Leatherneck Sea Stories
Recollections of Marines, Korea, and the Corps during the 1950’s
By Dave Easton
Canopic Publishing, 214 pages. $16.95
Reviewed by Stephen Page
According to legend, around 1664, when King Charles the II of England first heard a tale of flying fish, he turned and asked a British Royal Marine to vouch for the story. When the B.R.M. concurred, King Charles threw back his head and laughed. Thereafter, he answered anyone who told him something he found incredible to “Tell it to the Marines.” More than a hundred years later, King Charles’s phrase carried over as a slogan when referring to U.S. Marines because somehow they gained the reputation of bending the truth a bit when retelling an event. The reputation continues to the present. Some people nowadays might even go so far as saying that whenever you hear a Marine bragging about his exploits, and in between episodes he pauses to say, “I have another sea story for you,” that would be the same as him saying, “if you believe that, I have another one for you.”
Dave Easton grew up in the United States during a period when patriotism was high, during the 1940’s. Though Easton clearly does not advocate war, he understands that he and many other United States citizens went to the Korean War with the same ideals that were carried over from WWII.
The book is a collection of short stories and anecdotes of the author’s experiences during the Korean War. Although Easton is humble, he writes captivating stories. He knows how to tell a tale. The reader laughs when he goes through boot camp, feels fear when he is in combat situations, cringes when he is given extra duties such as burning barrels of human waste, empathizes with his admiration for noble characters, and agrees with his distaste for shady characters. Redundancies are forgiven because, as the author explains in the prologue, the stories were written singly and without the intent of being gathered into a collection. The stories, however, do work well together. They compliment each other, and the redundancies become merely polite reminders of important events and subjects.
As evident in the case of King Charles, although a tale might seem tall, it might be true in that it is slanted by socialization—in certain aquatic areas of the world, there are fish that leap long distances from the water and their fins give them the illusion that they are flying. This book, however, has no illusory qualities. Every account seems plausible and coincides with historical events. Whether you are a history buff, a Marine, or just like to hear a good yarn, the book is worth the buy.
Note: this review first published in the Sunday edition of the Buenos Aires Herald, May 23, 2010.
The publisher is Canopic Publishing
The book may also be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Leatherneck-Sea-Stories-Recollections-Marines/dp/0972860452
Leave your response!