I Will Hold: The Story of USMC Legend Clifton B. Cates From Belleau Wood to Victory in the Great War
Written by James Carl Nelson
Narrated by Sean Pratt
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Cates knew that he and his small band of marines were in a desperate spot. Before handing the note over to a runner, he added three words that would resound through Marine Corps history:
I WILL HOLD
From the moment he first joined the Marine Reserves of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, Clifton B. Cates was determined to make his mark as a leader. Little did he know what he would truly accomplish in his legendary career.
Not as well-known as his contemporaries such as Alvin C. York, his fame would not come from a single act of heroism but from his consistent and courageous demeanor throughout the war and beyond.
In the bloody second half of 1918 with the 6th Marine Regiment, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, was recognized by the French government with the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre, and earned the nickname “Lucky.”
I Will Hold is the inspiring, brutally vivid, and incredible true life story of a Marine Corps legend whose grit and unstoppable spirit on the battlefield matched his personal drive and sage wisdom off of it.
James Carl Nelson
James Carl Nelson received the 2017 Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s Colonel Joseph Alexander Award for Biography. He is the author of three acclaimed histories of the American experience in World War I: I Will Hold: The Story of USMC Legend Clifton B. Cates, from Belleau Wood to Victory in the Great War; Five Lieutenants: The Heartbreaking Story of Five Harvard Men Who Led America to Victory in World War I; and The Remains of Company D: A Story of the Great War. A former staff writer for the Miami Herald, he lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Related to I Will Hold
Related audiobooks
The Frozen Chosen: The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First Over There: The Attack on Cantigny, America's First Battle of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The War Journal of Major Damon 'Rocky' Gause Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Company of Heroes: A Forgotten Medal of Honor and Bravo Company's War in Vietnam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Can't Get Much Closer Than This: Combat with the 80th "Blue Ridge" Division in World War II Europe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hero of the Pacific: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest U.S. Marine Corps Stories Ever Told: Unforgettable Stories Of Courage, Honor, And Sacrifice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Through The Wheat Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Marines Fight Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Battle of Ia Drang: The History and Legacy of the Vietnam War’s First Major Battle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Devil's Guard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Defence of Duffer's Drift: and The Battle of Booby's Bluffs by Major Single List Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jedburghs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marine!: The Life of Chesty Puller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Commanding the Pacific: Marine Corps Generals in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Landing in Hell: The Pyrrhic Victory of the First Marine Division on Peleliu, 1944 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Forgotten Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Two Flags over Iwo Jima: Solving the Mystery of the U.S. Marine Corps' Proudest Moment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shots Fired in Anger: A Rifleman's Eye View of the Activities on the Island of Guadalcanal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twenty-Two on Peleliu: Four Pacific Campaigns with the Corps: The Memoirs of an Old Breed Marine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Faithful Warriors: A Combat Marine Remembers the Pacific War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scarlet Fields: The Combat Memoir of a World War I Medal of Honor Hero Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Wars & Military For You
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Strategy Masters: The Prince, The Art of War, and The Gallic Wars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Founding Mothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for I Will Hold
4 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Note: this is a review of the audiobook version from Gildan Media. The hard copy may have had useful maps and images (and footnotes) that I am not aware of. I Will Hold is a history book following future Commandant Clifton B. Cates and the 96th Company of the USMC during their campaigns in France during World War 1. It is *NOT* a biography of Cates, even if you wanted to frame that as a "biography of Cates focusing on his time in WW1" (although it's close to that). Similarly, it is *NOT* a history of the 96th Company (although, again, it's close to that). It splits the difference between these two things, which makes it something of a tweener; not enough of either aspect to be great. As a quasi-biography, I learn a lot about what Cates did and who he was, but not a lot enough about what he *thought* and how his experiences in France shaped him for the rest of his career and life. As a quasi-unit history, I don't learn enough about the formation of the unit and its role in the larger war to properly appreciate it as a unit history. With that said, it's still a fine book and a good read (and for the audiobook, very nicely narrated). It feels like it could have been something more, though.