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

Good book, average narration.

If you liked Outlaw Platoon or American Sniper you will like this book. It is not as fast paced as the afforementioned titles but is still worth listening to. I have listened to as much as I can on Iraq and Afghanistan written by the people who were there because we never got the correct story from the media. I am proud to live in a country that produces people like these.

Took me back.

Took me back to a place a part of me never left and gave me a different perspective/respect for that city that changed so many of us.

Such brave soldiers, such pointless sacrifice

The story of Joker One is one that every gung-ho flag waver should read. The suffering and death of such good, well intentioned men for a war that was not winnable is a national disgrace. The armchair patriots that blame the media or liberals instead of the Bush government for this war should, if they are still capable of rational thinking, hang their heads in shame. These brave soldiers were asked to implement policies that were criminally naive and then not even given the proper equipment to do the job. Just hearing how the constantly malfunctioning radios made it impossible to communicate effectively, how the Marines did not rate the same Humvee’s as the army because of budget constraints, are just two of the many shocks I experienced in listening to this story. I did become frustrated with Lt. Campbell many times when he did not forcefully stand up for his men. He went into this conflict with the proverbial rose colored glasses firmly covering his eyes. Reality rudely tore them off and stomped them to pieces. Some of Lt. Campbell’s conclusions at the end of this book seem delusional to me. Especially his remarks on the meaning and nature of love. But listen for yourself. We owe these brave men so much, the least we can do is buy a book to help support a few of them. While the Lieutenant and his men love their country, as most Americans do, he makes it clear that they fought for each other. There is very little flag waving and no chest thumping in this one. This one hurt to read. God bless them all.

Great book about some real HEROS.

Great account of truly what happened to these remarkable guys. I think this is about the fifth time I've listen to this book with your little misty eyed at the end.

This One is No Joke

I think it's good for regular Americans (like me) to learn about the Iraq War away from T.V or the news. This book is written by a sensible marine who can be sentimental at times, but finish the book and you'll understand. The book zooms in until you, the reader, gets ambushed by the real insurgency that occurred in the region.

The middle to the end of the book blooms into a stunning panoramic of the war in Iraq and details entire battles as though you occupied the conscious mind of the author. It's NOT a minute-by-minute account....somehow this story manages to capture the layers of minutes as they unfold in real time. Entire battlespace is perceivable. You'll actually sense how a battle has many 'situations' developing simultaneously, and how they all change as fast as you can react to them. And real people die. You'll also see that some Americans risk their lives, not just for you and me, but for the Iraqis too.

Excellent and honest description

Excellent and honest description of a tour in Iraq while the country was preparing to explode. He isn't shy about sharing his weaknesses and mistakes as well as his success in combat.

Honest

An honest experience about a young USMC officer. Highly recommend for all readers. Thoroughly enjoyed this

Great Read

The wonderful told story of one of our young Marines. Everyday around the world our military sacrifices their lives for others. Without question or reservations. God bless our young heroes.

Joker One.

I liked this book. It had plenty of action and was very interesting.

POOR AUDIO LEVELS

The audio changed from good to extremely poor/low. At times, it was impossible to listen to while driving.