Laughing and Crying as a U.S. Marine | Adam Walker

What happens when the funniest military memories also carry the deepest meaning?

I’m joined by my friend and fellow Marine, retired Master Gunnery Sergeant Adam Walker, to discuss his self-published book, Laughing and Crying as a U.S. Marine: Authentic Short Stories.

Adam shares his five-year writing plan, why he chose self-publishing, and how he made military stories accessible to Marines and their families. We also discuss building the right creative team and his hilarious boot camp “moment of truth.”

Chapters:

0:00 – Welcome and Adam Walker’s Story
2:25 – Getting the Book and Finding Adam
3:20 – Building a Five-Year Writing Plan
7:00 – Self-Publishing Without Losing Control
10:32 – Boot Camp Truth and the Candy Bar
12:50 – Writing for Marines and Families
16:10 – Cover Design and the Creative Team
18:39 – Trust Your Gut and Wrap-Up

Purchase Laughing and Crying as a U.S. Marine: Authentic Short Stories:
Amazon.com: Laughing and Crying as a U.S. Marine: Authentic Short Stories: 9798218924157: Walker, Adam: Books

Watch now, share your favorite military memory in the comments, and subscribe to Unarmored Talk for more authentic conversations.

Transcript

Welcome And Adam Walker’s Story

Mario P. Fields 0:05

Welcome to Unarmored Talk, where we remove the armor, have real conversations, and strengthen how we think and respond live. Today I am uh joined not just by a guest, but a friend, uh someone who I've served with before in the Marines, and uh we're still friends to this day. His name is Adam Walker, retired Master Gunnery Sergeant of 25 years. He was a Marine infantryman. Uh, he did uh multiple deployments. Uh I've deployed with him, but also to include, I did not deploy with him in Iraq, did three tours in Iraq. Um, and um, and and and he's got some amazing, amazing recognitions. Um, he was a Marine Corps Gazette, Leatherneck magazine. He's been there, the war horse. I mean, this guy's been all over when it comes to publications, and he's received an honorable mention in 2022 in the Leatherneck writing contest, and he did. I mean, this guy, again, I know him personally. I know I'm gonna give him a chance to talk, but I'm not done. But the reason for this episode, and by the way, about three years ago, he was on the show, so this is his second appearance. But the reason why I invited um Adam back on the show, because he's a recent author, self-published um author, if you will, his book is titled Laughing and Crying as a U.S. Marine Authentic Short Stories. And I'm telling you guys, I'm gonna make sure y'all can see this. I am telling you, this is one of the best. Let me get it up to the camera. This is one of the best military books that Mario Pierre Fields, that's me, have read in the last 100 million years. Adam, my man, welcome to the show.

Adam Walker 1:44

Hey, thanks, Mario. I really appreciate it. And uh it's yeah, it's good to see you again, uh, even virtually, and I'm sure we'll see each other in a few days as we gather with our our brothers, the Greybeards. But I appreciate the chance to come on and uh chat with you again and talk about the book.

Mario P. Fields 1:57

Yeah, and just so everyone knows, I got his book, and in a couple of days, he's gonna personally sign it um with Crans. I'm just joking. He's gonna personally sign it, sign it for me. So it, you know, I just told listeners and viewers a little bit about you. Let's just jump right into it. I mean, this everyone, if you haven't uh uh if you haven't got a chance to get a copy of his book, you got to get one. If you served in the military and the Marines, definitely get a copy. Before we get

Getting The Book And Finding Adam

Mario P. Fields 2:25

into a couple of things about the book, um, how can people get a copy?

Adam Walker 2:30

Um, really anywhere books are sold. So if you just look for laughing and crying as a U.S. Marine, then you can find it. It's sold on Amazon, it's sold on Barnes and Noble. Uh, if you go on my social media, there's a link to buy it directly from the distributor. So you can find it almost anywhere.

Mario P. Fields 2:44

Yeah, and how can people find you as well? I know there's, I mean, you write a lot, man. You you produce some really quality stuff. So how can they find you on social media?

Adam Walker 2:52

Uh just look for the the handle, take it on the left foot.

Mario P. Fields 2:57

You guys heard of Take It on the Left Foot, not the right foot. You might you might have to do some push-ups, left foot. Uh step off that left foot. Let's get it to it. I had a chance to read it. It's amazing. I was laughing so hard. My wife is like, what the hell is going on, Mario? And and and there's some silent moments, uh, you know, and it's going right to the title, laughing and crying. It's very relevant, very accurate.

Building A Five-Year Writing Plan

Mario P. Fields 3:20

What about the journey? I mean, you produced this amazing book, but it wasn't done overnight.

Adam Walker 3:26

No, it wasn't done overnight. Matter of fact, it was a five-year project. So I initially, uh, the idea was planted years ago in my early 20s as a young NCO. I stumbled on a series of books by a Marine named Gene Duncan, and he had served from 1950 to 1979. And he wrote a uh four books of sea stories. And the first two were called Greenside Out and Brownside Out. And they were all short stories, and almost all of them were humorous, but every once in a while there would be some ones that were just a little bit, they would tug at your heartstrings, you know, him losing a young Marine in Vietnam or something like that. So that idea really captivated me. Uh, I liked his wit and humor and his method of storytelling. And so the seed was planted many years ago. And I thought maybe one day I'll do something like that. And then when I retired, uh, I started writing in different places, uh, some of the publications that you mentioned earlier. And then I just decided, you know what? I want to write a book of short stories. I want to have 50 short stories, and I want to put it out the year that I turned 50. And that just kind of seemed like a nice goal. So it was a five-year project when I actually began it. I gave myself four years to write the stories and one year to figure out how to publish. Um, and to kind of, because I knew nothing about that kind of stuff. And my method is um, I kept a spreadsheet. I'd always think of funny stories or you know, poignant stories I wanted to write. So I always had a spreadsheet. And sometimes I would just write, I would, something would jog my memory and I would jot it down. And then when I get back to my computer, I would add it to the spreadsheet. So this thing just grew and grew. So I always had a list of things I could write about. And then what I started doing over that four-year period is every three months I went camping by myself. I would set up a real comfortable campsite. I used to go backpacking a lot, but as I got older, my joints started hurting. I was like, man, I could probably be out in the woods a little bit more comfortable. So I got this uh big old tent, a cot, a field desk, and I would go to uh North Carolina State Park and set up a campsite, and I would spend four days and three nights. It would take me the first 24 hours just to get into the headspace and kind of unwind and unplug. And then I would go hiking during the day, and I don't wear headphones or nothing like that. I'm just in the woods with my thoughts and clear my head. And then I just start, I would look at my list. And while I'm hiking for a couple hours, kind of the juices start flowing. Then I'd get back to camp and I'd crank out like two or three stories. And um, over a camping trip, I would write anywhere between four and eight stories over those weekends. And so I did that for four years, and I went summer, spring, winter, fall. It was about four times a year. And uh it really worked for me. There were a couple of times, though, that my confidence would just plummet, you know. Being a human being, I was pretty confident when I sat on the project, you know, I set this timeline. But then every once in a while, I would look at how many stories I had left and I was like, I'm not gonna make it. And it's my own timeline. So there really was no pressure except what I put on myself. But other times I'd read a story and I would think, man, the quality's not there, you know, and I would just kind of lose confidence. But then I was like, no, Adam, stick to the plan and do it. And uh some people had advised me to write like a memoir, but all the GWAT veterans, not all most of the kind of GWAT veterans who are writing books are writing memoirs or they're writing leadership books. And I and I didn't want to do either one of those mediums. And and I got nothing, you know, against people that do that. They they've actually influenced me quite a bit seeing their examples and hearing their stories. Uh, because as much as I'm a writer, I'm more a reader. And when I read other people's stories, that just helps stimulate me um with my own method of storytelling. But I said, I listen to the people's advice, but I said, no, I feel pretty confident. I gotta do it my way.

Self-Publishing Without Losing Control

Adam Walker 7:00

And so I worked through it. And then I had to figure out how to how to publish. Because when you're uh quote unquote nobody, um, it's not like you know, uh publishers are looking for me, you know. So so how do you get published? And I I did some research all along this time that I was trying to figure things out. So I said, well, I could pay, I could pay money and hire an agent, but then I'm paying somebody to find a publisher who then I have to negotiate with. And I just I didn't like that. And this book has never been about making a profit or making money. So I wasn't gonna spend a whole lot of money for a you know an agent to then find a publisher. Then there's another medium called um hybrid publishing. And that's kind of where you pay a publisher and but then you have to give up a creative control, right? So I'd pay them a couple thousand dollars, but then they would decide the medium, the format. And then I would still have to do a lot of the marketing myself. And I had two offers for hybrid bills. Um, and I I kind of it was kind of enticing to me because then you get like the editing and you know, some of the kind of technical things that I don't know anything about. But I couldn't give up any creative control. I knew what I want the book to look like, the physical design of it. Uh, I didn't want to do an ebook or paperback and hardback, I only wanted one medium, and so I was pretty stubborn about this. So I said, well, let me explore how to self-publish. And then I was very satisfied with it. Um, but it did add in some extra steps. I had to find a proofreader, I had to find an editor, I had to find someone to do artwork. And so I had to basically kind of um kind of outsource, you know, a couple of these little things to because when you write your own stuff, and then you've seen it for years and years, you can't see typos. Um, you know, every writer has their own kind of quirks, like I use too many commas, or I'm long-winded, or I write the way I tell stories, and sometimes that's not readable. So uh, but through just networking, I found all the people I needed to help me, and um it, you know, it finally all came together. And so I was I was really, really pleased with it.

Mario P. Fields 9:04

That that is cool, and you guys heard it. First of all, Adam said he, you know, you waited until he's 50. He looks like he's about 30. I mean, I you know, I'm gonna talk crap to him because him and I are friends, but I was a little bloomer. But you know, but again, to be intentional, man, to go, all right, I'm gonna give myself five years, four years to kind of get my vision, my thoughts out on paper. Then at one year, how am I gonna publish this? And so for those uh folks out there that you you have an experience or there's something uh you know, vision that you you want to transfer to you know a book of that sort, I hope you learn from this um this episode that it's okay to take time. And it's okay, like Adam said, to put self-imposed frameworks and timelines on yourself. You know, before I get into some of the humor of it, and and we discuss a couple of things, uh, I do want to say uh, you know, the for the families um that lost um the loved ones in the book, you know, for you, Adam, I'm thankful to God, even from our first episode that you did survive um, you know, your injuries. I know you still battle with those uh daily, um, but my heart and prayers goes out to just not Adam and everyone else impacted by the loss and the continued uh separation, if you will, from those Marines uh that that's in this book that we lost, okay? I appreciate that. Thank you, man. Yeah, yeah. But now to a funny one.

Boot Camp Truth And Candy Bar

Mario P. Fields 10:32

Uh and I'm just gonna give y'all a little bit. Man, that boot camp one, I mean, there's a lot of short stories, but everyone you gotta you gotta get a copy of this book. If you don't shame on you, don't give me the details, but the one where you said, Oh, I gotta confess. I gotta confess. I was 13.

Adam Walker 10:55

Yeah, so and to kind of give some context to the listeners, um, the stories aren't exactly chronological, but they kind of are. And I basically grouped them into three sections. The first section is called growing, and it's kind of being a young Marine that starts in boot camp or being a young PFC in a Lance Corporal, and then there's a section called Groan, and I'm that's like when I'm an NCO and a staff NCO, and most of the the stories from combat are there. And then the last section is called Gray, and that's kind of when I was senior enlisted in some of the encounters I had. So there's a little bit of a progression, but the the story you mentioned is um, you know, Marines are familiar with the moment of truth, and that's like one of your first days or so in boot camp when they they scare you to try to convince you to confess anything that you maybe withheld that you didn't tell your recruiter about. And uh usually it's, you know, maybe someone had some legal involvement or they used drugs or they try to conceal a medical issue. And um, you know, I turned 18 and I was in boot camp less than 30 days later. I'd only graduated high school two days before boot camp. And so anyway, at the moment of truth, I sprang up to confess. And then uh they took me in the back and they're like, what is it, boy? And I stole a candy bar when I was 13 years old. And uh anyway, it just pours out of me. And I tell them, like, I stole it, and uh, they told me it would be expunged for my record when I turned 18. I turned 18 last month, and then uh the story is humorous because you know, in light of what could have been confessed, or you know, it wasn't that big a deal. You know, obviously stealing was wrong as a 13-year-old kid, but uh I thought they were gonna send me to the brig. I thought they were gonna kick me out of the Marine Corps, and this was like my one shot to make something out of myself. So it was a very emotional event at the time. Uh, but then later, as I, you know, stayed in the Marine Corps and became a recruiter, I look back and I can see how kind of absurd, you know, the situation was.

Mario P. Fields 12:37

Now you now you're looking back at you know, 50, you're going, okay, I mean, I was 18 and I was scared as heck, but um you know, and I love how you you designed a book in the three frameworks, you know, like you had just mentioned, and it's

Writing For Marines And Families

Mario P. Fields 12:50

easy to follow. The other thing I love about um you know, laughing and crying as a US Marine is it's applicable to every any human. And and and I'm glad you didn't put lessons learned because you know, when you everyone, when you read this book, and I you don't have to be military to read it. Um you can be a doctor, lawyer, I don't care. All the folks who listen to an armored talk podcast over the past six years, pick it up, get the copy. You can learn. And the beauty of it is you can read your short stories, and then you can self-reflect. You gotta self-reflect, though, everyone. And you can self-reflect in your own life and experience, and you can learn um from that. Was that in your initial thought process to be able to achieve that?

Adam Walker 13:31

I I did want to make it to accessible to I wanted to be kind of uh my goal was for this to kind of be a cult classic within the Marine Corps, but not just for Marines, right? I wanted to be accessible to family members or to young people who were thinking about joining the Marines. So I made two conscious decisions. Uh, one was to minimize the use of acronyms, to try to be very plain language, and the other part was to uh not write it with a bunch of profanity. And in fact, if I can read just a little excerpt, this is in a note from the author. It says finally, Marines often use the salty language of pirates and prisoners. Profanity is so common, the absence of its use would feel like a foreign tongue. Nevertheless, I have attempted to convey these stories without employing the fighting man's prevalent vulgarity. Perhaps in such a manner, these stories can be read not only by generations of Marines, but also by their families. And I wanted it to be accessible to other people. And um I've been sharing with folks that my goals for the book are threefold. One, uh, it's built into the title. I want them to laugh and I want them to cry. And when I say cry, to shed a tear as we remember the Marines we lost with the difficult times that our Marines went through. But the third was I wanted the reader, uh, the Marine veteran reader, to have um memories of their own stories stirred up that they will then begin to tell their families. And I'm hearing reports of this already. They say, Yeah, I'm reading the story and they're laughing and they're saying, Hey dad, or hey, sweetheart, what's so funny? And they say, Oh man, and they relate the story. But then they could take the next step and they say, and you know, when I was in, and they start to tell their own stories because Marines freely tell stories with one another, but sometimes we don't tell those same stories to our family and you know, the people that are in our lives now. And I and I think that's really important.

Mario P. Fields 15:18

That is that is so so true. And now, you know, I'm a grandpa now, and I, you know, my world is my granddaughter, and and and I I know one day she's gonna sit on Papa's lap. And I tell you, I'm not lying, I will have this with me. And um, and then she's gonna be like, so Papa, can you tell me some story? Let's read this first and then let's let's talk about that. And I love how your approach to put it in plain language. By the way, listeners and viewers, you know, I served with Adam Walker, you know, master gunner sergeant at the time, and the way he's the way he writes in this book is the way he is. I mean, I I he wasn't he wasn't running around fourth Marines or you know, third Marine Division in Okinawa, just cussing everybody out and using profanity every second of the day. So it's not like he changed his character and changed who he is um in this book. That's why I love the word authentic because this is you, and I love your your photo, by the way.

Cover Design And Creative Team

Mario P. Fields 16:10

Oh, thank you.

Adam Walker 16:11

Oh, can I tell you about can I tell you about the design? So uh the design on the cover, so it was there was a photograph of me as a sergeant in 1998 in a float book from Okinawa when my battalion commander was a guy by the name of Joe Dunford, by the way. And so that it was just a random sketch. And this was before we had digital cameras. So it was literally like someone called my name and I turned, and there's kind of that that photo. So when I started doing this, I found a Marine Corps combat artist by the name of Mike Reynolds. And so on social media, he goes by the handle 40 Mike Mike art. And when I saw his content, I knew that number one, he's a very talented individual, but also like he had a passion for the Marine Corps and for storytelling. So I said, man, this is the guy I want. And two years ago, when I uh partnered with Leatherneck magazine and started writing this column called Lessons from the Smoke Pit, I reached out to Mike Reynolds and asked him to do a sketch for the smoke pit, and he did it in 24 hours. We had never even we had never even met before, and he it was perfect. So then uh the following year, as the book was coming to development, I said, Hey Mike, I want to, I want a design. And so he did this sketch for me. I wanted it based off the photograph. So, and underneath the the dust jacket is a is a tan version of the book, and that's where the sketch came from. But I wanted a dust jacket because I I mentioned those books before brown side out, green side out. So with this dust jacket, I got a little bit of brown side and greenside. And this green, uh, the border on it, if you look closely, it mirrors my field desk, the desk I'm sitting at right now, an old school, like 1970s version of a field desk. And that's where this green comes from. And that this design was done by my daughter, and so uh very collaborative effort. And then one of my other daughter's friends is uh is a young lady that lives in the local area who has a passion for videography and photography. So she did the the author photo, and then she put together the promotional video, which is out on YouTube. So if you title the or if you enter the name of the book into YouTube, you'll see a 90-second promotional video. And so my daughter's friend uh put that video together, and it was uh Alicia, Alicia Creates. And so it was really good to put the artistic uh touch on this to add to the storytelling and to bring it to life.

Mario P. Fields 18:28

Well, and I'll make sure uh when I publish your episode, uh the link will come up in a banner so that way people, if they want to click on it at this moment, uh, they can. Adam,

Trust Your Gut And Wrap-Up

Mario P. Fields 18:39

I would love to have you on the show for forever like I do all the other guests, but you know the deal, man. Um you I could just like all the other guests, I mean you know, you and I could talk for about uh another six days over a cup of coffee and conversations. Um, if you had to give one piece of advice to any veteran or any professional or any person out there that is considering taking their own unique authentic experiences and trans archiving them in a book, what would you give them?

Adam Walker 19:12

Uh I would say uh be yourself and trust your gut because a lot of people are gonna give you advice about how they think it should be done. Um but if you're a creative person, you probably have a stubborn streak and you got to do it your way. That's the way you'll only be the only way that you'll be happy with it and you'll be at peace with it. Um so yeah, follow your gut and uh do it your way.

Mario P. Fields 19:33

Everybody again, laughing and crying as a U.S. Marine. You gotta see him retired, Master Governor Sergeant Adam Walker. He's he's got 7,000 years in the Marines. He's been retired for 500 years. He's one of the best I've ever served with. And man, I can't wait to see you in a couple of days, man. Thanks, brother. Looking forward to seeing you too. Yes, sir. Well, until next time, you guys know the deal. But before I let you go, before I let you go, I do want to, I do want to reference. Oh yeah, I'm not gonna let you get off this easy. It was August. I just want to bring it up, everyone. August of 2023 was the first time I had Adam Walker on the show. And if you guys want to check out that episode, I'm looking over here at uh at that episode August of 2023, where where uh he was on the show. It's called Devastating Combat Injuries. Didn't stop this marine from leading. You want to check that episode out as well? It it's actually part of the crime. I mean, it was a very uh touching episode. But again, check that one out on YouTube or the audio platform. Are you okay with me, Adam? Uh, give me a little shout out on that one.

Adam Walker 20:43

100%. I appreciate you.

Mario P. Fields 20:44

Yeah, man. Well, everyone, again, thank you for your continued support. Uh almost going on six years, but I uh want you guys to stay unarmored, stay authentic, stay mentally fit, and God bless you all. Thanks, Adam. All right.