The Corps Series

The Corps is a series of war novels written by W.E.B. Griffin about the United States Marine Corps before and during the years of the Second World War and the Korean Conflict. The story centers around a tightly-knit cast of characters in various positions within the Marine Corps, Navy, and upper levels of the United States Government.

List of books

• Book I, Semper Fi (1986)
• Book II, Call to Arms (1987)
• Book III, Counterattack (1990)
• Book IV, Battleground (1991)
• Book V, Line of Fire (1992)
• Book VI, Close Combat (1993)
• Book VII, Behind the Lines (1996)
• Book VIII, In Danger's Path (1999)
• Book IX, Under Fire (2002)
• Book X, Retreat, Hell! (2004)

Primary Cast of Characters

Ken "(The) Killer" McCoy

First Appearance: Semper Fi

Initially known as "The Killer" for killing two Italian marines in self-defense with a homemade bayonet he crafted himself, the introductory character of the saga is Ken McCoy, a Marine private first class stationed in Shanghai, China with the Fourth Marines (also known as the China Marines) prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Due to his actions in carrying out intelligence missions on Japanese assets, he is transferred back to the United States and enters the Platoon Officers' Course to earn a commission as a second lieutenant. As an officer, he is assigned as an officer courier for intelligence in the Pacific. While on a courier run, he is caught at Pearl Harbor on December 7th and survives. He manages to make it to the Philippines shortly before the Japanese invasion and reunites with Captain Ed Banning while assiting in the defence of the landing beach. Following an artillery barrage McCoy carries Banning to a monastery for treatment. He manages to make it through enemy lines and return to the states. He is awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received and a Silver Star for his performance under fire and his efforts to save Captain Banning.

Ed Banning

First Appearance: Semper Fi

Introduced as McCoy's legal aid after killing the Italian marines, Ed Banning quickly becomes an integral part of the book as McCoy is slowly indoctrinated into the world of intelligence gathering. Also a China Marine, his relationship with McCoy changes from superior officer to peer as the story progresses. He is a graduate of the "Citadel" aka "the Military College of South Carolina". After the 4th Marines were ordered out of Shanghai he found himself defending the Philippines during the Japanese invasion. He was temporarily blinded and transfered off Corrigedor by submarine with other seriously wounded US servicemen.

Ernie Zimmerman

First Appearance: Semper Fi

McCoy's former gunnery sergeant and China Marine, Ernest "Ernie" Zimmerman's relationship with Ken McCoy alters as the story continues. Serving with McCoy in Shanghai and operating with him in reconnassiance missions, he meets up with the Killer when they're both assigned to the Second Raider Battallion before the raid on Makin Island.

Malcolm "Pick" Pickering

First Appearance: Semper Fi

On the train from San Diego to Pennsylvania, McCoy meets a peculiar civilian by the name of Malcolm Pickering (known as "Pick" to his friends). After parting company, McCoy and Pick meet up again at the Platoon Officer's Course at Quantico, Virginia, and matriculate together. Pick is the son of a shipping magnate and an heir to a major hotel chain, allowing him to stay at his family's hotels without cost. While Ken acts as an officer courier, Pick's sights are set upon flight training, and he enters into flight school at Pensacola.

Fleming "Flem" Pickering

First Appearance: Semper Fi

Pick's father, Fleming, is the owner and Chairman of the Board of Pacific and Far Eastern Shipping, a large and successful oceanic freight corporation. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the then-Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, asks him to take a wartime commission as a naval Captain and act as his plenipotentiary for the Pacific. During the First World War, "Flem" was a Marine corporal, twice wounded in action.

Supporting Cast of Characters

Ernestine Sage

First Appearance: Semper Fi

Ernestine "Ernie" Sage is the daughter of a pharmecutical magnate. She and Pick were childhood friends, as the Pickerings and the Sages were old family friends. Ernie meets Ken McCoy shortly before he and Pick earn their commissions as second lieutenants.

George Hart

First Appearance: Battleground

Private George Hart was conned into the Marine Corps by a zealous recruiter. A homicide detective in civilian life, George is handpicked from boot camp and elevated to Sergeant to act as Flem's personal bodyguard while he operates in the intelligence sector of the military.

Patricia Pickering

Patricia Pickering has been the Chairman of the Board of the Foster Hotel Chain since her father, Andrew Foster, died in the years between World War II and the Korean War. She is the wife of Gen. Fleming Pickering and the Mother of Maj. Malcolm Pickering. Notably while her husband was serving in the Pacific theatre during WWII she was acting Chairwoman of Pacific & Far East Shipping.

Jack NMI Stecker

A Medal of Honor winner, Jack (No Middle Initial) Stecker appears as a kind master gunnery sergeant who assists McCoy in assimilating to life at Quantico. He accepts a commission as a Marine Captain during McCoy's weeks in training and further corrects an attempt to persecute him by First Lieutenant Robert Macklin. Stecker's son Dick becomes a friend of Pick while both are at flight school. By the end of WWII he is promoted to Brigadier General and is on the staff of General Vandegrift (Comandant of the US Marine Corps).

Other Notable Characters

• Caroline Spencer Howard, (Edward Banning's illicit relationship upon returning from the Philippines.)
• Carolyn McNamara, (girlfriend of Charles Galloway.)
• Charles Galloway, (Commanding Officer, VMF-229.)
• Clyde Dawkins, (Commanding Officer, MAG-21.)
• David Haughton, (Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy.)
• Dick Stecker, (Jack Stecker's son and Pick Pickering's buddy.)
• Edward Sessions, (Officer attached to the Office of Management Analysis.)
• Ellen Feller, (Wife of a former Christian Missionary to China; civilian linguist & analysist attached to MacArthurs Headquarters in Australia.)
• Frank Knox, (Wartime Secretary of the Navy)
• Fritz Rickabee, (Commanding Officer Office of Management Analysis.)
• Hon Son Do, "Pluto" (Signal & Crytographic officer attached to MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.)
• Jake Dillon, (Former enlisted China Marine; recalled to wartime duty as a major in the Public Affairs Division.)
• James Weston, (Pilot who escaped to Mindanao prior to the fall of Corregidor to fight as a guerrilla.)
• Jim Carstairs, (IP in Pensacola of Pick Pickering & Dick Stecker.)
• John Moore, (Cryptographic & Analysis officer attached to the Office of Management Analysis.)
• Ludmilla Zhivkov, (Ed Banning's White Russian wife.)
• Richardson K. Fowler, (Junior Senator from California.)
• Robert Macklin, (A generally slimy creature and the epitome of everything a good Marine officer shouldn't be.)
• Thomas McCoy, (Awarded MOH on Guadalcanal & Ken McCoy's brother.)
• William Dunn, (Pick Pickering's executive officer- VMF-229, and later, commanding officer.)

Trivia

• Ken McCoy's middle initial starts out as "J." and remains so through most of the series. However, in "Retreat, Hell!" it seems to have been changed to "R."
• When they first meet in the first book, Semper Fi, Ernie, who is was named after her father, asks Ken to call her "Sage", which is what her friends called her. However, later on in the chapter, Pick (who has known her since they were children) calls her Ernie, which is what she is called through the end of the series.
• Ernest Zimmerman's name starts out as Ernst (a German name) in Semper Fi but has been changed to simply Ernest by the last book.
• Ken McCoy grew up in Pennslyvania and was in the FBI records for owning a B.B. Gun when he was 12.
• Ken McCoy had a family that he rarely kept in touch with, his father was an ex car salesmen and a hard luck alcoholic and his sister was an unemployed stay at home mother who neglected to take care of her household.
• While still just a Private First Class in China, Killer McCoy's military occupation was a Browning Watercooled machine gunner.
• Killer McCoy wins money in a poker game with a few men from his platoon in China, and with the remaining $500.00 buys a La Selle, his first automobile.
• His brother an ex steel mill worker joins the Marine Corps as well, and becomes somewhat of a legend like his elder brother "Killer McCoy" while serving in the raiders, a group of commandos serving in the Pacfic, his legendary status comes from being able to carry and fire a .50 caliber machine gun that weighs well over 100lbs.