Kentucky Marine

Winner of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's 2015 Colonel Joseph Alexander Award

Logan Feland is a virtually unknown Kentuckian whose story needs to be told. Kentucky Marine offers a wealth of research from a variety of sources to piece together the life of an important individual.

~William Ellis, author of A History of Education in Kentucky

In this well-written biography, Bettez not only gets across Feland's achievements but also points out his ambition and competitiveness in dealing with the internal politics of the corps.

~Edward M. Coffman, author of The Regulars: The American Army, 1898–1941

Major General Logan Feland is not a household name; Dr Bettez's work is a significant step in rectifying that problem. Bettez has given new life to General Feland and his many accomplishments, most of which are still felt in today's modern Marine Corps. Bettez's research and writing pull together the scattered pieces of Feland's life and career at a crucial time in the Corps' history; the 100th anniversary of the First World War and downsizing of the Corps after a major war; these events still resonate today and Feland's efforts are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago. Kentucky Marine is a must read for any Marine Corps historian or enthusiast.

~Annette Amerman, Senior Reference Historian, Marine Corps History Division

In Kentucky Marine, David Bettez opens a window on a crucial period in U.S. Marine Corps history – the first three decades of the 20th century. Holding an architecture degree from MIT, Logan Feland was better educated than most Marine officers of his day, but he proved he possessed a warrior's heart at Belleau Wood and other bloody battlefields of World War I. Bettez also shows how Feland oversaw the development of the small wars techniques in Nicaragua that became the Marines' trademark during the interwar period and also encouraged the budding amphibious warfare doctrine that permitted his corps to come into its own during World War II.

~Gregory J. W. Urwin, Professor of History, Temple University

Kentucky Marine follows the changes in the Marine Corps from its role as colonial infantry to amphibious assault force. David Bettez uses the career of Maj. Gen. Logan Feland to chart this institutional change, which took Feland and the Marines to the battlefields of France. This book takes its objective.

~Allan R. Millett, author of Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps

Kentucky Marine is an excellent study of the leadership, tenacity and gumption of one of the unsung heroes of the United States Marine Corps. Dr. Bettez weaves an extremely interesting tale of the General Logan Leland's life based on historical facts and anecdotes that bring the General's adventures to life. The is a 'must read' for anyone that studies the storied history of the USMC and the men that made the Corps one of the most respected fighting forces on the globe.

~Major General Dennis C. Moran, USA (Ret.).

At long last, this biography of Logan Feland has emerged to acknowledge one of the greatest Marines of all time. Often sitting at the right hand of John A. Lejeune, Feland disappeared with passage of years primarily due to the astonishing lack of material available beyond the obvious headlines. Bettez mined an incredible number of obscure sources to bring Feland to life, leaving no stone unturned to craft this portrait of an elusive Marine Corps icon.

~J. Michael Miller, Marine Corps History Division

Bettez has provided students of the Marine Corps and U.S. interwar military history with a magnificent, well-written, and well-researched book.

~Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Young US Marines will find this an interesting history of both their service and one of their early twentieth century combat leaders.

~West Virginia History

With this book, David J. Bettez has given us a well-deserved biography of an important figure in Marine Corps history.

~Roads to the Great War