Bing West's novel, The Last Platoon, is the story of duty in savage, unwinnable combat. West served in Marine infantry in Vietnam. A graduate of Georgetown and Princeton Universities, he has served as both Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense and as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security. Based on his own combat and dozens of embeds over the decades, he has written a dozen books about the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the co-author of General Jim Mattis's memoir, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, that is on the Commandant's Required Reading List. He has twice been awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service medal, as well as numerous awards for his reporting on combat.