Once an Eagle cover art

Once an Eagle

A Novel

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Once an Eagle

By: Anton Myrer
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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About this listen

Once an Eagle is the story of one special man, a soldier named Sam Damon, and his adversary over a lifetime, fellow officer Courtney Massengale. Damon is a professional who puts duty, honor, and the men he commands above self-interest. Massengale, however, brilliantly advances his career by making the right connections behind the lines and in Washington’s corridors of power.

Beginning in the French countryside during the Great War, the conflict between these adversaries solidifies in the isolated garrison life marking peacetime, intensifies in the deadly Pacific jungles of World War II, and reaches its treacherous conclusion in the last major battleground of the Cold War.

A study in character and values, courage, nobility, honesty, and selflessness, here is an unforgettable story about a man who embodies the best in our nation - and in us all.

Anton Myrer (1922–1996) enlisted in the US Marine Corps following the attack on Pearl Harbor and served for three years in the Pacific. Wounded on Guam, he returned to Harvard, graduated, and began an illustrious literary career, during which he wrote such memorable novels as The Big War, The Last Convertible, and A Green Desire.

©1968, 1996 Anton Myrer (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Military Protector War & Military Romance War

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Critic reviews

“A remarkable novel…Utterly engrossing. Myrer is a superb storyteller, one of the few gifted novelists now writing who cares about the art of narration and is a master of it…A grim, exciting, and almost overwhelming account of twentiethcentury war. It is an astute study of the mind and character of a good general and a good man. And it is a brilliant inside views of the life of a career officer in peace and war.” ( New York Times)
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What did you like most about Once an Eagle?

Authenticity. A retired Officer in the US military told me that this is how it was.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Once an Eagle?

The training exercise involving explosives.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

It is so good in so many places. The Pacific, World War I....it is difficult to say.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I could have, I would have....but 41 hours is too much.

Any additional comments?

Thoroughly recommended. This is not a blindly patriotic paean to the US Military. It is a well balanced critique that leaves you respectful of the individual soldier and with a deeper understanding of the fog of war.

Once an Eagle - tells it like it us

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I can think of a number of military accounts, both fiction and non-fiction that I've enthused about over the course of seven decades, foremost amongst them being Remarque's "All Quiet On The Western Front", Monserrat's "The Cruel Sea", Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead", Crane's "Red Badge Of Courage" and Kantor's "Andersonville".

In more recent years I've found Jeff Shaara's work, along with that of Hugh and Stephen Ambrose and, latterly, Karl Marlantes equally compelling.

Not until this week, however, have I come across a work of military fiction so engrossing and so mesmerising that I found myself - even before I'd completed the book - going back time and again to certain paragraphs or sections in order to keep the author's wonderful, sometimes distressingly so, description of one event or another in my mind.

Anton Myrer's staggeringly complex Once An Eagle is unmissable - a huge work that is apparently required reading for West Pointers and US Marine Corps officer candidates. I have it as an audiobook (unabridged and narrated over a massive 41 hours by the excellent Grover Gardner) but have ordered it in 'real time' for my bookcase.

Those who never read it will never know what they've missed!

Rushing to praise ...

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Interesting without being enthralling. The history involved makes becoming a war hater very very atttactive.

Well worth the effort of staying with it to end

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A superb book, I enjoyed the audio version even more then reading the paper version years ago. A great story truly bringing the pointless horror, the total waste of war home to you, every soldier and politician should read this.

A great book

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I originally watched the TV series in the 1970's and enjoyed the writing and structure, absorbed by the characters and the portrayed action but the book easily surpasses this in every way. Great book well narrated.

Childhood Revisited

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This may very well be the best book I've ever heard. I rank it up there with "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "I, Pilgrim".

The portrayal of the different characters, the plotline, the different perspectives - it is all so masterfully done. All down to the flaws in the individuals.

I finished the book in 2,5 days, and it was a pain every time someone wanted to say something to me so I would need to pause it.

Superb story and superb narration.

Brilliant characters and storytelling

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Twisting and complex, world or encourage service or not. I hope it would add life In civilian arenas leads to the same outcomes for so many, while not necessarily offering the impact a true combat leader can make. Brilliant, thanks Jack Carr for the recommendation 👍

How much this is still relevant today

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