Overview

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 Darkside's humvee or riding with the sergeant major (the Marine infantry battalion's 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 America's war in Iraq. In spring of 2004, author Koopman returned to Iraq and reunited with McCoy's Marines following their return to Iraq and the new insurgent war. This rest of the story makes for a fascinating epilogue.

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9780760320884

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Reviews

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

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

Los Angeles Times, Sept. 25, 2005 In McCoy's Marines: Darkside to Baghdad, San FranciscoChronicle 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.

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

Author Information

John Koopman enlisted in the Marines at 17 in 1976, A veteran journalist and editor, his reports from the Three-Four in Iraq appeared as a six-part series in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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