The Marine Corps is known for its heroes, and Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller has long been considered one of the greatest. Puller mastered small unit guerrilla warfare as a lieutenant in Haiti in the 1920s, and at the end of his career commanded a division in Korea. In between, he chased Sandino in Nicaragua and fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu. With his bulldog face, barrel chest (which earned him the nickname Chesty), gruff voice, and common touch, Puller became the epitome of the Marine combat officer. At times Puller's actions have been called into question--at Peleliu, for instance, where, against a heavily fortified position, he lost more than half of his regiment. And then there is the saga of his son, who followed in Chesty's footsteps as a Marine officer only to suffer horrible wounds in Vietnam (his book, Fortunate Son, won the Pulitzer Prize).

USMC Commandant's Professional Reading List 2021 -- PVT, PFC, LCPL, 2NDLT, 1STLT.

1."Making a Man and a Soldier" Genesis of a Marine, 1898-1919 -- 3 -- 2. "The Great Lessons of Warfare" Haiti, 1919-1921 -- 23 -- 3. "I Have Some Perseverance" A Junior Officer in Peacetime, 1921-1928 -- 42 -- 4. "Days of Hard Marching" First Tour in Nicaragua, 1928-1930 -- 62 -- 5. "The Toughest Proposition" Fort Benning and Nicaragua, 1931-1932 -- 84 -- 6. "An Exceptionally Confident Officer" On the China Station, 1933-1936 -- 101 -- 7. "So Very Happy and Contented" Basic School and China Again, 1936-1941 -- 114 -- 8. "The Enemy Are on the Hill" New River and Samoa, September 1941-August 1942 -- 130 -- 9. "You're Not Going to Throw These Men Away" The First Weeks on Guadalcanal, September-October 1942 -- 151 -- 10. "You've Got Bayonets, Haven't You?" The Battle for Henderson Field, October 1942 -- 178 -- 11. "Evacuate Me, Hell!" Final Days on Guadalcanal, October-December 1942 -- 196 -- 12. "A Great Deal of Hard Work Ahead" Interlude in the Rear, January-December 1943 -- 212 -- 13. "Directing the Attack from Forward" Cape Gloucester, December 1943-February 1944 -- 231 -- 14. "Until the Downfall of the Japanese Empire" Cape Gloucester and Pavuvu, February-August 1944 -- 254 -- 15. "If There Is Such a Thing as Glory in War" Peleliu, September 1944 -- 271 -- 16. "Nobody's Got Use for a Combat Man" A Hero Without a War, October 1944-June 1950 -- 299 -- 17. "A Chance to Excel" The Inchon Landing, June-September 1950 -- 324 -- 18. "You'll Take a Lot Fewer Casualties" The Seizure of Seoul, September 1950 -- 347 -- 19. "Not My Way of Fighting a Battle" On to North Korea, October-November 1950 -- 368 -- 20. "Not All the Chinese in Hell" The Chosin Reservoir, November-December 1950 -- 388 -- 21. "Befuddled and Disgusted" Central Korea, December 1950-May 1951 -- 413 -- 22. "I Hope I Don't Get Hung" Training and Experimenting, May 1951-June 1952 -- 438 -- 23. "A School Teacher's Job" Training Other Men for War, June 1952-May 1954 -- 457 -- 24. "Go Down Slugging" Last Days in the Corps, June 1954-October 1955 -- 473 -- 25. "Never Forget the Battles of the Past" The Golden Years, 1955-1960 -- 499 -- 26. "Return with Your Shield or on It" The Twilight Years, 1960-1971 -- 517.