The Corps Series (Marine Corps)
Encyclopedia
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 World War II
and the Korean War
. The story features a tightly-knit cast of characters in various positions within the Marine Corps, Navy, and upper levels of the United States Government.
Major
First Appearance: Semper Fi
His fellow marines call him "The Killer" for killing two Italian marines in self-defense with a baby Fairbairn knife
(to his great embarrassment). His name is Kenneth J. McCoy, the introductory character of the saga, a Marine private first class
stationed in Shanghai
, China with the 4th Marines (the primary component of the China Marines
) prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor
. Ken has a great affinity for languages and in China learns Japanese, Wu, Mandarin, and Cantonese, which leads to him being assigned to intelligence-gathering convoys. Due to his actions in carrying out intelligence missions on Japanese assets, and following an action in which he kills 18 bandits, 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
.
Colonel
First Appearance: Semper Fi
Introduced as the S-2 (intelligence) officer of the 4th Marines in China, and assigned as McCoy's legal advisor after Ken's killing of the two Italian marines. Initially he wants to plead McCoy guilty, but McCoy refuses, and to the chagrin of the prosecutor McCoy comes up with members of Fairbairn
's "Flying Squad
" of the Shanghai Police as witnesses. Banning quickly becomes an integral part of the book as McCoy is slowly indoctrinated into the world of intelligence gathering. After charges are dismissed Bannng send McCoy on convoys to "get him out of sight", and discovers McCoy has great talent as an observer and evaluator of Japanese military readiness. Also a China Marine, his relationship with McCoy changes from superior officer to peer as the story progresses. Unlike the majority of pre-World War II regular Marine Corps officers, Banning is a graduate of The Citadel
, the Military College of South Carolina. After the 4th Marines are moved from Shanghai to the Philippines, he finds himself defending the beaches of Lingayen Gulf
(Luzon
) during the Japanese invasion. He is temporarily blinded and transferred off Corregidor
by submarine with other seriously wounded US servicemen; fortunately, his sight returns before reaching port. Banning subsequently serves in the Office of Management Analysis and under Brigadier General Pickering in the OSS
during World War II. At the beginning of the Korean War
in Under Fire, he is near retirement, contemplating a future in real estate.
Ernest "Ernie" Zimmerman is a China Marine sergeant
who serves with McCoy in Shanghai and operates with him in reconnaissance missions. When the 4th Marines are ordered to the Philippines, he is forced to leave his Chinese wife along with Mrs. Ed Banning in China. Later, he serves with McCoy in the Marine Raiders
when McCoy is assigned to spy on Evans Carlson
, the innovative combat leader who's seen as a threat to the Marine establishment. Following this, Zimmerman serves in a Marine Air Wing in the Pacific, and at McCoy's request is transferred to the OSS to help set up a weather station in the Gobi Desert. During that operation, Zimmerman is reunited with his wife (and Ed Banning with his), after she was forced to flee China. Between the Gobi Desert assignment in 1943 and the beginning of the Korean War, Zimmerman is promoted to Master Gunner. During the Korean War, he serves with Captain/Major McCoy in the CIA.
On the train from San Diego to Pennsylvania, McCoy meets a friendly civilian named Malcolm Pickering ("Pick" to his friends). After parting company, McCoy and Pick are reunited as classmates in the Platoon Leaders' Course at Quantico
, Virginia
. Pick is the son of Fleming Pickering, owner of Pacific and Far East (P&FE) shipping, and Patricia Foster Pickering, heir to the Foster hotel chain (allowing Pick to stay at the exclusive hotels at no cost). While Ken acts as an officer courier, Pick's sets his sights on flight training, and he attends flight school at Pensacola
. He was promoted to Major while commanding a reserve squadron just before the Korean war; his squadron was subsequently activated and deployed to Korea. He gained a reputation for firing on enemy trains, to the point of painting locomotive silhouettes on his F4U Corsair
for each "kill." Flying combat missions off the escort carrier USS Badoeng Strait
, he is shot down over enemy territory, but survives and returns to friendly lines.
Brigadier General
First Appearance: Semper Fi
Fleming Pickering, father of Pick Pickering, is the owner and chairman of Pacific and Far Eastern Shipping, a large and successful worldwide shipping conglomerate. During the First World War, he was a Marine corporal
, and was twice wounded in action during the Battle of Belleau Wood where he won the Navy Cross
, (the second-highest award for valour and the equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross).
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, then-Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
asked him to take a wartime commission as a Navy Captain and act as Knox's plenipotentiary
in the Pacific theater. During this period of his WW II service he won the Navy Cross. Later, Pickering was commissioned a Marine Brigadier General, after which he served as OSS Deputy Director for the Pacific and the CIA's Deputy Director for Asia.
Ernestine "Ernie" Sage is the daughter of a pharmaceutical magnate. The Pickering and Sage families are old friends; Ernie and Pick have known each other since childhood. Ernie meets - and falls in love with - Ken McCoy shortly before he and Pick earn their officer commissions. They are married and have one child.
George Hart, a St. Louis homicide detective before the war, was conned into the Corps by a zealous (and unscrupulous) recruiter. During boot camp, he was transferred and promoted to Sergeant to act as BrigGen Pickering's personal bodyguard. He was promoted to Captain while in command of a reserve rifle company before Korea erupts, and went back to serve with General Pickering.
Patricia Pickering has been the Chairman 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 Fleming Pickering and mother to Malcolm ("Pick") Pickering. Notably, while her husband was serving in the Pacific during World War II, she also served as the chairman of Pacific & Far East Shipping, her husband's international company.
A Medal of Honor recipient during World War I
, Jack (NMI - No Middle Initial) Stecker first appears as a seasoned Master Gunnery Sergeant who sees more than a little of himself in Ken McCoy and helps him adjust to life at Quantico. He is commissioned as a Mustang
and quickly promoted to Captain, enabling him to stop persecution of McCoy by 1st Lieutenant Macklin, a self-serving (and dishonest, unusual for the USMC) officer McCoy knew in China. Stecker's younger son Dick becomes friends with Pick during aviator training at Pensacola, Florida. By the end of World War II, Stecker has advanced to Brigadier General and is on the staff of General Alexander A. Vandegrift (Marine Corps Commandant).
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
before and during the years of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. The story features a tightly-knit cast of characters in various positions within the Marine Corps, Navy, and upper levels of the United States Government.
List of books
- Book I, Semper Fi (1986) - Main action takes place between January 2, 1941 and January 17, 1942.
- Book II, Call to Arms (1987) - Main action takes place between December 18, 1941 and August 30, 1942.
- Book III, Counterattack (1990) - Main action takes place between December 7, 1941 and August 9, 1942.
- Book IV, Battleground (1991) - Main action takes place between June 4, 1942 and August 25, 1942.
- Book V, Line of Fire (1992) - Main action takes place between Spring 1942 and October 11, 1942.
- Book VI, Close Combat (1993) - Main action takes place between October 11, 1942 and November 19, 1942.
- Book VII, Behind the Lines (1996) - Main action takes place between April 7, 1942 and February 8, 1943.
- Book VIII, In Danger's Path (1999) - Main action takes place between November, 1941 and May 5, 1943.
- Book IX, Under Fire (2002) - Main action takes place between June 1, 1950 and September 29, 1950.
- Book X, Retreat, Hell! (2004) - Main action takes place between September 28, 1950 and November 3, 1950.
MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Kenneth J. "(The) Killer" McCoy, USMCR
First Appearance: Semper FiHis fellow marines call him "The Killer" for killing two Italian marines in self-defense with a baby Fairbairn knife
Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife
The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife is a double-edged fighting knife resembling a dagger or poignard with a foil grip developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes in Shanghai based on concepts which the two men initiated before World War II while serving on the Shanghai Municipal...
(to his great embarrassment). His name is Kenneth J. McCoy, the introductory character of the saga, a Marine private first class
Private First Class
Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...
stationed in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China with the 4th Marines (the primary component of the China Marines
China Marines
The term China Marines originally referred to those United States Marines from the 4th Marine Regiment who were stationed in Shanghai, China during 1927 - 1941 to protect American citizens and their property in the Shanghai International Settlement during the Chinese Revolution and the Second...
) prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. Ken has a great affinity for languages and in China learns Japanese, Wu, Mandarin, and Cantonese, which leads to him being assigned to intelligence-gathering convoys. Due to his actions in carrying out intelligence missions on Japanese assets, and following an action in which he kills 18 bandits, he is transferred back to the United States and enters Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....
to earn a commission as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
. 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
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
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
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
for wounds received and a Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
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
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
, and setting up a weather station in the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
.
ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Edward C. Banning, USMC
First Appearance: Semper FiIntroduced as the S-2 (intelligence) officer of the 4th Marines in China, and assigned as McCoy's legal advisor after Ken's killing of the two Italian marines. Initially he wants to plead McCoy guilty, but McCoy refuses, and to the chagrin of the prosecutor McCoy comes up with members of Fairbairn
William E. Fairbairn
William Ewart Fairbairn was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the world wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons...
's "Flying Squad
Flying Squad
The Flying Squad is a branch of the Specialist Crime Directorate, within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Squad's purpose is to investigate commercial armed robberies, along with the prevention and investigation of other serious armed crime...
" of the Shanghai Police as witnesses. Banning quickly becomes an integral part of the book as McCoy is slowly indoctrinated into the world of intelligence gathering. After charges are dismissed Bannng send McCoy on convoys to "get him out of sight", and discovers McCoy has great talent as an observer and evaluator of Japanese military readiness. Also a China Marine, his relationship with McCoy changes from superior officer to peer as the story progresses. Unlike the majority of pre-World War II regular Marine Corps officers, Banning is a graduate of The Citadel
The Citadel (military college)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...
, the Military College of South Carolina. After the 4th Marines are moved from Shanghai to the Philippines, he finds himself defending the beaches of Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
(Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
) during the Japanese invasion. He is temporarily blinded and transferred off Corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
by submarine with other seriously wounded US servicemen; fortunately, his sight returns before reaching port. Banning subsequently serves in the Office of Management Analysis and under Brigadier General Pickering in the OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
during World War II. At the beginning of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in Under Fire, he is near retirement, contemplating a future in real estate.
Master Gunner Ernest Zimmerman, USMC
First Appearance: Semper FiErnest "Ernie" Zimmerman is a China Marine sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
who serves with McCoy in Shanghai and operates with him in reconnaissance missions. When the 4th Marines are ordered to the Philippines, he is forced to leave his Chinese wife along with Mrs. Ed Banning in China. Later, he serves with McCoy in the Marine Raiders
Marine Raiders
The Marine Raiders were elite units established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare, particularly in landing in rubber boats and operating behind the lines...
when McCoy is assigned to spy on Evans Carlson
Evans Carlson
Brigadier General Evans Fordyce Carlson was the famed U.S. Marine Corps leader of the World War II "Carlson's Raiders"...
, the innovative combat leader who's seen as a threat to the Marine establishment. Following this, Zimmerman serves in a Marine Air Wing in the Pacific, and at McCoy's request is transferred to the OSS to help set up a weather station in the Gobi Desert. During that operation, Zimmerman is reunited with his wife (and Ed Banning with his), after she was forced to flee China. Between the Gobi Desert assignment in 1943 and the beginning of the Korean War, Zimmerman is promoted to Master Gunner. During the Korean War, he serves with Captain/Major McCoy in the CIA.
Major Malcolm "Pick" Pickering, USMCR
First Appearance: Semper FiOn the train from San Diego to Pennsylvania, McCoy meets a friendly civilian named Malcolm Pickering ("Pick" to his friends). After parting company, McCoy and Pick are reunited as classmates in the Platoon Leaders' Course at Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico, sometimes abbreviated MCB Quantico, is a major United States Marine Corps training base located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly in southern Prince William County, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Pick is the son of Fleming Pickering, owner of Pacific and Far East (P&FE) shipping, and Patricia Foster Pickering, heir to the Foster hotel chain (allowing Pick to stay at the exclusive hotels at no cost). While Ken acts as an officer courier, Pick's sets his sights on flight training, and he attends flight school at Pensacola
Pensacola
Pensacola is a city in the western part of the U.S. state of Florida.Pensacola may also refer to:* Pensacola people, a group of Native Americans* A number of places in the Florida:** Pensacola Bay** Pensacola Regional Airport...
. He was promoted to Major while commanding a reserve squadron just before the Korean war; his squadron was subsequently activated and deployed to Korea. He gained a reputation for firing on enemy trains, to the point of painting locomotive silhouettes on his F4U Corsair
F4U Corsair
The Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and...
for each "kill." Flying combat missions off the escort carrier USS Badoeng Strait
USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116)
USS Badoeng Strait was an of the United States Navy during the Korean War.She was named after the Badung Strait, located between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Nusa Besar, which was the site of a World War II battle in February 1942, between American–Netherlands and Japanese naval forces.San...
, he is shot down over enemy territory, but survives and returns to friendly lines.
Brigadier GeneralBrigadier GeneralBrigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Fleming "Flem" Pickering, USMCR
First Appearance: Semper FiFleming Pickering, father of Pick Pickering, is the owner and chairman of Pacific and Far Eastern Shipping, a large and successful worldwide shipping conglomerate. During the First World War, he was a Marine corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
, and was twice wounded in action during the Battle of Belleau Wood where he won the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
, (the second-highest award for valour and the equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross).
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, then-Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
Frank Knox
-External links:...
asked him to take a wartime commission as a Navy Captain and act as Knox's plenipotentiary
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...
in the Pacific theater. During this period of his WW II service he won the Navy Cross. Later, Pickering was commissioned a Marine Brigadier General, after which he served as OSS Deputy Director for the Pacific and the CIA's Deputy Director for Asia.
Ernestine Sage
First Appearance: Semper FiErnestine "Ernie" Sage is the daughter of a pharmaceutical magnate. The Pickering and Sage families are old friends; Ernie and Pick have known each other since childhood. Ernie meets - and falls in love with - Ken McCoy shortly before he and Pick earn their officer commissions. They are married and have one child.
Captain George Hart, USMCR
First Appearance: Line of FireGeorge Hart, a St. Louis homicide detective before the war, was conned into the Corps by a zealous (and unscrupulous) recruiter. During boot camp, he was transferred and promoted to Sergeant to act as BrigGen Pickering's personal bodyguard. He was promoted to Captain while in command of a reserve rifle company before Korea erupts, and went back to serve with General Pickering.
Patricia Pickering
First Appearance: Semper FiPatricia Pickering has been the Chairman 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 Fleming Pickering and mother to Malcolm ("Pick") Pickering. Notably, while her husband was serving in the Pacific during World War II, she also served as the chairman of Pacific & Far East Shipping, her husband's international company.
Brigadier General Jack (NMI) Stecker, USMC
First Appearance: Semper FiA Medal of Honor recipient during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Jack (NMI - No Middle Initial) Stecker first appears as a seasoned Master Gunnery Sergeant who sees more than a little of himself in Ken McCoy and helps him adjust to life at Quantico. He is commissioned as a Mustang
Mustang (military officer)
A Mustang is United States Military slang for a commissioned officer who began his or her career as an enlisted service member. Mustangs are older and more experienced than their peers-in-grade who earned their commissions from one of the service academies , Officer Candidate...
and quickly promoted to Captain, enabling him to stop persecution of McCoy by 1st Lieutenant Macklin, a self-serving (and dishonest, unusual for the USMC) officer McCoy knew in China. Stecker's younger son Dick becomes friends with Pick during aviator training at Pensacola, Florida. By the end of World War II, Stecker has advanced to Brigadier General and is on the staff of General Alexander A. Vandegrift (Marine Corps Commandant).
Other notable characters
- Captain Jim ("Captain Moustache") Carstairs, USMC - Pick Pickering & Dick Stecker's IP (Instructor Pilot) in Pensacola.
- Brigadier General (previously Lieutenant Colonel) Clyde ("The Dawk:) Dawkins, USMC - Commanding Officer, MAG-21.
- Major Jake Dillon, USMCR - former enlisted China Marine; works for Metro-Magnum Studios and returns to wartime duty as a Major in the Public Affairs office.
- Major (previously Lieutenant) Hon Son "Pluto" Do, USA - Signals & Cryptographic officer attached to MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.
- Lieutenant Colonel (previously Lieutenant) William Dunn, USMC - Executive officer, and later CO, of VMF-229.
- Eric FeldtEric FeldtCommander Eric Augustas Feldt OBE, RAN , was an officer in the Royal Australian Navy and the director of the Coastwatchers organization for much of World War II.-Popular Culture:...
, Lieutenant Commander, RAN - director of the Coastwatcher organization. - Ellen Feller - wife of a Christian missionary in China, then a civilian linguist & analyst attached to MacArthur's Australia headquarters; ultimately "hospitalized" as a result of her sexual appetites and the military secrets she knows. Ellen enters the story when she accompanies McCoy on a convoy sent out to seek intelligence on the Japanese.
- Richardson Fowler - Junior Senator from California
- Captain (previously Technical Sergeant) Charles Galloway, USMC - Commanding Officer, VMF-229. Gets into serious trouble when he flies a fighter assembled from scrap at Pearl Harbor to a Navy carrier that is not expecting him.
- Captain David Haughton, USN - Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy.
- Lieutenant General (previously Major General) Thomas HolcombThomas HolcombGeneral Thomas Holcomb was the seventeenth Commandant of the United States Marine Corps . He was the first Marine to achieve the rank of General. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Holcomb served as Minister to South Africa .-Early years:Holcomb was born on August 5, 1879 in New Castle, Delaware...
- Commandant of the Marine Corps; later relieved by Lieutenant General Alexander Archer Vandegrift. - Caroline Howell - Ed Banning's love interest after returning from the Philippines.
- Frank KnoxFrank Knox-External links:...
- wartime Secretary of the Navy - Major (previously Lieutenant) Robert Macklin, USMC - a "generally slimy creature" and the epitome of everything a good Marine officer shouldn't be.
- Staff Sergeant Thomas McCoy, USMCR - Ken McCoy's younger brother, awarded the Medal of Honor on Guadalcanal and became known as "Machinegun McCoy."
- Carolyn McNamara - Girlfriend of Charles Galloway.
- Major General (previously Brigadier General) D.G. "Doc" McInerney, USMC - Director of Marine Corps Aviation.
- Lieutenant John Moore, USMCR - cryptographic & analysis officer attached to the Office of Management Analysis.
- Brigadier General (previously Lieutenant Colonel) Fritz Rickabee, USMC - Commanding Officer, Office of Management Analysis.
- Major (previously Lieutenant) Edward Sessions, USMC - officer attached to the Office of Management Analysis.
- First Lieutenant Dick Stecker, USMC - Jack Stecker's son and Pick Pickering's buddy.
- Major General Alexander Archer Vandegrift - Commanding General, 1st Marine Division; later served as Commandant of the Marine Corps.
- Captain (previously Lieutenant) James Weston, USMC - pilot who escaped to Mindanao before the fall of Corregidor to fight as a guerrilla.
- Ludmilla Zhivkov - Ed Banning's "white Russian" wife.
- Lieutenant (previously Corporal) Robert Easterbrook, USMC - a short, skinny enlisted combat correspondent on Guadalcanal, fresh from Parris Island and forced to grow up fast in the heat of combat. His ears redden with anger or embarrassment, earning him the nickname "Easterbunny" among his peers (much to his irritation). After he returns to the US for a war bond tour, he's identified in a national news story by "Machinegun McCoy" as "the bravest man on Bloody Ridge."
- Lieutenant General Edward Mallory 'Ned' Almond, USA - Commander of X Corps in Korea.
Inconsistencies in the books
- 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 changed to "R."
- Ken McCoy is originally described in Semper Fi as being a Roman Catholic of Irish descent (his elementary school was run by Dominican nuns, his sister is described as having been kicked out of a convent, and his father was a member of the Knights of Columbus), but later describes himself as being of Scottish extraction, and an Episcopalian, in Behind the Lines.
- Macklin's first name changes from John (Semper Fi) to Richard (Counterattack), before finally settling on Robert (Battleground).
- The California senator Fowler's name changes from Richardson to Richmond and then back to Richardson.
- Zimmerman's first name was "Ernst" (a German name) in Semper Fi, but changes to "Ernest" by the last book.
- Ken McCoy was often described in later books as having received his "Baby Fairbairn" (a version of the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knifeFairbairn-Sykes fighting knifeThe Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife is a double-edged fighting knife resembling a dagger or poignard with a foil grip developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes in Shanghai based on concepts which the two men initiated before World War II while serving on the Shanghai Municipal...
) from William Ewart FairbairnWilliam E. FairbairnWilliam Ewart Fairbairn was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the world wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons...
himself, along with the training to use it properly. In fact, he won the knife in a poker game, and in Call to Arms, he tells Colonel Evans CarlsonEvans CarlsonBrigadier General Evans Fordyce Carlson was the famed U.S. Marine Corps leader of the World War II "Carlson's Raiders"...
that he never met Fairbairn. (Though, this may be as a result of Colonel Carlson intentionally disseminating McCoy's purported relationship with Fairbairn as fact, as an attempt to garner respect from his subordinates in designating McCoy as a officer of great trust.) - A dedicated reader soon discovers that the series timelines vary from book to book. Character's ages aren't consistent (Macklin is 35 in the first book (1941) and still in his mid-thirties during the Korean war). People are introduced to each other early-on, then meet again (for the first time) two or three books later; for example, Banning meeting Ernie Sage, or Ernie Sage meeting Ernie Zimmerman. Another example is the meeting between Koffler and Macklin in Behind the Lines. The narrative suggests a first meeting, however, encounters between Koffler and Macklin were detailed during their time at the USMC Parachute School and Lakehurst NAS, detailed in Counterattack.
- Eric Feldt says he doesn't speak a word of Japanese, yet later is described as fluent in Japanese, which partly explains why he and Banning get along so well.
- In Semper Fi, Zimmerman is described as being on his second hitch with the 4th Marines and is also mentioned to be 26 years old. In the following book, Call to Arms, it says he only served one hitch with the 4th Marines and is suddenly younger.
- When George Hart gets commissioned as 2ndLt. Moore gets promoted to 1stLt. But in Behind the Lines Moore is still only a 2ndLt. although Hart is also a Lieutenant.
- Lieutenant General Almond is portrayed in the books as having a good relationship with the USMC whereas this is historically false.
- In Counterattack, when General Pickering's decorations are mentioned, his highest is the Silver Star, yet in later books it mentions that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross or the Navy Cross in Belleau Wood in WWI.
- In Semper Fi Zimmerman froze during the Chinese Bandit attack and afterwards regained his facities and shoots the wouded, during later books he is credited as joing the fight when McCoy shouted "Shoot, God Damnit." It was actually Sessions who joined the fighting
- During the Chinese Bandit attack McCoy ran towards the attack in Semper Fi, but in later books is said to have stood up in the jeep to counter the attack. Also the attack in Semper Fi was on Zimmerman and Sessions only, in later books the attack was on the entire truck convoy. (The truck convoy was still waiting to cross the river on the Ferry.
- Sargeant Rutter in "Semper Fi" became Seargeant Rutterman in later books in The Corps series.