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Street Fight in Iraq: What It's Really Like Over There
A day by day account of the battle for Ramadi, Iraq during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from August 2004 until March of 2005. The legendary Fox Company, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines battled insurgents on a daily basis and this book serves as a blow by blow account; told by Fox Company Gunnery Sergeant, Patrick M Tracy. The author brings you along for the ride through many battles and skirmishes and has an upfront, no-nonsense style of telling his story.
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Published March 15, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 14, 2021
My dad let me read this book for a book report for school. He was also in this tour with Gy. Sgt. Patrick Tracy and was mentioned in the book. This was a really cool book to read. I highly recommend this book.
May 9, 2021
Great book and great description of enlisted leaders hiding behind officers.
February 12, 2021
I served with Patrick on the USS Simon Lake in Holy Loch Scotland. He is a leader, mentor snd a fantastic Marine. I see Patrick’s sense of humor and personality in this book. I highly recommend this book. Nice job Patrick I still owe you a bottle of Irish Whiskey...!
March 23, 2008
Even though I've been a Marine wife of almost 24 years I'm not in the practice of reading books that mirror what my husband does for a living. Too much info isn't good for the soul. The exception to the rule is if the author is a friend of the family. Patrick Tracey and his family has been a friend to our family since 1994 when we were stationed at Parris Island, SC and then moved along with us to Kaneohe Marine Corps Base in Oahu.
Patrick is someone you will not ever forget if you ever get the fortune of meeting. I could actually hear Pat's voice when I read it.
I would absolutely recommend this book to any military wife, or civillian who wanted to know what is really going on over there.
5 stars!!!
Patrick is someone you will not ever forget if you ever get the fortune of meeting. I could actually hear Pat's voice when I read it.
I would absolutely recommend this book to any military wife, or civillian who wanted to know what is really going on over there.
5 stars!!!
May 12, 2019
This book moved me. I read it years ago from an old boyfriend who actually toured with the author however did not know him personally. He lent me the book back then and it resonates with me still to this day. I just bought my own copy today, nearly ten years later since I first read it. I can’t wait to read it again. You feel as if your there. It’s funny, tragic, pretty hardcore and feel as if you’re righter there with this Marine experiencing it first hand of what those dear men endured. God bless you all and thank you so much for keeping us free and helping the helpless.
October 17, 2009
Pretty interesting book, though I didn't learn much that I didn't already know (except about certain technical aspects of military maneuvers).
Written by a Marine who is pretty proud of the fact that he, like most Marines (he says), are at least a little wacky and are all about kicking ass, and he doesn't seem to have many qualms about kicking down the door of a bunch of women/children and terrorizing them in the middle of the night, just in case there's something more there than women/children sleeping.
He seems to think the Iraq occupation is pretty much a quagmire and not really worth being there, but is ready and willing to blindly follow what his leaders tell him to do, whether he thinks it is right or wrong.
He first entered the Marines to get out of a multi year sentence for felonious assault. He discusses that in the book. America's finest at work for us.
The author is obviously quite proud of all the colloquialisms he has thought of or remembered in his life, especially "jack and shit" which he uses several times through the book. It sounds like he's a pretty skilled confrontation tactician, and can probably kick some pretty serious ass in a fight, but he's kind of a social and literary retard when it comes to his writing style.
He shows his typical soldier style hypocrisy, in that he has a problem with any of his superiors accepting the loss of a few of his comrades in order to achieve certain goals, but he has no problem causing the loss of innocent Iraqis in order to achieve certain goals. Ah, well - nothing new there. I was hoping he woulda been one of the rare soldiers who aren't hypocrites.
Anyway, tis worth reading, I think. The more knowledge and the more exposure to others' perspectives, I think the better one is. Now, I'm a little bit better for reading the book.
Written by a Marine who is pretty proud of the fact that he, like most Marines (he says), are at least a little wacky and are all about kicking ass, and he doesn't seem to have many qualms about kicking down the door of a bunch of women/children and terrorizing them in the middle of the night, just in case there's something more there than women/children sleeping.
He seems to think the Iraq occupation is pretty much a quagmire and not really worth being there, but is ready and willing to blindly follow what his leaders tell him to do, whether he thinks it is right or wrong.
He first entered the Marines to get out of a multi year sentence for felonious assault. He discusses that in the book. America's finest at work for us.
The author is obviously quite proud of all the colloquialisms he has thought of or remembered in his life, especially "jack and shit" which he uses several times through the book. It sounds like he's a pretty skilled confrontation tactician, and can probably kick some pretty serious ass in a fight, but he's kind of a social and literary retard when it comes to his writing style.
He shows his typical soldier style hypocrisy, in that he has a problem with any of his superiors accepting the loss of a few of his comrades in order to achieve certain goals, but he has no problem causing the loss of innocent Iraqis in order to achieve certain goals. Ah, well - nothing new there. I was hoping he woulda been one of the rare soldiers who aren't hypocrites.
Anyway, tis worth reading, I think. The more knowledge and the more exposure to others' perspectives, I think the better one is. Now, I'm a little bit better for reading the book.
November 12, 2011
Patrick Tracy was one of my DI’s at Parris Island in 94. I clearly remember the first and many subsequence times he unleashed his wrath on the platoon, thinking he was one of the craziest people I ever had the privilege to meet. But I also remember the “calmer” times towards the end of boot camp when he started to treat us a little more like younger brothers. Reading this bought back a lot of memories and as far as I can tell he hasn’t changed a bit.
Reading this book, I felt like I got a real report of what was going on in Iraq. He’s not one that would try to cover shit with perfume to make the reader feel good, he’s a straight shooter and tells you how it is whether you like it or not. This is defiantly a better way to really learn what went on than listening to news reports or books written by journalists that were attached to units but have no idea what it is like to hold a rifle.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know what the everyday life was like over there.
Semper Fi
Reading this book, I felt like I got a real report of what was going on in Iraq. He’s not one that would try to cover shit with perfume to make the reader feel good, he’s a straight shooter and tells you how it is whether you like it or not. This is defiantly a better way to really learn what went on than listening to news reports or books written by journalists that were attached to units but have no idea what it is like to hold a rifle.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know what the everyday life was like over there.
Semper Fi
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews