Joker One

A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood

By: Donovan Campbell

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

When Donovan Campbell's platoon deployed to Ramadi in the spring of 2004, they believed they'd be spending most of their time building schools, training police, and making friends with the citizens. But shortly after arriving, when Campbell awoke to the chilling cry of "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!" echoing from minaret to minaret across the city, he knew they had an altogether different situation on their hands.

For nearly the entire day, Joker-One---the 40-man infantry platoon that Campbell was charged with leading---fought house-to-house to rescue other units, sometimes trading grenades with their enemies from just a few feet away. In the days and months that followed, hundreds of hard-core insurgents launched simultaneous attacks on the Marine forces in Ramadi, their ranks swelled by thousands of local volunteers drawn from the citizens of a city whose primary export was officers in Saddam Hussein's army. By the fall of 2004, nearly half the men in Campbell's platoon had been wounded in some of the fiercest urban fighting since Vietnam; less than a month after they withdrew, the forces in Ramadi were doubled, then tripled.

Although Joker One is set in Iraq, the book's themes---brotherhood, honor, and sacrifice---are universal. Campbell shows us how his Marines' patience, discipline, and love for one another created a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts, and how the essential goodness of these men remains unchanged by all of the pain and the terror surrounding them. His sharp-eyed, evocative, and unflinching account of his deployment is just as impressive as the man himself---a man who chose to enter the military because of his patriotism, sense of privilege, and deep religious faith when most of his Princeton classmates were cashing in their ivy league educations for lucrative careers among the financial elite.

©2008 Donovan Campbell (P)2009 Tantor

Phenomenal book!

Loved the book. Enough detail to take me back to when I served there. This book had the best description of a Marines love to be put into words.

Interesting perspective

It was engaging and honest. Great insight into a lieutenants perspective leading men.
The lieutenant doesn’t get lost though so some artistic liberties where taken.
Overall great book

No BS

If you could sum up Joker One in three words, what would they be?

This is a great book to listen to. Love the storyline. I was sad to hear about some of the men, You got to know them

What was one of the most memorable moments of Joker One?

all the suffering our men and women go through. in this need less war.

Which character – as performed by David Drummond – was your favorite?

they all were, you got to know them as your bother, son, or father

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

laugh and cryed for these men

Any additional comments?

loved this book

Great book. Narration is lacking

Great book, but the narration could have been better. The narrator was great except for when quoting Marines throughout the book. He gave each man, other than the author, a whiny inflection as if they were young children. Otherwise, one of my favorite books to date. I'll definitely listen again in the future.

Good story, poor audio engineering

After almost 20 years, it’s interesting to hear things from the perspective of those early days of the war. Story was good, honest, and never felt slow.

The major flaw was the audio engineering. The narration is fine, but the audio fluctuates between chapters so that one chapter you’re turning the volume down to keep it from blasting your ears, the next you’re turning it up so you can hear the story.

Well worth the listen

If you are not crying by the end of this book, you are not human. If you do not have a deeper respect for the people that volunteer for the Armed Services, you have no soul. This book was well-written and well-read. A good description of the day-to-day activities of marines serving in Iraq. The lieutenant who wrote this book did what all good officers do, he gave full credit to his men for what went well, and took full credit for what went wrong.

this is an awesome book. YOU nedd to listen!

this is a great book very easy to follow and brought back a ton of memories. And yes Cpl. Teague is still a first rate leader.

A must read for everyone!

What did you love best about Joker One?

I loved how real it was. There was no sugar coating anything - good or bad.

What did you like best about this story?

This is a book that everyone should read. It tells what war is really like, from the perspective of a soldier, husband, father, and son. It tells of the things we don't see on the news - how real our soldiers are. They're not all metal and stone, they have feelings and compassion for not only their fellow soldier, but for those they fight for as well.

What about David Drummond’s performance did you like?

He did a great job with the different accents!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Most definitely!

An authentic read

Many of these books are written in a machismo manner. The author does a great job of showing the human side of conflict. The humility with which he delivers his story is refreshing.

Interesting to here a some one else's account.

As a member of 2nd plt. Echo 2/4. During the time frame discussed in the book. I found it interesting to hear the Golf company's story from an officers perspective. Awesome book!