ALWAYS FAITHFUL

by Owen Connor (Editor)

In 2025, the Marine Corps celebrates 250 years of achievement and history. In commemoration of this event, the curators of the National Museum of the Marine Corps have dedicated a special exhibit to highlight rare and previously unseen artifacts from the museum’s permanent collection. The artifacts and stories presented here are among the best documented pieces. Some feature the personal tales of individual Marines, while others are more representative of significant events or relate to broader Marine Corps traditions. The exhibit is not intended to rank or rate the “top” artifacts of Marine Corps history. Rather, the purpose is to honor and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Corps through a single lens of the museum’s collection.

THE AMERICAN WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

by Carter Malkasian

The first authoritative history of the Afghanistan Conflict.

CODE TALKER: THE FIRST AND ONLY MEMOIR BY ONE OF THE ORIGINAL NAVAJO CODE TALKERS OF WWII

by Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila

During World War II, the Japanese managed to crack every code the U.S. used. The Marines turned to its Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language and they created the only unbroken code in modern warfare–and helped assure victory in the South Pacific.

ECHO IN RAMADI: THE FIRST HAND STORY OF U.S MARINES IN IRAQ'S DEADLIEST CITY

by Scott A. Huesing

A gripping portrayal of modern urban combat: from the winter of 2006 through the spring of 2007, two-hundred-fifty Marines from Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment fought daily in the dangerous, dense city streets of Ramadi, Iraq during the Multi-National Forces Surge ordered by President George W. Bush. The Marines’ mission: to kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces. Their experience: like being in Hell.

FIRST TO FIGHT: AN INSIDE VIEW OF THE U.S. MARINE CORPS

by Victor H. Krulak

This book examines the foundation on which the Marine Corps is built. The author examines the Marine experience during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and tries to answer the question of what it means to be a Marine, and how the Corps has maintained such an outstanding reputation.

HOW THE FEW BECAME THE PROUD: CRAFTING THE MARINE CORPS MYSTIQUE

by Heather P. Venable

The author argues that, in the late 19th century, since the Marine Corps could not readily rally around a sole “defining mission,” it turned instead to an image to ensure its institutional survival. This history explores the origin of the myths behind the mystique.