Anton Myrer's "Once An Eagle"

[Menning]

My father recommended Once an Eagle to me years ago. Yes, it has some problems (Massengale is hardly believable at times,) but overall the book is excellent. If the military can produce Massengales, it can also produce Damons. Sometimes when I'm confronted with a difficult decision, I ask myself what would Sam do? If nothing else, Damon's nickname, "The Night Clerk" might be one of the best of all time. It makes me smile to read the posts here and know others have had the pleasure of enjoying a great read. Anybody out there challenged by the book's historical and literary allusions? It sure stretched my knowledge at times.

[Rob Thornton]

You know what I liked best about the book was the hard choices it dealt with, what I still look back at is the span of time it covers - and the changing conditions of the Army, the thing I always had a hard time with though was Damon's sacrifices (his other nickname being "Sad Sam" - but you know there is probably allot of truth in it, and that is what makes it a classic. We put it on the list for military leaders, but how great would it be if were on the list of those who send the boys to wars, not just those who lead them on the ground.

I heard that the author said in a speech at USMA that he used MacArthur and Bradley as the raw material for his arch types. It may be a stretch, but I still like the idea - it makes them more real.

[Smitten Eagle]

Once an Eagle is the best piece of military fiction written. I read it during a CAX a few years back and had that been the only thing I accomplished in the entire exercise, it would still have been probably the best exercise I conducted in terms of leadership value.

I particularly thought the "career path" of Sam Damon(a term that both I find and Damon would find repugnant) was interesting. Damon spent his time being an observer, a reader of the classics, history, political science, manuals, and of foreign languages. He didn't mess around with the EWS correspondence course so he could make Major. He made himself an expert, which is actually the bare minimum.

Many Marines quote John LeJeune when they speak of the relationship between the officer and the enlisted needs to parallel that of the scholar and student.

Well, my fellow warriors, it would seem that for officers to hold up their end of the bargain, they themselves must be scholars. Anything less is criminal negligence of our obligations.

[Ski]

My favorite military fiction book of all time. Should be mandatory reading for all first year cadets and OCS candidates.