One would patrol, sweep roads for bombs, and root out any insurgents who may have taken up arms in the city. Though Golf Company was tasked with keeping a population of over 350,000 at peace, Campbell was relieved to learn that Ramadi had been a relatively quiet zone.
Then, one otherwise routine morning, the morning call to prayer all over the city was the repeated word "Jihad!"
Campbell and his men lived through several months of daily combat. Insurgents could and would appear at any moment, shooting at Campbell and his Marines with automatic weapons, sniper rifles, RPGs, and heavy machine guns. In perhaps the most upsetting and moving passage of the book, the insurgents even targeted the school children grouped around a Humvee. The constant fighting took a terrible physical and emotional toll, one Campbell does not shy away from describing. But, miraculously, Campbell eventually led his platoon from Ramadi with only one death.
The greatest lesson he learned, Campbell says at the end of his book, was the role of love in binding men together and helping them accomplish their mission. The Marines' love of their leader gave Campbell protection, his love for them gave them firm if imperfect leadership, their love for each other gave them strength through physical and mental trauma, and their love of Man kept them from sinking to the insurgents' level. It is with good reason that Campbell opens his book with an epigraph from I Corinthians 13. As much as his gripping account of combat against insurgents, it's Campbell's sensitivity, candor, and love that place Joker One among the best military memoirs I've read.
Highly recommended.
A great soldier writes a wonderful book! August 5, 2010
Skye Rose (Cortland, NY United States)
Donavan writes about being in command of a troop in Iraq. What impressed me most was how much Donavan cared for his troops, especially their safety. He was a Harvard graduate, but his patriotism led him into the army instead of a higher paying job. Throughout the book, he shows an earnestness in caring for his men. When they arrive, the resources are short. Their first duty is to build barracks. They go on routine missions, such as clearing the roads of IED's (explosive devices). Obviously, the routine is full of danger. They guard buildings. They are constantly shot at by men who 'blend in' to their surroundings. First they shoot at the army, then they drop their guns and look like any other civilians, making it impossible for the army to find the original shooter. Donavan expresses some frustration at the Marines stated goal "to win the hearts of the people" while the duties they are given make this impossible. At the same time, after having himself & his men shot at a number of times, he is understandably upset that this stated goal makes it a priority to protect the very civilians who are shooting at them.
 Fantastic read July 28, 2010
After reading Generation kill and One bullet away, I stumbled on this book. I ended up enjoying it more than the other highly regarded accounts of war. The author gives an extremely candid and thorough account of his progression as a marine officer. The emotions of the men and their personalities are conveyed well.
Excellent Reading for Marine Mom July 21, 2010
Debra Demke (SALT LAKE CITY, UT, US)
As the mother of a U.S. Marine, this is an excellent book and smooth read. The author (Lt. Campbell) does a great job giving someone outside the USMC insight to better understand the Corps, its core values, sacrifices, and the true brotherhood that exists. I imagine it's a great read for any Marine as well.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 132
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