Synopses & Reviews
San Francisco Chronicle reporter and marine veteran Koopman was embedded in the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, during the most recent war in Iraq. He enjoyed a close working relationship with the CO, the battalion sergeant major, and several other members of the battalion. This didn't destroy his ability to distance himself from aspects of the military that he never liked, or from political judgments on the war. The combination of embedding and prior service did give him a rare perspective on the gritty (literally, when a sandstorm blew up) details of ground combat in Iraq and how the modern American marine relates to his buddies, his enemies, and his family back home. The conclusion of the book offers equally rare material on the nation-building efforts that continue, with sympathy for both the U.S. military and most shades of Iraqi opinion.—ALA Booklist
Review
Marine Corps Gazette, July 2005 “If McCoy himself were the reviewer, I imagine he would judge this book faithful to the guidance he gave Koopman before the war.”
Review
Los Angeles Times, Sept. 25, 2005 “In McCoy’s Marines: Darkside to Baghdad, San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Koopman inserts himself into the story, and much of the book is his account of the problems, joys and fears of being an embedded reporter during the Baghdad assault in 2003. Koopman, a former Marine, had either the good luck or foresight to attach himself to one of the Marine Corps’ go-for-broke characters: then-Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy, whose radio call sign was ‘Darkside.’ It was his battalion that fought in Al Cut and then toppled Hussein’s statue in Baghdad; not for nothing is he known by other Marines as ‘Killer’ McCoy.”
Review
Follow Me (Second Marine Division newsletter), September 2005
“War, death, pathos, personal sacrifice, courage, bravery, leadership, charisma, history…these are but a few of the issues Koopman addresses in his gripping true account of ‘McCoy’s Marines’ in Iraq”
Review
Marine Corps Gazette, July 2005 “If McCoy himself were the reviewer, I imagine he would judge this book faithful to the guidance he gave Koopman before the war.”
Los Angeles Times, Sept. 25, 2005 “In
McCoy’s Marines: Darkside to Baghdad,
San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Koopman inserts himself into the story, and much of the book is his account of the problems, joys and fears of being an embedded reporter during the Baghdad assault in 2003. Koopman, a former Marine, had either the good luck or foresight to attach himself to one of the Marine Corps’ go-for-broke characters: then-Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy, whose radio call sign was ‘Darkside.’ It was his battalion that fought in Al Cut and then toppled Hussein’s statue in Baghdad; not for nothing is he known by other Marines as ‘Killer’ McCoy.”
Follow Me (Second Marine Division newsletter), September 2005
“War, death, pathos, personal sacrifice, courage, bravery, leadership, charisma, history…these are but a few of the issues Koopman addresses in his gripping true account of ‘McCoy’s Marines’ in Iraq”
Synopsis
A firsthand account of the early Iraq war is told by an embedded reporter with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, led by Lt. Col. Bryan P. McCoy (radio call sign: Darkside).
Synopsis
San Francisco Chronicle reporter and marine veteran Koopman was embedded in the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, during the most recent war in Iraq. He enjoyed a close working relationship with the CO, the battalion sergeant major, and several other members of the battalion. This didn't destroy his ability to distance himself from aspects of the military that he never liked, or from political judgments on the war. The combination of embedding and prior service did give him a rare perspective on the gritty (literally, when a sandstorm blew up) details of ground combat in Iraq and how the modern American marine relates to his buddies, his enemies, and his family back home. The conclusion of the book offers equally rare material on the nation-building efforts that continue, with sympathy for both the U.S. military and most shades of Iraqi opinion.--ALA
Booklist Synopsis
They were the soldiers who pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, led by Lt. Col. Bryan P. McCoy (radio call sign: Darkside). And this is the story of their war, seen from the inside by the reporter they called Paperboy. From the build-up in Kuwait to the first push into Basra, from the briefings to the heat of battles planned or stumbled upon, San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Koopman captures the war in Iraq as it was lived, fought, and felt the nitty-gritty as well as the guts-and-glory of it and as he saw it firsthand from Darksides humvee or riding with the sergeant major (the Marine infantry battalions "most feared, respected, loved, and hated man"). A former service Marine himself, Koopman was seeing combat for the first time, too. His account, part memoir, part biography, part battle history, encompasses all the bravery and fear, camaraderie, excitement, humor, and sorrow experienced on the shifting front line of Americas war in Iraq. In spring of 2004, author Koopman returned to Iraq and reunited with McCoys Marines following their return to Iraq and the new insurgent war. This "rest of the story" makes for a fascinating epilogue.
About the Author
John Koopman enlisted in the Marines at 17 in 1976. A veteran journalist and editor, he is a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, and lives with his family in San Francisco.