Most Marine and Navy Corpsmen who have seen active combat have, at one time or another, experienced a close call when they were seconds or perhaps inches from death yet survived because of a quick reaction, divine intervention or just plain luck.

From Pearl Harbor to Baghdad, this volume contains the stories of 62 Marines who narrowly escaped death while fighting in America's wars. Inspired by the author's own close call in May 1968, it recounts a great variety of harrowing experiences. Personal background from before and after the close calls provides a more human facet while additional research adds historical information to these fascinating stories of Marines and Navy Corpsmen.