"We all die like marines" Boarded the USS Midway Museum, San Diego, CA

Colonel Jim Bathurst’s recently published book now prominently graces the shelves of the 17th gift shop on America’s Top 20 Museums (USS MIDWAY MUSEUM) list, as rated by YELP, and published in USA Today.

In it, Colonel Bathurst recounts his nearly thirty-six years of service in the United States Marine Corps, where he rose from soldier to colonel. His unique service during that extended period included as 0311 Infantry Sergeant in the Vietnam War serving as Platoon Commander (Lieutenant Ticket). He was awarded a Silver Star medal, a Bronze Star medal with Combat “V”, a Purple Heart, and a combat commission to the second lieutenant. Vietnam provided him with a wide range of leadership challenges. “Combat is the greatest challenge for any leader in the Marine Corps,” Colonel Bathurst emphatically asserts. Like most marines, Vietnam changed his life forever.

Upon arriving home, still an enlisted man, he was assigned to be the platoon sergeant of the famous Silent Drill Team at 8th and I St, Washington, DC, but his rapid promotion to second lieutenant, recommended by his commanding officer for a leadership exceptional in Vietnam, he changed that and became the commander.

During that tour, while temporarily serving Camp David as the security officer in charge, President Lyndon B. Johnson errantly rebuked him face to face, an encounter that he details in the book in all his bombast: Johnson threatens to send him to “VET NAM “. The Commander-in-Chief of all United States military personnel could not even distinguish a Vietnam Navy veteran, despite the various high awards for heroism that he wore as colored ribbons over his left breast pocket, which had served his country in wartime. honorably and heroically. Jim has never forgotten or forgiven. Including it in the book with encouragement from its publisher has provided some reckoning. Reading those few pages is worth the price of the book just to understand firsthand the ineptitude of some who take over the power of the White House.

Colonel Bathurst held various command titles from platoon commander onward, including commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, the battalion made famous by Leon’s book and movie Battle Cry. Uris and known as “Huxley’s Harlots”. Just before that, he had been in command of the Marine Corps’ largest recruiting station for three years, RSS Chicago. He retired as Director of the Infantry School at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 1993.

General Peter Pace, the first Marine Corps officer to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said of the book: “Reading Jim’s book is like coming home …” The book has received rave reviews. in such prestigious military organizations and magazines. such as Leatherneck, Marine Corps Association, Military Writers Society of America, Naval Historical Foundation, US Veteran’s Magazine, as well as numerous rave reviews online from readers, such as those who purchased the book on Amazon.

Typically, a single item seller is not the seller of choice for the books. However, with the cooperation, interest and willingness to test the book, Event Network, Inc., the leading operator of gift shops for aquariums, botanical gardens, museums, science centers and other highly regarded cultural attractions, agreed a vendor agreement for a book.

Colonel Bathurst, grateful for their help in having the opportunity to offer his book to the visitors of these military museums, says: “Event Network is a company that cares; on their website they emphasize that they are a company” with a purpose and in service, “and they turned out to be just that.”

Regarding writing the book itself, Colonel Bathurst says: “I wrote this in the hope of guiding young Marines, both enlisted and officer, to consider my advice on the demanding leadership requirements a Marine faces. daily …”

Colonel Bathurst is retired in Crystal Lake, Illinois, with his wife Nancy and a dozen Siberian cats and kittens. You are often invited to speak on occasions like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, etc. He will do book signings at various locations, perhaps even at the USS Midway Museum.

In short, Jim Bathurst puts it best when he writes “… the Corps was not a job, a career, or even a profession; it was, and still is, a way of life.”

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