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They were the chosen ones—and the ones to be the best. Never before had the United States given so select a group of fighting men such punishing preparation. Now they were heading for their ultimate test of skill and nerve and sacrifice, in a war unlike any they or their country had ever fought before...in a land that most of America still knew nothing about...Vietnam.
Griffin began his career not as a writer but as a military man like the type he would eventually make millions writing about. After growing up in both New York City and the Philadelphia suburb of Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Griffin took the step in 1946 that -- little did he know at the time -- would set the course for his literary life: He enlisted in the United States Army. After finishing basic training, he went through counterintelligence instruction at Fort Holabird, New Jersey, and was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany under Major General I. D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary.
In 1951, while attending Philips University, in Marburg an der Lahn, in Germany, Griffin was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He again served under General White, both at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and in Korea, where he earned the Expert Combat Infantry Badge and served as a combat correspondent and as acting X Corps (Group) information officer. Upon his release from active duty in 1953, Griffin was appointed chief of the Publications Division of the Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at the Army Aviation Center, Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Although he first wrote under various pen names, Griffin didn't begin writing his bestselling string of military novels until he was well into his 50s. His first Brotherhood of War novel, The Lieutenants, was published in 1982 and touched off Griffin's well-known reputation for writing with historical accuracy and fascinating detail. Publishers Weekly noted that this first novel "captures the rhythms of WW II army life... in an absorbing account of life among military men." Griffin would go on to pen additional books in the Brotherhood of War sequence and to launch other bestselling series -- including The Corps, Badge of Honor, Honor Bound, and Men at War, among others.
While Griffin's public persona is a bit of an enigma -- he's not one to make the talk show rounds -- it's clear that he both knows and appreciates his readers, especially his fellow military men. On his official web site, Griffin reflects, "Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me how much he enjoys reading my books."
He was vested in the Order of St. George by the U.S. Armor Association.
Griffin addressed the Corps of Cadets for the United States Military Academy.
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Overview
They were the chosen ones—and the ones to be the best. Never before had the United States given so select a group of fighting men such punishing preparation. Now they were heading for their ultimate test of skill and nerve and sacrifice, in a war unlike any they or their country had ever fought before...in a land that most of America still knew nothing about...Vietnam.