Book excerpt: Semper Fi, Mac brings to life the Marines of World War II -- the tough, battle-trained troops who stormed the beaches of Bougainville, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa -- in some of the bitterest and bloodiest fighting of the war. Compilied from over seventy-five interviews with surviving officers and enlisted men, these powerful firsthand accounts give us a soldier's-eye portrait of the Marine Pacific war experience -- the camaraderie, the women, the loneliness, the fear -- and the profound emotional as well as spiritual rewards that resulted. Former machine gunners, riflemen, mortarmen, and engineers share the horrifying and humorous stories that defined their days in the Pacific. Through this filter of recollection, one truism is reflected time and again: "there is no such thing as an ex-Marine." A tour-de-force that pays tribute to the spirit of the nation's premier fighting force, Semper Fi, Mac is a multifaceted portrayl of men, war, bravery, honor -- and, as "The Marines' Hymn" so proudly proclaims, fidelity to the military tradition that inspired them.