SHORT RATIONS FOR MARINES Short Rations For Marines is an exquisite, easy to read, collection of 57 true stories authored by 34 very different writers that takes readers through a domain, not only of tragic historical significance, but also through humorous, often ridiculous incidents that flawlessly become antidotes for the conventional. These stories characterize everyday life, in war and peace, of these extraordinary people who, collectively, make up the Corps of Marines. Each story is told by the person who lived it or experienced it, or its aftermath. In this book, you will meet people and events that created, shaped or profoundly affected the world we occupy today. These events unfold in numerous locations, and in all historical eras from World War I (the Great War) to the present. Contributing author and Executive Editor, Major Ralph Stoney Bates Sr., USMC (Ret), has meticulously searched the globe for contributors to this Short Rations For Marines anthology, and found outstanding writers and story-tellers from all walks of life, occupations, and endeavors. From Guam, Okinawa, Afghanistan, Kuwaiti, the Mediterranean Sea, Japan, and even an isolated, small Island in the South Pacific, from places stateside, and many other exotic and mundane locations, each story is told, and events recalled with remarkable clarity and heartfelt emotion. Many of the writers are gifted journalist, and noted authors who are currently reaching for the peak of professional fulfillment, while other contributors (such as the executive editor), are venturing into the genesis of book authorship and publishing as novices. The caveat in contributing a story was that each writer must tell a true story about a Marine, a Fleet Marine sailor, or their dependent families. All have succeeded in the mission of this book and excelled in their story-telling. All contributors are, in the aftermath, gifted writers. Read it, and you are assured to laugh, cry, smile, anger, reminisce, and/or cajole with the close of each chapter; therefore you will surely agree that these stories do evoke emotive responses on a wide scale. Purchasing this book will not only fulfill your expectations and satisfy your curiosity, it will also assist non-profit organizations and/or groups dedicated to providing support to military veterans, especially those "Soldiers of the Sea" and their corpsmen, and their dependents affected by or injured by war. Profits, from royalty's generated for the executive editor, from the sale of this book, will go to organizations assisting with injured combat veterans, and their dependents, coping with, and recovering from war injuries, and/or combat deaths, plus other tragedies of warfare, conducted in behalf of the people of the United States of America. Profits, from royalty's, of the executive editor, will also be directed to a non-profit organization, and/or foundation, in order to assist in promoting and preserving the history, culture and tradition of the Corps of Marines, to whom, this book is devoted, and with whom the executive editor and contributing author has actively served. In short, bluntly stated, two organizations/foundations will split the profits from royaltyies attained by the executive editor and contributing author generated by the sales of this book titled Short Rations For Marines.