The Corps Series (Marine Corps)
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The Corps is a series of war novels written by W.E.B. Griffin about the United States Marine Corps before and during the years of the Second World War and the Korean Conflict. The story centers around a tightly-knit cast of characters in various positions within the Marine Corps, Navy, and upper levels of the United States Government.
Contents |
[edit] List of books
- Book I, Semper Fi (1986)
- Book II, Call to Arms (1987)
- Book III, Counterattack (1990)
- Book IV, Battleground (1991)
- Book V, Line of Fire (1992)
- Book VI, Close Combat (1993)
- Book VII, Behind the Lines (1996)
- Book VIII, In Danger's Path (1999)
- Book IX, Under Fire (2002)
- Book X, Retreat, Hell! (2004)
[edit] Primary Cast of Characters
[edit] Ken "(The) Killer" McCoy
First Appearance: Semper Fi
Initially known as "The Killer" for killing two Italian marines in self-defense with a baby Fairbairn, the introductory character of the saga is Ken McCoy, a Marine private first class stationed in Shanghai, China with the Fourth Marines (also known as the China Marines) prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Due to his actions in carrying out intelligence missions on Japanese assets, he is transferred back to the United States and enters Officer Candidate School to earn a commission as a second lieutenant. As an officer, he is assigned as an officer courier for intelligence in the Pacific. While on a courier run, he is caught at Pearl Harbor on December 7th and survives. He manages to make it to the Philippines shortly before the Japanese invasion and reunites with Captain Ed Banning while assisting in the defence of the landing beach. Following an artillery barrage McCoy carries Banning to a monastery for treatment. He manages to make it through enemy lines and return to the states. He is awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received and a Silver Star for his performance under fire and his efforts to save Captain Banning.
[edit] Ed Banning
First Appearance: Semper Fi
Introduced as McCoy's legal aid after killing the Italian marines, Ed Banning quickly becomes an integral part of the book as McCoy is slowly indoctrinated into the world of intelligence gathering. Also a China Marine, his relationship with McCoy changes from superior officer to peer as the story progresses. He is a graduate of the "Citadel" aka "the Military College of South Carolina". After the 4th Marines were ordered out of Shanghai he found himself defending the Philippines during the Japanese invasion. He was temporarily blinded and transferred off Corregidor by submarine with other seriously wounded US servicemen.
[edit] Ernie Zimmerman
First Appearance: Semper Fi
McCoy's former gunnery sergeant and China Marine, Ernest "Ernie" Zimmerman's relationship with Ken McCoy alters as the story continues. Serving with McCoy in Shanghai and operating with him in reconnaissance missions, he meets up with the Killer when they're both assigned to the Second Raider Battalion before the raid on Makin Island.
[edit] Malcolm "Pick" Pickering
First Appearance: Semper Fi
On the train from San Diego to Pennsylvania, McCoy meets a peculiar civilian by the name of Malcolm Pickering (known as "Pick" to his friends). After parting company, McCoy and Pick meet up again at the Platoon Officer's Course at Quantico, Virginia, and matriculate together. Pick is the son of a shipping magnate and an heir to a major hotel chain, allowing him to stay at his family's hotels without cost. While Ken acts as an officer courier, Pick's sights are set upon flight training, and he enters into flight school at Pensacola.
[edit] Fleming "Flem" Pickering
First Appearance: Semper Fi
Pick's father, Fleming, is the owner and Chairman of the Board of Pacific and Far Eastern Shipping, a large and successful oceanic freight corporation. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the then-Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, asks him to take a wartime commission as a naval Captain and act as his plenipotentiary for the Pacific. During the First World War, "Flem" was a Marine corporal, twice wounded in action.
[edit] Supporting Cast of Characters
[edit] Ernestine Sage
First Appearance: Semper Fi
Ernestine "Ernie" Sage is the daughter of a pharmaceutical magnate. She and Pick were childhood friends, as the Pickerings and the Sages were old family friends. Ernie meets Ken McCoy shortly before he and Pick earn their commissions as second lieutenants.
[edit] George Hart
First Appearance: Battleground
Private George Hart was conned into the Marine Corps by a zealous recruiter. A homicide detective in civilian life, George is handpicked from boot camp and elevated to Sergeant to act as Flem's personal bodyguard while he operates in the intelligence sector of the military.
[edit] Patricia Pickering
Patricia Pickering has been the Chairman of the Board of the Foster Hotel Chain since her father, Andrew Foster, died in the years between World War II and the Korean War. She is the wife of Gen. Fleming Pickering and the Mother of Maj. Malcolm Pickering. Notably while her husband was serving in the Pacific theatre during WWII she was acting Chairwoman of Pacific & Far East Shipping.
[edit] Jack NMI Stecker
A Medal of Honor winner, Jack (No Middle Initial) Stecker appears as a kind master gunnery sergeant who assists McCoy in assimilating to life at Quantico. He accepts a commission as a Marine Captain during McCoy's weeks in training and further corrects an attempt to persecute him by First Lieutenant Robert Macklin. Stecker's son Dick becomes a friend of Pick while both are at flight school. By the end of WWII he is promoted to Brigadier General and is on the staff of General Vandegrift (Commandant of the US Marine Corps).
[edit] Other Notable Characters
- Caroline Spencer Howard, (Edward Banning's illicit relationship upon returning from the Philippines.)
- Carolyn McNamara, (girlfriend of Charles Galloway.)
- Charles Galloway, (Commanding Officer, VMF-229.)
- Clyde Dawkins, (Commanding Officer, MAG-21.)
- David Haughton, (Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy.)
- Dick Stecker, (Jack Stecker's son and Pick Pickering's buddy.)
- Edward Sessions, (Officer attached to the Office of Management Analysis.)
- Ellen Feller, (Wife of a former Christian Missionary to China; civilian linguist & analyst attached to MacArthur's Headquarters in Australia.)
- Frank Knox, (Wartime Secretary of the Navy)
- Fritz Rickabee, (Commanding Officer Office of Management Analysis.)
- Hon Son Do, "Pluto" (Signal & Cryptographic officer attached to MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.)
- Jake Dillon, (Former enlisted China Marine; recalled to wartime duty as a major in the Public Affairs Division.)
- James Weston, (Pilot who escaped to Mindanao prior to the fall of Corregidor to fight as a guerrilla.)
- Jim Carstairs, (IP in Pensacola of Pick Pickering & Dick Stecker.)
- John Moore, (Cryptographic & Analysis officer attached to the Office of Management Analysis.)
- Ludmilla Zhivkov, (Ed Banning's White Russian wife.)
- Richardson K. Fowler, (Junior Senator from California.)
- Robert Macklin, (A generally slimy creature and the epitome of everything a good Marine officer shouldn't be.)
- Thomas McCoy, (Awarded MOH on Guadalcanal & Ken McCoy's brother.)
- William Dunn, (Pick Pickering's executive officer- VMF-229, and later, commanding officer.)
[edit] Trivia
- Ken McCoy's middle initial starts out as "J." and remains so through most of the series. However, in "Retreat, Hell!" it seems to have been changed to "R." Macklin's name changes from Richard to Robert.
- When they first meet in the first book, Semper Fi, Ernie, who is was named after her father, asks Ken to call her "Sage", which is what her friends called her. However, later on in the chapter, Pick (who has known her since they were children) calls her Ernie, which is what she is called through the end of the series.
- Ernest Zimmerman's name starts out as Ernst (a German name) in Semper Fi but has been changed to simply Ernest by the last book.
- Ken McCoy grew up in Pennsylvania and was in the FBI records for owning a B.B. Gun when he was 12.
- Ken McCoy had a family that he rarely kept in touch with, his father was an ex car salesmen and a hard luck alcoholic and his sister was an unemployed stay at home mother who neglected to take care of her household.
- While still just a Private First Class in China, Killer McCoy's military occupation was a Browning Water cooled machine gunner.
- Killer McCoy is a legendary poker player, during his stay in China he was a regular at poker games frequented by both the chief of the Shanghai police and the leaders of the local criminal syndicates. By the time he was back in the states he had a saved a small fortune. He bought his first car, a La Salle, for $500.
- When Killer McCoy and Pick Pickering graduated from OCS, they went to Brooks Brothers to have their uniforms custom made. Pick was more than ready to lend the money to McCoy, not knowing of the small fortune that McCoy had earned while playing poker in Shanghai.
- Ken McCoy's brother, Thomas, fired for fighting from his steel mill job, enlists in the Marine Corps rather than go to jail. Tom becomes somewhat of a legend while serving in the Marine Raiders, because of ability to carry and fire a .50 caliber machine gun and his skill with an anti-tank, bolt-operated rifle named the Boys anti-tank rifle.
- Everyone in the series seems to drink one brand of scotch whiskey: Famous Grouse.
- A dedicated reader will soon discover that the timelines in the entire series don't make sense. Character ages aren't consistent (Macklin is 35 in the first book in 1941 and is still in his mid-thirties during the Korean war). People are introduced to each other early in the series, then meet again for the first time two or three books later. One example is Banning meeting Ernie Sage; another is Ernie Sage meeting Ernie Zimmerman.
