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The Corps #9
Under Fire
After the epic struggle of World War II, W.E.B. Griffin’s bestselling chronicle of the Marine Corps enters a new stage of modern warfare—with new weapons, new strategies, and a new breed of warrior—on the battlefields of Korea…
In 1950, Captain Ken McCoy’s report on North Korean hostilities meets with so much bureaucratic displeasure that he is promptly booted out of the Corps—and just as promptly picked up by the fledgling CIA. Soon, his predictions come true: on June 25th the North Koreans invade across the 38th parallel. Immediately veterans scattered throughout military and civilian life are called up, many with only seventy-two hours notice. For these men and their families, names such as Inchon and Pusan will acquire a new, bloody reality—and become their greatest challenge of all…
In 1950, Captain Ken McCoy’s report on North Korean hostilities meets with so much bureaucratic displeasure that he is promptly booted out of the Corps—and just as promptly picked up by the fledgling CIA. Soon, his predictions come true: on June 25th the North Koreans invade across the 38th parallel. Immediately veterans scattered throughout military and civilian life are called up, many with only seventy-two hours notice. For these men and their families, names such as Inchon and Pusan will acquire a new, bloody reality—and become their greatest challenge of all…
723 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 14, 2002
944 people are currently reading
948 people want to read
About the author
W.E.B. Griffin
351 books1,298 followersW.E.B. Griffin was one of several pseudonyms for William E. Butterworth III.
From the Authors Website:
W.E.B. Griffin was the #1 best-selling author of more than fifty epic novels in seven series, all of which have made The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other best-seller lists. More than fifty million of the books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian.
Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary.
In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White.
On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Mr. Griffin was a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, the Armor Association, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society.
He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City.
He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation’s first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association, the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, the Marine Raiders Association, and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. In January 2003, he was made a life member of the Police Chiefs Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and the State of Delaware.
He was the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D’Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. (Details here and here)
He was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association. And he belongs to the Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pensacola, Florida, chapters of the Flat Earth Society.
Mr. Griffin’s novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their “fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes.”
“Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books,” Mr. Griffin says.
Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.
Notes:
Other Pseudonyms
* Alex Baldwin
* Webb Beech
* Walker E. Blake
* W.E. Butterworth
* James McM. Douglas
* Eden Hughes
* Edmund O. Scholefield
* Patrick J. Williams
* W. E. Butterworth
* John Kevin Dugan
* Jac
From the Authors Website:
W.E.B. Griffin was the #1 best-selling author of more than fifty epic novels in seven series, all of which have made The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other best-seller lists. More than fifty million of the books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian.
Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counterintelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary.
In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White.
On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Mr. Griffin was a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, the Armor Association, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society.
He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City.
He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation’s first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association, the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, the Marine Raiders Association, and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. In January 2003, he was made a life member of the Police Chiefs Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and the State of Delaware.
He was the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D’Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. (Details here and here)
He was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association. And he belongs to the Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Pensacola, Florida, chapters of the Flat Earth Society.
Mr. Griffin’s novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their “fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes.”
“Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books,” Mr. Griffin says.
Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.
Notes:
Other Pseudonyms
* Alex Baldwin
* Webb Beech
* Walker E. Blake
* W.E. Butterworth
* James McM. Douglas
* Eden Hughes
* Edmund O. Scholefield
* Patrick J. Williams
* W. E. Butterworth
* John Kevin Dugan
* Jac
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
September 10, 2012
W.E.B. Griffin is one of the most prolific writer's of our time. I have enjoyed his Corps Series immensely and the interesting characters he has created. However, after eight straight winners, Griffin misses the bulls eye with Under Fire.
Not that it's not an easy read (all of his books are) and not that its devoid of accurate history and political commentary (all of his books feature those elements) but it simply does not rise to the level of his prior Corps novels.
It has less action and more errors than previous books. Understanding that errors are the purview of the editors and not all books are perfect, when the errors are so prolific and blatant as to draw attention from the story, you know there are too many mistakes slipping through the cracks!
In addition, the previous Corps book ended before the War ended so the jump to the Korean War was surprising. Let's hope W.E.B. gets back on track in his next offering. I can't wait!
Not that it's not an easy read (all of his books are) and not that its devoid of accurate history and political commentary (all of his books feature those elements) but it simply does not rise to the level of his prior Corps novels.
It has less action and more errors than previous books. Understanding that errors are the purview of the editors and not all books are perfect, when the errors are so prolific and blatant as to draw attention from the story, you know there are too many mistakes slipping through the cracks!
In addition, the previous Corps book ended before the War ended so the jump to the Korean War was surprising. Let's hope W.E.B. gets back on track in his next offering. I can't wait!
March 13, 2022
Seven years have passed between the events of In Danger’s Path and the start of Under Fire. World War II has ended and the Cold War has begun. MacArthur is in charge of Japan just a couple of weeks before North Korea invades the South. MacArthur and the U.S. has no idea that such an invasion is being complicated because MacArthur’s head of intelligence suppressed a report that suggested war was coming because it disagreed with his own assessment. General Willoughby not only suppressed the report but he ordered it destroyed and kicked the officer who wrote it out of the Marine Corps. That officer was the hero of many of the earlier books in this series, Captain Kenneth “Killer” McCoy. McCoy breaks regulations, steals a copy of his report, and gets it to his old boss, General Pickering, who is now back in civilian life. Thus begins a great addition to The Corps series.
Pickering brings the report to the attention of President’s Truman’s top military man, but the investigation into McCoy’s report is still ongoing when war breaks out. Yet that report (the correct assessment that war was coming when no one agreed with him) gives Pickering a significant amount of credibility in the president’s eyes and he is made Assistant Director of the new CIA and sent over to Japan to resume the intelligence role he played in World War II. He reassembles his old team which allows us to check in on many of the characters from the earlier books in the series as they are pulled into a new war.
As anyone who knows anything about the Korean War knows, the war is not going well. Caught unprepared and with the military cut to the bone in the draw down after WWII, even slowing the North Korean advance seems impossible. As the fighting continues, Pickering becomes aware of MacArthur’s daring plan to turn the tables on the North Koreans and he identifies a very dangerous flaw in that plan that could cause the U.S. to lose the war. So he decides on his authority as Assistant Director of the CIA to covertly (and independently) act to neutralize that danger, but if he fails, MacArthur’s whole plan will be exposed and made impossible.
There are tremendous risks in this book and the costs are not cheap as one of the main cast is lost behind enemy lines with little hope for rescuing him. If you enjoyed the first part of the series, you will definitely want to read this book.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
Pickering brings the report to the attention of President’s Truman’s top military man, but the investigation into McCoy’s report is still ongoing when war breaks out. Yet that report (the correct assessment that war was coming when no one agreed with him) gives Pickering a significant amount of credibility in the president’s eyes and he is made Assistant Director of the new CIA and sent over to Japan to resume the intelligence role he played in World War II. He reassembles his old team which allows us to check in on many of the characters from the earlier books in the series as they are pulled into a new war.
As anyone who knows anything about the Korean War knows, the war is not going well. Caught unprepared and with the military cut to the bone in the draw down after WWII, even slowing the North Korean advance seems impossible. As the fighting continues, Pickering becomes aware of MacArthur’s daring plan to turn the tables on the North Koreans and he identifies a very dangerous flaw in that plan that could cause the U.S. to lose the war. So he decides on his authority as Assistant Director of the CIA to covertly (and independently) act to neutralize that danger, but if he fails, MacArthur’s whole plan will be exposed and made impossible.
There are tremendous risks in this book and the costs are not cheap as one of the main cast is lost behind enemy lines with little hope for rescuing him. If you enjoyed the first part of the series, you will definitely want to read this book.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
September 12, 2019
Another great WEB Griffin book. This one brought me to tears twice, once for the courage dedication and sacrifice of the Marines he chronicled, and once for the loss of this great man who so brilliantly told their story.
December 3, 2020
When we last left our intrepid heros, Major Ken McCoy, Captain (?) Malcolm Pickering, Master Gunner Ernest Zimmerman, Zimmerman's presumed lost wife and children as well as Banning's presumed dead wife and child he knew nothing about as well as a cast of dozens were all in the high Gobi desert rescuing lost Marines their wives and children and setting up a much needed by the military weather station. As the story closes the process of getting all these people safely out of the Gobi is being discussed. . .
Well forget all that! That's right. A perilous situation. The midst of World War Two. Forget it. It's over. How did they safely escape the Gobi? Who cares?! We leap ahead to 1950. McCoy now a captain reduced in rank after the war. Now in a great deal of trouble over a report he created Ken starts a ball rolling that sees. . . him nearly kicked out of the Corps, Pickering both father and son recalled to active duty, the kick off of the Korean conflict.
This annoyed me, a lot worse than previous books going off on tangents with new characters and such. We skip ahead, for no reason other than the author wants to write about Korea now. Worse, as he did when returning to the Brotherhood of War series Griffin seems to have lost his notes and forgotten what he'd originally wrote. Granted he's a prolific author but you'd think he or his editor, might realize he's changing the facts of the story for no reason, none. It's sloppy work.
That being said once the story gets rolling (and Major Macklin once again used as a punching bag) it's pretty good. Clandestine operations under the enemy's nose. Downed heros, fighting and heroics. After you get iver the time warp and the sloppy "what has gone before" material it becomes a good read. I just can't forgive the cliff hanger that was abandoned that easily.
Well forget all that! That's right. A perilous situation. The midst of World War Two. Forget it. It's over. How did they safely escape the Gobi? Who cares?! We leap ahead to 1950. McCoy now a captain reduced in rank after the war. Now in a great deal of trouble over a report he created Ken starts a ball rolling that sees. . . him nearly kicked out of the Corps, Pickering both father and son recalled to active duty, the kick off of the Korean conflict.
This annoyed me, a lot worse than previous books going off on tangents with new characters and such. We skip ahead, for no reason other than the author wants to write about Korea now. Worse, as he did when returning to the Brotherhood of War series Griffin seems to have lost his notes and forgotten what he'd originally wrote. Granted he's a prolific author but you'd think he or his editor, might realize he's changing the facts of the story for no reason, none. It's sloppy work.
That being said once the story gets rolling (and Major Macklin once again used as a punching bag) it's pretty good. Clandestine operations under the enemy's nose. Downed heros, fighting and heroics. After you get iver the time warp and the sloppy "what has gone before" material it becomes a good read. I just can't forgive the cliff hanger that was abandoned that easily.
February 18, 2021
The Master story teller at his best...!
An WEB Griffen book is like a bottle of the Very best fine wine, it is to be savored and served at the proper temperature. In every book there is this grain of truth weaving its way through the story line and that’s how WEB Griffin delivers one hell of a story. W.O. Zimmerman for anyone who has been in Corps... well you’ve met him! He is that NCO who rose to be a Warrant Office and for those who don’t know they are the individuals who run the Corps. The senior officers depend on these individuals who have the talent to see to it the Corps runs like a fine Swiss watch. I have one book left in the Corps series which I started 30 years ago, but as I said about a WEB Griffen books... to be Savored. If you wish to write a good book learn from the Master!
An WEB Griffen book is like a bottle of the Very best fine wine, it is to be savored and served at the proper temperature. In every book there is this grain of truth weaving its way through the story line and that’s how WEB Griffin delivers one hell of a story. W.O. Zimmerman for anyone who has been in Corps... well you’ve met him! He is that NCO who rose to be a Warrant Office and for those who don’t know they are the individuals who run the Corps. The senior officers depend on these individuals who have the talent to see to it the Corps runs like a fine Swiss watch. I have one book left in the Corps series which I started 30 years ago, but as I said about a WEB Griffen books... to be Savored. If you wish to write a good book learn from the Master!
April 3, 2020
The ninth book in a series of ten, in the exceptional series "the Corps". This series is truly engaging, enjoyable, and historically informative. I am eagerly looking forward to the final book of the series, already with some share of sadness, as I will miss the characters both fiction and non-fiction.
July 22, 2024
Super enjoyable and learned some new stuff!
February 27, 2019
"You want to storm islands whose names you can't even spell?"
"We are marines, we can do anything!"
Nuff said!
"We are marines, we can do anything!"
Nuff said!
May 11, 2016
I first picked up book 1 of The Corps when I was in high school. I can't remember if a friend bought it for me or just suggested it and I read it.
I fell in love.
As time went by I kept reading these books as they came out. Due to this book coming out 4 years after book 8, I didn't notice some pretty shocking details...
I am guessing book 8 was intended to be where WEB was going to leave off The Corps. The epilogue sort of hints to that.
I give this book a 1 star not so much for the writing and plot, but more out of total disgust that I am left in the middle of the Pacific War in book 8 and then all of a sudden I am in the Korean War in book 9.
Excuse, why would such a great writer do such a terrible thing? I wonder if it was even him writing the book? It most likely was his son.
We are left at the end of book 8 with the impression McCoy would end up going to command school and becoming a major or colonel. The fact he is VERY impressive from 1941-1943...enough so that he gets 3 promotions, we could only assume he would most likely finish the war with a silver bird on his collar.
Let's not forgot other characters and what they could have done.
The reason I and I guess many read this series is it is like a soap opera of our favorite characters doing cool and extraordinary things.
Shame on WEB Griffin for a) doing book 9/10 and leaving such a MASSIVE hole in what should have been the lives and careers of these people.
I feel sad I didn't catch this back in 2002. I guess I wasn't as advanced a reader as I am today, or just forgot. Having read from book 1 all over again recently, I feel so cheated out of the "rest of the story".
In thinking about Brotherhood of War and that being 8 books and how book 9 felt "forced", so too does book 9 and 10 in The Corps series.
If you love the characters and have chain read the series thus far, I suggest just forget book 9 and 10 exist.
I fell in love.
As time went by I kept reading these books as they came out. Due to this book coming out 4 years after book 8, I didn't notice some pretty shocking details...
I am guessing book 8 was intended to be where WEB was going to leave off The Corps. The epilogue sort of hints to that.
I give this book a 1 star not so much for the writing and plot, but more out of total disgust that I am left in the middle of the Pacific War in book 8 and then all of a sudden I am in the Korean War in book 9.
Excuse, why would such a great writer do such a terrible thing? I wonder if it was even him writing the book? It most likely was his son.
We are left at the end of book 8 with the impression McCoy would end up going to command school and becoming a major or colonel. The fact he is VERY impressive from 1941-1943...enough so that he gets 3 promotions, we could only assume he would most likely finish the war with a silver bird on his collar.
Let's not forgot other characters and what they could have done.
The reason I and I guess many read this series is it is like a soap opera of our favorite characters doing cool and extraordinary things.
Shame on WEB Griffin for a) doing book 9/10 and leaving such a MASSIVE hole in what should have been the lives and careers of these people.
I feel sad I didn't catch this back in 2002. I guess I wasn't as advanced a reader as I am today, or just forgot. Having read from book 1 all over again recently, I feel so cheated out of the "rest of the story".
In thinking about Brotherhood of War and that being 8 books and how book 9 felt "forced", so too does book 9 and 10 in The Corps series.
If you love the characters and have chain read the series thus far, I suggest just forget book 9 and 10 exist.
March 30, 2010
The first post WWII book of The Corps series. I enjoyed this book because it deals with what I consider 'the forgotten war'. My generation has studied, and pop culture has referenced, both WWII and Viet Nam so most of my generation (myself included) is rather ignorant about the Korean conflict.
Lots of familiar faces and some compelling new ones as well. Not to mention the birth of the CIA (or rather, the rebirth from the ashes of the OSS). I enjoyed the subterfuge and insight into how politics affects military decisions and thereby costs American lives. The story itself was compelling. Basically the new CIA sub-director Asia, has detected a fatal flaw in MacArthur's battle plan and rather than try to convince the somewhat egomaniacal Supreme Commander of his error, mounts a clandestine op to remedy the situation. Very cool story, which is based on true events (as are all of these books).
In book 10, one of the main characters (Malcolm 'Pick' Pickering) is shot down behind enemy lines. His friends include some of the baddest of the bad who possess orders signed by the president which state bascially, they can go anywhere, do anything and you'd better give whatever they want. Uh-oh. Somebody's about to wake up to a really bad day. :-)
In the best traditions of the Marine Corps W.E.B. Griffin has delivered another "one shot - one kill". This book was spot on and I am excited to read the next one
Lots of familiar faces and some compelling new ones as well. Not to mention the birth of the CIA (or rather, the rebirth from the ashes of the OSS). I enjoyed the subterfuge and insight into how politics affects military decisions and thereby costs American lives. The story itself was compelling. Basically the new CIA sub-director Asia, has detected a fatal flaw in MacArthur's battle plan and rather than try to convince the somewhat egomaniacal Supreme Commander of his error, mounts a clandestine op to remedy the situation. Very cool story, which is based on true events (as are all of these books).
In book 10, one of the main characters (Malcolm 'Pick' Pickering) is shot down behind enemy lines. His friends include some of the baddest of the bad who possess orders signed by the president which state bascially, they can go anywhere, do anything and you'd better give whatever they want. Uh-oh. Somebody's about to wake up to a really bad day. :-)
In the best traditions of the Marine Corps W.E.B. Griffin has delivered another "one shot - one kill". This book was spot on and I am excited to read the next one
June 7, 2013
Build Up to the Korean Inchon Invasion. The prelude to Korea sees Killer McCoy being swept out the door from SCAP for preparing an order of battle intel report of North Korean military preparedness and intentions. Having kept a bootleg copy of the report ordered destroyed by MGen Willougby, Killer shows it to Flem Pickering who is incensed and briefs Truman on the heads up ignored by the SCAP. McCoy is retrieved from the trash bin and sent to Korea as a CIA bird dog to sniff out what was happening and report back to Pickering. Pick Pickering has become a jet transport jockey who meets the impossible Tribune reporter Jeannette Priestly shortly before his aviation unit is mobilized and sent to Korea as the front end of Marine fighter response from which Pick is promptly shot down in enemy territory going after yet another locomotive target. Having left Banning in San Diego as their White House comms link, McCoy and Zimmerman begin their infiltration of channel islands leading into the port of Inchon to reconnoiter and prepare to clear North Korean obstacles to the planned invasion. Jeannette, who robbed Pick of his vital bodily juices following his first locomotive kill, becomes a reporter camp follower who goes into the trenches with McCoy and is on the command ship for the Inchon invasion. Pick to be found next book.
March 24, 2015
I fell in love with Griffin's series about the Corps and have read all his awesome works. I can't recall reading a more engaging series with characters all so rich and colorful each of them could be an awesome novel of their own. But Griffin smashes them all together into one nuclear story.
Amazingly colorful characters - Kenneth "Killer" Kelley and his gorgeous wife Ernestine Sage, Jack "NMI" Stecker, Pick Pickering, Sgt Zimmerman, etc....... The list just goes on and on and they never lose their color, their connections to one another, or their vitality throughout the entire series.
I found Griffin's ability to play his characters off of historically real people, events, hell, even US companies were woven into this amazing work, from hotel chain owners to ship builders were played into his storyline.
Once I read the first - "Semper Fi," I was waiting in line for the bookstore to open on release day for the next in the sequence.
Most certainly my all-time favorite military fiction novels. Well, until the Brotherhood of War series came out and claimed some shelf space for my favorite(s).
If books were drugs, there would be no rehab that could fix this addiction.
Amazingly colorful characters - Kenneth "Killer" Kelley and his gorgeous wife Ernestine Sage, Jack "NMI" Stecker, Pick Pickering, Sgt Zimmerman, etc....... The list just goes on and on and they never lose their color, their connections to one another, or their vitality throughout the entire series.
I found Griffin's ability to play his characters off of historically real people, events, hell, even US companies were woven into this amazing work, from hotel chain owners to ship builders were played into his storyline.
Once I read the first - "Semper Fi," I was waiting in line for the bookstore to open on release day for the next in the sequence.
Most certainly my all-time favorite military fiction novels. Well, until the Brotherhood of War series came out and claimed some shelf space for my favorite(s).
If books were drugs, there would be no rehab that could fix this addiction.
November 25, 2018
Unlike the first 8 books in The Corps series that covered WW2 in the Pacific, UNDER FIRE (Book 9) is about the days prior to North Korea invading South Korea through the amphibious invasion of Inchon. Since many of the primary characters from the earlier books remain, the transition from WW2 to the Korean War is seamless. As with the earlier books in The Corps series, the political and military rivalries are highlighted.
UNDER FIRE (Book 9) is somewhat similar to The Corps series earlier books on the days leading up to Pearl Harbor and its aftermath. In both wars, there was a failure of US intelligence / military leadership to recognize the signs of the pending attacks. At the start of both wars, the US military was undermanned and outgunned and defeat was a possibility.
Korea is often called the “forgotten war.” UNDER FIRE highlighted my ignorance of the Korean War and that I need to remedy this deficiency in knowledge.
UNDER FIRE (Book 9) is somewhat similar to The Corps series earlier books on the days leading up to Pearl Harbor and its aftermath. In both wars, there was a failure of US intelligence / military leadership to recognize the signs of the pending attacks. At the start of both wars, the US military was undermanned and outgunned and defeat was a possibility.
Korea is often called the “forgotten war.” UNDER FIRE highlighted my ignorance of the Korean War and that I need to remedy this deficiency in knowledge.
April 11, 2009
It took me five months to read this book. I kept walking away from it as I thought it too wordy. The Characters went on and on over things that I didn’t think helped the plot. At times it was like quicksand; too much detail. For a book that is considered Historical Fiction I found about twenty pages out of 572 that dealt directly with the war, the rest was just characters talking. I did find the beginning interesting. The Authors politics was also obvious; McArthur, a brilliant military mind? Ask Eisenhower, he worked for him for 10 years. We should do our homework and use the facts and not politics to evaluate the past. Do I sound a little naive here?
I hate to see my review when I get it done.
May 30, 2013
This Is the Second Book By W.E.B. Griffin, The 1st was the Last in the series, After This I will Start w/Book #1 Semer-Fi. I really enjoyed the format on his books, his Characters come alive, Historical and fictional. He Captures the Korean War with all its heroism, successes and mistakes the courage of the officers and men who served.
I am looking for Hardback Copies of the Books 1&2 of the Corps Series by W.E.B. Griffin.
#1 Semer Fi #2 Call to Arms
If anyone has or Knows where I can Get copies at a reasonable Price I would apreciate hearing from you. I have Searched all sellers and Major Bookstares using the internet.
I am looking for Hardback Copies of the Books 1&2 of the Corps Series by W.E.B. Griffin.
#1 Semer Fi #2 Call to Arms
If anyone has or Knows where I can Get copies at a reasonable Price I would apreciate hearing from you. I have Searched all sellers and Major Bookstares using the internet.
May 6, 2019
Loved the characters, the politics mixed with long feuds or friendships....this author writes genuine tales of professional soldiers who use their brains and brawn for purpose. They don't love war for itself, but for their comrades and country, they will fight. They will do it well. They may argue with superiors and think their missions stupid at times, especially when their leaders try to cover up unpopular Intel. But most of these characters are just men doing a job - or a no-holds-barred attitudinal journalist. I’d be happy to read more in this series!
September 11, 2010
This series stunk! I read the entire series hoping for some kind of combat action, but was disappointed time after time. The main character seemed to miss every major action of WWII...the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invasion of the Philippines, etc. I would not recommend this series to anyone I liked!
October 4, 2017
Excellent Read
Is lot of research had to go into the writing of this story. There are a lot of facts and military jargon to absorb. Looking forward to reading the other books in this series.
Is lot of research had to go into the writing of this story. There are a lot of facts and military jargon to absorb. Looking forward to reading the other books in this series.
November 9, 2017
This series is a great read, but you should start from the beginning as it is really just one long story. I love all the military detail. You’ll like the books if you liked John Wayne war movies. It captures an idealized culture where men are men and women are accessories.
August 16, 2012
Definitely not the same in terms of quality as the first several, but still a good story with a lot of similarity to real life events.
March 7, 2017
Sad that this series is almost over
October 2, 2017
Excellent read! Fast paced that didn’t diminish.
December 29, 2017
Typical Griffin in format, character development [limited], plot line. I am a sucker for this type of book, but certainly don't expect it to win any literary prizes.
January 19, 2018
Korean Conflict uncovered
Spectacular Read. Griffith at his best. Fellow Marines and others will love it. You will learn so much about Korea.
Spectacular Read. Griffith at his best. Fellow Marines and others will love it. You will learn so much about Korea.
June 27, 2018
Fast and fun to listen to in the car. Predictable and soothing war stories (I know that's a paradox) narrated by James Naughton. I will listen to anything that man reads!
August 14, 2019
Great series
Best writer out there in military matters. I was in the United States Marine Corps and his writing rings true.
Best writer out there in military matters. I was in the United States Marine Corps and his writing rings true.
April 4, 2021
When in Doubt? Send the Marines!
In the 9th book in
W.E.B. Griffin's THE CORPS series set in 1950, main character Capt. Kenneth "Killer" McCoy files a report giving strong evidence of an imminent North Korean invasion of South Korea, and his belief that the US Military forces in South Korea are incapable of repelling a concerted attack due to excessive postwar military cutbacks. This report is suppressed by Gen. MacArthur's Intelligence chief Gen. Willoughby, and McCoy is stripped of his brevet rank and sent back to America to finish out his enlistment.
McCoy surreptitiously gives the report to his former superior officer Gen. Fleming Pickering (ret.), knowing what he's doing is illegal, because he firmly believes somebody in authority has to be made aware of what he is certain will happen. Pickering, believing McCoy because he knows how important this must be for him to go this far off the reservation, takes the report to a Senator he knows who puts it in front of Admiral Hillenkoetter, Director of the CIA. Hillenkoetter sensibly sends one of his people to Seoul to see if there's any truth to the report — which becomes moot a couple weeks later when the North Koreans invade South Korea, and push the combined South Korean and US forces out of Seoul and down the coast just like McCoy's report predicted they would!
McCoy, Gen. Pickering and all their now-demobilized friends from earlier books are called up, including Gunnery Sgt. Ernie Zimmerman (ironically, McCoy's wife Ernestine is also nicknamed "Ernie"!), Major Malcolm "Pick" Pickering, Lt. Col. Bill Dunn, and Capt. George Hart, who has command of reserve company in addition to his day job as a Homicide Detective. Reinstated as a Captain, McCoy heads to Korea to see just how bad things really are, and his wife Ernie moves back into their home in Toyko, which she buys because...she's the heiress to a Personal Care company.
As is the case with pretty much all W.E.B. Griffin's books, there's a lot of time spent talking over what to do and planning it, interspersed with action scenes. Either you like Griffin's writing or you don't —if you don't, you'll probably find the going draggy, the microaggressions characters spring on each other vexing, and the politics very Right-leaning. I happen to enjoy Griffin despite all that, because he does a good job of showing what it's like to have to actually get something done in a bureaucracy as unwieldy as the U.S. Military. (I first read his books decades ago when my kid brother, who was in the Navy, left a couple behind after spending leave with me in New York City.)
In the 9th book in
W.E.B. Griffin's THE CORPS series set in 1950, main character Capt. Kenneth "Killer" McCoy files a report giving strong evidence of an imminent North Korean invasion of South Korea, and his belief that the US Military forces in South Korea are incapable of repelling a concerted attack due to excessive postwar military cutbacks. This report is suppressed by Gen. MacArthur's Intelligence chief Gen. Willoughby, and McCoy is stripped of his brevet rank and sent back to America to finish out his enlistment. McCoy surreptitiously gives the report to his former superior officer Gen. Fleming Pickering (ret.), knowing what he's doing is illegal, because he firmly believes somebody in authority has to be made aware of what he is certain will happen. Pickering, believing McCoy because he knows how important this must be for him to go this far off the reservation, takes the report to a Senator he knows who puts it in front of Admiral Hillenkoetter, Director of the CIA. Hillenkoetter sensibly sends one of his people to Seoul to see if there's any truth to the report — which becomes moot a couple weeks later when the North Koreans invade South Korea, and push the combined South Korean and US forces out of Seoul and down the coast just like McCoy's report predicted they would!
McCoy, Gen. Pickering and all their now-demobilized friends from earlier books are called up, including Gunnery Sgt. Ernie Zimmerman (ironically, McCoy's wife Ernestine is also nicknamed "Ernie"!), Major Malcolm "Pick" Pickering, Lt. Col. Bill Dunn, and Capt. George Hart, who has command of reserve company in addition to his day job as a Homicide Detective. Reinstated as a Captain, McCoy heads to Korea to see just how bad things really are, and his wife Ernie moves back into their home in Toyko, which she buys because...she's the heiress to a Personal Care company.
As is the case with pretty much all W.E.B. Griffin's books, there's a lot of time spent talking over what to do and planning it, interspersed with action scenes. Either you like Griffin's writing or you don't —if you don't, you'll probably find the going draggy, the microaggressions characters spring on each other vexing, and the politics very Right-leaning. I happen to enjoy Griffin despite all that, because he does a good job of showing what it's like to have to actually get something done in a bureaucracy as unwieldy as the U.S. Military. (I first read his books decades ago when my kid brother, who was in the Navy, left a couple behind after spending leave with me in New York City.)
March 31, 2025
finished31st march 2025 good read three stars i liked it nothing less nothing more kindle library loaner the corps #9 have read more than a few of the stories from this series not in any order and a number of them that follow this one. time is period before the outbreak of the korean war. is someone using "conflict"? meh. what can you do?
interesting and entertaining story and an afterword suggests there's events in the historical record to indicate that much of the story has truth. north korea caught everyone...or those who should know better...with their pants down. have heard others (scuttlebutt) blame the c.i.a. here, one of macarthur's top aides ignored, banished, destroyed a report that said invasion imminent. that happens. and we know eventually macarthur had the landing at inchon and all the rest.
just recently i tossed out a pile of letters a landlord from florida wrote...while serving in the usmc...he'd been wounded at the resevoir..."the frozen chosen"...i think the date he was wounded was december 1950 and virtually all of his letters before and after were "get me out of here!" to his family...hardship...this...hardship that...this that the other.
in this story some of the...telling events are, as told in the afterword and in the historical record...truman had sent an officer to korea to learn what's what. macarthur was not to know. that kind of action happens repeatedly throughout the story...one hand not telling what the other is doing. and ironically, macarthur is portrayed at one point telling another...that he needs what other great conquerors had (hannibal for one) eyes and ears. ironic, because of the preceding events described. and i'm thinking of the general who said he'd tell the chinese it trump was going to cause harm. yeah, believe it.
we don't have to worry about spies. there are those who are willing to provide "aid and comfort" based on their hatred of an individual or the country. count on it.
much of the story revolves around the higher ranks meeting, plotting, engaging...very little to do with on the ground grunts moving here and there...although that is present in some of the actions around the islands occupised by nk soldiers, islands on the channel to ichon.
and though i'd read the story that must come immediately after this one knowing the outcome of one fighter pilot's fate didn't distract from enjoying this story. like i said, i liked it nothing less nothing more.
interesting and entertaining story and an afterword suggests there's events in the historical record to indicate that much of the story has truth. north korea caught everyone...or those who should know better...with their pants down. have heard others (scuttlebutt) blame the c.i.a. here, one of macarthur's top aides ignored, banished, destroyed a report that said invasion imminent. that happens. and we know eventually macarthur had the landing at inchon and all the rest.
just recently i tossed out a pile of letters a landlord from florida wrote...while serving in the usmc...he'd been wounded at the resevoir..."the frozen chosen"...i think the date he was wounded was december 1950 and virtually all of his letters before and after were "get me out of here!" to his family...hardship...this...hardship that...this that the other.
in this story some of the...telling events are, as told in the afterword and in the historical record...truman had sent an officer to korea to learn what's what. macarthur was not to know. that kind of action happens repeatedly throughout the story...one hand not telling what the other is doing. and ironically, macarthur is portrayed at one point telling another...that he needs what other great conquerors had (hannibal for one) eyes and ears. ironic, because of the preceding events described. and i'm thinking of the general who said he'd tell the chinese it trump was going to cause harm. yeah, believe it.
we don't have to worry about spies. there are those who are willing to provide "aid and comfort" based on their hatred of an individual or the country. count on it.
much of the story revolves around the higher ranks meeting, plotting, engaging...very little to do with on the ground grunts moving here and there...although that is present in some of the actions around the islands occupised by nk soldiers, islands on the channel to ichon.
and though i'd read the story that must come immediately after this one knowing the outcome of one fighter pilot's fate didn't distract from enjoying this story. like i said, i liked it nothing less nothing more.
May 19, 2019
Lessons Learned
Another great read! It's amazing how quickly the U.S. disengaged from WWII and to what extent the military atrophied by the start of the "police action" Korea. The story line was truly engaging as we follow McCoy and company through the action but "Wait folks! That's not all!"
The book also includes a glimpse into the issues of the day and some of the major players. While I can't speak to the details, the story includes positions and color regarding these figures that you just don't see anymore. It's flavor and substance from a time that you won't find in current text books or lectures.
Another great read! It's amazing how quickly the U.S. disengaged from WWII and to what extent the military atrophied by the start of the "police action" Korea. The story line was truly engaging as we follow McCoy and company through the action but "Wait folks! That's not all!"
The book also includes a glimpse into the issues of the day and some of the major players. While I can't speak to the details, the story includes positions and color regarding these figures that you just don't see anymore. It's flavor and substance from a time that you won't find in current text books or lectures.
Read
July 3, 2019Though populated with some good characters the dearth of action made this book a bore, something I'm not at all accustomed to from Griffin. I actually stopped reading this book for almost a month while I was reading a few of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books, but I hate to give up on a book from an author I know is usually a good read so I finished it. It's basically a fictionalized version of how the Inchon invasion during the Korean War was pulled off. The book's focus on the politics, both in DC and in the Army, was okay at best and leaving one of the major subplots unresolved disappointed me greatly.
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