By Coby Criste
Military books are generally thought to cover a historical accounting of events. For instance, the memoirs of a member of the special operations forces who was first through the door in the raid that took out Osama bin Laden.
But not all military books have to be like that. My service as a corporal in the Marines wasn’t newsworthy, but I had a story to tell, and I think other service members do too.
I became a U.S. Marine in 2004 as an E-1. I made E-2 and E-3 after serving the prerequisite time-in-service and time-in-grade, and then received a combat meritorious promotion to E-4 in Iraq. I was honorably discharged in 2008. Several things happened over the next five years that made me decide to write a book about my experiences: From Boot Camp to al-Baghdadi: How One Junior Intel Marine Helped in the War Against al-Qaida in Iraq.
The movie The Secret led me to start thinking about writing a book. The documentary is full of claims about “The Law of Attraction” and how you can have anything you want if only you want it hard enough. I started looking into the successful people interviewed in the movie—reading their blogs and self-help books—and noticed a common theme throughout: the overwhelmingly positive message that anyone can be successful at anything as long as you put the work in. Likewise, everyone has a story to tell and can benefit from sharing that story with the world.
Well, I thought, I’ve got a story to tell.
My story is a unique one that you don’t hear every day. It’s not your average PTSD story, nor is it your average memoir. It’s about a troublemaking kid from a small town who struggles through Marine Corps Boot Camp and ultimately uses the skills learned in the Marines to turn his life around.
My grandfather served in Vietnam and Korea, but he never really talked about it. He died recently. Any stories he had about what happened are gone. No one will ever know. My step-grandfather served in World War II. He told me a few interesting stories of the war just before he passed, but after those conversations fade from my memory, they will be gone forever.
The main reason I wrote a book is for my kids and their kids and even their kids. My story is documented for my kids to read and, hopefully, learn from. Something I didn’t realize until I actually sat down and started writing the book is that my story can also help other kids and even parents out there. Before the Marines, I got in trouble with the police, served court-ordered community service, and found myself in handcuffs more than once. I dropped out of college after failing every single class.
Even in the Marines, I was a troublemaker. I received a non-judicial punishment in boot camp. I never totally conformed to the Marine Corps way. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I learned some valuable lessons from my four years as a Junior Enlisted Marine—lessons that have shaped me into the man I am today. While writing the book, I was able to step back, connect the dots, and objectively realize how my time in the Marines made me a better person.
I am now a senior editor at the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC). Next month, I’ll graduate from American Military University (AMU) with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. I couldn’t have accomplished either goal without the values the Marine Corps instilled in me. Hopefully, by reading my book, people will gain a whole new appreciation for the junior enlisted ranks and realize one of the essential truths of the universe: anyone really can do anything.
About the Author
Coby Criste is a former Junior Enlisted Marine Intelligence Analyst and current senior editor at the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC). He wrote a book about his time in the Marines titled From Boot Camp to al-Baghdadi: How One Junior Intel Marine Helped in the War Against al-Qaida in Iraq. Coby is close to finishing his Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from American Military University (AMU) and will pursue a master’s degree in Humanities from the same school. Coby’s other love is comics, which he blogs about at Coby’s Comics. He lives in Central Virginia with his wife and two sons.
Comments are closed.