cover image Hey, Mac, Where YA Been?: Living Memories of the U.S. Marines in the Korean War

Hey, Mac, Where YA Been?: Living Memories of the U.S. Marines in the Korean War

Henry Berry. St. Martin's Press, $22.95 (330pp) ISBN 978-0-312-01772-9

A collection of gung-ho ``leather-neck'' anecdotes, this honors the Korean War Marine in the same informal spirit as the author's Semper Fi, Mac, which honored the Marine of World War II. Berry captures the cocky, stoic, aggressive persona that characterized the gyrene of an earlier generation through a series of tales (some of them a bit tall) as told either by or about Marines of several ranks. In common with almost all books about the 1950-53 war, this deals mainly with the first six months, a period far more dramatic than the final two-and-a-half years when United Nations forces and Communist armies pushed each other back and forth across the 38th Parallel. The book is more entertaining than informative, aimed principally at former Marines and their admirers, of whom there are a great many in both categories. Photos. (June)