I have really enjoyed, and highly recommend, this book. Many medal books focus on personal decorations, but this work, as the subtitle indicates, traces the development of United States Navy and Marine Corps campaign medals from their origin around 1900 through 1996. For each medal there is narrative describing it's creation, usually including a synopsis of the key events of the conflict, requirements to receive the medal, date the medal was issued, and one or more good-sized color photographs. There are also sections on quasi-official pre-1930 commemorative medals, Arctic and Antarctic service medals, attachment devices, unit citations and other ribbon-only awards, foreign campaign medals, and some information for estimating the age or authenticity of old medals.

The emphasis on pre-WWII campaign medals such as China Relief Expedition Medal (the Boxer Rebellion), Nicaraguan Campaign Medals (there are two!) and Yangtze Service Medal (think "Sand Pebbles") along with period photographs of sailors and marines wearing those medals is the most interesting part of the book. In many instances there are lists (but not specific service dates) of specific ships that were awarded certain medals, which adds to the appeal of this book as a source for historical studies.

I enjoy skimming this book frequently for historical tidbits and sharing it with people interested in U.S. Navy and American History. Buy it!

I'm not sure that I read the same book other reviewers read. Although the novel had moments of painful realism, it was, for the most part, a jingoistic, cliched, disorganized, and poorly written account of the Korean War. One hopes for more for the long overlooked soldiers who fought in Korea than the self-congratulatory officer worship of this novel. I can only hope that this inspires a more gifted writer to address the topic.

Don't let the title fool you. This book is not about dogs. Dog Company is the phonetic alphabet designation for D Company that was used by the U.S. armed forces in World War II and Korea. Dog Company Six is the kind of book that many will want to read at least twice because it's so good. It's a novel about Marines in combat written by a Marine combat veteran. The prose is spare and to the point. The combat scenes are realistic and exciting. The book begins with an inexperienced infantry captain struggling with fears and doubts about his ability to lead Dog Company into war in Korea. As Dog Company fights its way through the Inchon Invasion, the battle for Seoul and the Chosin Reservoir - some of the most honored and storied battles in U.S. Marine Corps history - the commander matures into a tough, capable and brave captain of Marines. Author Edwin Howard Simmons is a retired Marine brigadier general who also fought his way up and the down the Korean peninsula in the same battles. His dialog is true to the Corps and his combat scenes have the realism that only a man who's been there can write. Dog Company Six isn't just a book about war and killing. It's about bravery, sacrifice and dedication to duty. Dog Company Six isn't just a book for and about Marines. It's an entertaining story, well told and deserving to be read by a wide audience.

This was book was recommended reading by my local public library. If you have any doubts that our top military men are intelligent and aware, read this. I write for a living, and I think Simmons is a top-notch thinker and writer.
This is the first book I have read about the Korean Conflict, and I found it to be a fast-paced, well-written account of what it was like to be on the fontlines in Korea. If you like Stephen Ambrose (e.g., "Citizen Soldier"), you will probably like this book.

This author shows an incredible lack of knowledge about the Vietnamese (both ARVN and Nva/Vc troops) who fought at Hue. This lack of knowledge means that the readers have no clue of how bloody the battle Hue was and why it takes several weeks to regain the city.

According two recently publish Communist books: "Hue, Spring 1968, Ban Nghien Cuu Dang[the Communist Party Research committee], Hue, 1988" and the "Tck-tkn [Generl offensive-General Uprising 1968, Ban Nghien Cuu Dang[the Communist Party Research committee], Ho Chi Minh City, 1988". The Nva/Vc troops in Hue consist of 4 full strength regiments: the E1, E5, E8, E9 and several battalions from the E6 regiment several sapper battalions (E is the NVA denote for regiment). Only the South Viets Hac Bao Company, most of who during the New Year was on leave, defended Hue. The Nva attacked on the first day of the Lunar New Year and quickly gain control of the city. After which they release 2,300 violent criminals from the city prison and armed them and the city VC sympathizers to form the "Nghia Quan"[Rightous Army]. In total the Nva/VC have around 9,000 to 10,000 troops in the city including the "Nghia Quan' criminals. On the second day of the New Year, the ARVN 1st Airborne Brigade consists of the 2nd and 6th battalions fought their way into Hue by way of An Hoa. They succeeded in getting into the city and later the ARVN 9th Airborne battalions; fresh from their victory at Quang tri also joined them. It's true that the S. Viets ask the Americans for help after the second week of battle but it was not due to S. Viets troops cowardice or low morale like the author tries to imply.

The ARVN who fought at Hue consists of the Airborne, then later the Marines, Rangers and the 1st Division, the best fighting force in Vietnam war. However, initially, the S. Viets leaders do not want the ncient city of Hue to be destroyed and forces the S. Viets and Americans to fight with little or no air and artillery support. This means the cost in retaking the city from 8,000 well-fortified enemies has to be done hand to hand. During the week of the battle, the S. Vietnamese 2nd and 7th battalions went from 500 men each down to only 200 men. The S. Viets 9th airborne battalion went from 400 men to only 100 men, the rest were killed and wounded. The S. Viets marines and ranger battalions that later came to join in the fight was fresh from the battles in Saigon without replacement and were all at or around half strengths. A typical S. Viet airborne battalion consists of 500 men, 800 men for the Vietnamese marine battalion and 450 men for the Vietnamese ranger battalion. The Nva/VC also lost a tremendous number of men and o both sides settle down to defensive and probing attacks. This also is true for the USMC since the US marines for the first two weeks or so, fought only during the day and then retreat to the MACV compound at night, this go on until sufficient troops and allies replacement have arrive. The battle for Hue was bloody and vicious, the S. Viet dead was twice that of the U.S marines, as for the Nva/VC most of their troops die during the battle for the city.

I have not read the whole book as of yet. What I read for the time period during 1967 was very lacking on some major items. I feel that the author is only using military info based upon large scale "named" USMC Operations and not very important info concerning activities that had the same impact without having a "name". A good example was what happened to Fox Co. 2/5 on July 4, 1967 when they were overrun at Nong Son, or as we referred to that place as the "Coal Mines". A young machine gunner that came as a replacement to Fox Co. due to the high KIA rate that happened to them on Operation II on June 2, 1967. This man won the Congressional Medal of Honor and was in country for less than a month. This only one of several examples that I can attest to. Thank you.

This book filled in the blanks and answered questions I had about the big picture. I was in Kilo, 3/5 1st Division in An Hoa. I only saw microcosm of our activity. I had no idea of the "big picture" I want to talk to author about more in depth details. Great book.-Lynn Underwood

The structure of this book was absolutely awful. The content even worse. This book has no clear storyline and jumps from pictures to uninspired text. It is mostly pictures, as if intended for a 1st grader. In summary, this book offers nothing of value.

I come from an Army family and I loved this accounting of a year in the life of a cadet. The book was fun and interesting to read, plus the photos are fantastic! I have left it on my coffee table and my guests love to flip through it. Thank you Mr. Stewart for your insightful view of a year in the life of a cadet.

Beautifully writen and photographed!

This book is possibly the worst I have ever read. It is written at about a fourth grade level and takes a whole 5 minutes to read cover to cover. I got more info on Marine Force Recon surfing the net then I did by reading this book. Do not buy this book unless your 9-year-old child is interested in becoming a Recon Marine.

This book is a rip off with no more then maybe 50 pages it isnt worth 16bucks! The pics are great but still not enought! dONT BUY IT!

An exellent book for the real military enthusiast. The book shows what the roll of Force Recon is in todays CORPS and what its future missons will be. There are tons of photos of weapons and equipment to use as reference.