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

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Major Kenneth "(The) Killer" McCoy, USMCR

First Appearance: Semper Fi

Initially known as "The Killer" for killing two Italian marines in self-defense with a baby Fairbairn, and twenty Chinese bandits, 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. 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 7 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 Bronze Star for his performance under fire and his efforts to save Captain Banning. He participates in several other missions under Brigadier General Fleming Pickering including landing on Japanese-controlled Mindanao, and setting up a weather station in the Gobi Desert.

[edit] Colonel Edward C Banning, USMC

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] Master Gunner Ernest Zimmerman USMC

First Appearance: Semper Fi

McCoy's former staff sergeant and China Marine, Ernst "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] Major Malcolm "Pick" Pickering, USMCR

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 Leaders' 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. He was promoted to major while commanding a reserve squadron in the Korean war before he was shot down.

[edit] Brigadier General Fleming "Flem" Pickering, USMCR

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 and recipient of the Navy Cross (the second highest award for valour. It is the Navy version of the Distinguished Service Cross). He was also commissioned as a Marine Brigadier General and served as the OSS Deputy Director for the Pacific and the CIA's Deputy Director for Asia.

[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] Captain George Hart, USMCR

First Appearance: Line of Fire

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. He was promoted to captain while commanding a reserve company between wars, and went back to serve General Pickering for the Korean war.

[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] Brigadier General Jack NMI Stecker, USMCR

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.)
  • Captain (previously Tech Sergeant)Charles Galloway, USMC, (Commanding Officer, VMF-229.)
  • Brigadier General (previously Lt Colonel) Clyde Dawkins, USMC, (Commanding Officer, MAG-21.)
  • Captain David Haughton USN, (Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy.)
  • 1st Lt Dick Stecker, USMC, (Jack Stecker's son and Pick Pickering's buddy.)
  • Major (previously Lieutenant) Edward C Sessions, USMC, (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)
  • Brigadier General (previously Lt Colonel) Fritz L Rickabee, USMC, (Commanding Officer Office of Management Analysis.)
  • Major (previously Lieutenant) Hon Son Do, "Pluto", USA, (Signal & Cryptographic officer attached to MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.)
  • Major Jake Dillon, USMCR, (Former enlisted China Marine; recalled to wartime duty as a major in the Public Affairs Division.)
  • Captian (previously Lieutenant) James B Weston, USMC,(Pilot who escaped to Mindanao prior to the fall of Corregidor to fight as a guerrilla.)
  • Captain Jim Carstairs, USMC, (IP in Pensacola of Pick Pickering & Dick Stecker.)
  • Lieutenant John Moore, USMCR, (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.)
  • Major (previously Lieutenant) Robert B Macklin, USMC,(A generally slimy creature and the epitome of everything a good Marine officer shouldn't be.)
  • Staff Sergeant Thomas McCoy, USMCR,(Awarded MOH on Guadalcanal & Ken McCoy's brother.)
  • Lt Colonel (previously Lieutenant) William C Dunn, USMC, (Pick Pickering's executive officer- VMF-229, and later, commanding officer.)
  • Major General (previously BrigGen) "Doc" McIrney, USMC (Commandant of the United States Marine Corps)

[edit] Trivia & Inconsistencies

  • 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 first name changes from Edward (Semper Fi) to John (Call to Arms) to Richard (Counterattack) before it finally settles on Robert (Battleground).
  • When they first meet in the first book, Semper Fi, Ernie, who 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 BB Gun when he was 12.
  • Ken McCoy had a family that he rarely kept in touch with: his father, an ex-car salesmen and a hard-luck alcoholic; and his sister, an unemployed stay-at-home mother who neglected the care of her household.
  • While still just a Private First Class in China, Killer McCoy's military occupation was a Browning water-cooled machine gun 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.
  • Ken McCoy was often described in later books to have received his Baby Fairbairn knife (a version of the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife) from William Ewart Fairbairn himself, after learning how to use it properly. In fact, he won the knife in a poker game.
  • 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 Second Marine Raider Battalion, because of his 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.
  • Most of the characters in the series drink one brand of scotch whiskey, The 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.
  • There are many ocurrences when "Jack (NMI) Stecker" is used in normal conversational dialog, where he would most likely be refered to simply as "Jack Stecker"
  • Backstory is often repeated to the point of distraction. An example being the long explanation of Jack Stecker's preference for the Garand, which is often repeated more than once in each book.
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