Joker One A Marine Platoons Story of Courage Leadership and Brotherhood

Starred Review. Campbell decided as a junior at Princeton that attending Marine Corps Officer Candidate School would look good on his résumé. Three years later, in the spring of 2004, he was in Iraq commanding a platoon known by its radio call sign, Joker One. Campbell tells its story, and his, in an outstanding narrative of the Iraq War. Joker One counted around 40 dudes: country boys and smalltown jocks; a few Hispanics and a single black. Some were college men with futures; some had pasts they preferred to forget. The battalion was assigned to one of Iraq’s worst hot spots: the city of Ramadi, where faceless enemies found shelter among 350,000 Iraqi civilians. Joker One fought from street to street, house to house and ambush to ambush for seven straight months. By the end of the tour, even the Gunny’s hands had started ceaselessly shaking, Campbell writes. Faced with urgent life-and-death decisions, Campbell had learned that there are no great options… you live with the results and shut up about the whole thing. For all his constant self-questioning, Lt. Campbell brought Joker One home with only one KIA—a record as impressive as his account. (Mar. 17)
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User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Powerful
I have read many books on the experience of war. I grew up in London during the Second World War and have memories.

Joker One is among the 3 or 4 most powerful books I have read in this genre and I am not excluding classics such as All Quiet on the Western Front. The tension builds as Campbell describes the stressful training in the US and the journey to the G-d forsaken outpost on the edge of Ramadi. It builds as he describes what it feels like to walk into what can only be described as Hell with Uncertainty. I, and I suspect other readers went with him as his Marines walked in single file down a dusty and often filthy street not knowing whether that pile of trash would blow them apart; blow young men in their physical prime, apart. The first casualty has the lower half of his face removed and it only gets more frightening as the days, the horrible days go by.

As I turn the pages I get more and more churned up at the thought that it was the last Administration sent these boys who perforce become men (and although many of them come from the most disadvantaged and distorted backgrounds) into this unnecessary war. And it this aspect that makes the book so important for every bloody-minded politician to read. Campbell completely avoids telling us his opinion about the whys and wherefors of our presence in in Iraq. I think this makes it even more powerful than it might otherwise be.

One reviewer complained we saw the war from only his point of view. I disagree; he gets into the souls of his men. And the reader can see, through his compelling writing, the growing love between them. love in its greatest sense, selfless love.

Do not spend $29 on eating out tonight. Please go and buy this book

5 Stars Understanding the greatness of the American people
Donovan Campbell describes in a very personal way his strengths, doubts, fears and believes while leading a platoon of marines in Iraq. This book touched me deeply. It is one of the best books I have ever read describing war at a personal level. The book highlights the difficult moral judgements that sometimes have to be made at a moments notice. Campbell describes the good, the bad and the ugly in a totally honest almost clinical way. One can not help but admire his sincerity, sacrifice and concern for his fellow marines. This book puts into perspective the despicable acts of politicians back in Washington who tried to make political hay out of the Iraq war while people like Donovam Campbell put their lives on the line under very difficult and dangerous circumstances and try to represent the Unites States of America in an honorable way.

Highly recommended.

5 Stars Great book
I really enjoyed reading this book. It gives a great description of the daily lives of and the constant dangers facing our soldiers in Iraq. I, for one, have a much greater appreciation for their service and (many) sacrifices. To that end, I think everyone should read this book!

5 Stars Like hearing a friend remember war
I am absolutely impressed by this writer and his story from the ground level of war. His take on the battles for Ramadi, some of the worst of the Iraq experience, was a stunning portrayal of the reality we don’t hear much and as if written by a great man walking in real humility. Honoring his guys and finding the beauty in their lives as well as conveying the reality that there are some guys that are more liability than asset. Telling it without any trumped up drama beyond the already crazy scene of Iraq was refreshing. I had a hard time reading slow enough to get it all. The writing just pulled me along. Excellent from start to finish.

4 Stars A Unique Perspecive on War
I’ve read my fair share of ‘War is Hell’ books and each of them has been written from the perspective of someone who wants to illustrate how futile and insane war is. Often these books are preaching to the choir, so it was interesting to me to read a book written from the perspective of someone who was proud to be a Marine and both willing and eager to enter the fog of war.

Joker One is extremely readable, Donovan Campbell does an excellent job at capturing the essence of the men around him while providing a truly emotionally naked portrait of himself.

As with all war books you get the gore of war, the incidents which reinforce how indiscriminate and heartbreaking battle is. But with Joker One there’s a great sense of the impact of it all on the men who were there and how the find a way to push forward beyond all exhaustion.

The book avoids many pitfalls and while it is often emotional and proud it’s never overly nostalgic or maudlin. My only real gripe about Joker One is the end. The book travels such a wide emotional arch that I felt the ending was rushed. I wish we had been given another few chapters on life after war.

All in all, a very good read and a unique view of war.

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