A riveting first-hand account of the fierce battle for Fallujah and the Marines who fought there—a story of brotherhood and sacrifice in a platoon of heroes.

The platoon included four sets of best friends. Each of the four would lose a best friend forever.

Five months after being deployed to Iraq, Lima Company’s 1st Platoon found itself in Fallujah, embroiled in some of the most intense house-to-house, hand-to-hand combat since World War II. Civilians were used as human shields or as bait to lure soldiers into buildings rigged with explosives; suicide bombers approached from every corner hoping to die and take Americans with them; radical insurgents, high on adrenaline, fought to the death. The Marines of the 1st Platoon (part of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment) were among the first to fight in Fallujah, and they bore the brunt of this epic battle. When it was over, the platoon had suffered thirty-five casualties, including four dead.

This is their story.

Award-winning author and historian Patrick O’Donnell stood shoulder-to-shoulder with this modern band of brothers as they marched and fought through the streets of Fallujah, and he stayed with them as the casualties mounted. O’Donnell captures not only the sights, sounds, and smells of the gritty street combat, but also the human drama of young men in a close-knit platoon fighting for their lives—and the lives of their buddies. We Were One chronicles the 1st Platoon’s story, from its formation at Camp Pendleton in California to its near destruction in the smoldering ruins of Fallujah.

We Were One is an unforgettable portrait of the new “Greatest Generation.”

"Here in these gripping pages is the Iraq War's fiercest battle, seen from the adrenaline-charged vantage of a few Marine buddies, and feelingly narrated by an intrepid war historian who risked his own life to capture every raw minute."—Hampton Sides, best-selling author of GHOST SOLDIERS

A "detailed, blow-by-blow description of the brutal street fighting...these Marines fought with great courage and the details of their battle make gripping reading...."—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"The descriptions of urban warfare are graphic and grisly.... Clearly reflects valor and courage."—KIRKUS REVIEWS

WE WERE ONE is a dramatic tale of courage, hardship and the extraordinarily difficult challenges faced by a gallant Marine unit in one of the world's most deadly places. Patrick O'Donnell brilliantly and compassionately recounts the story of our American sons called upon to fight, bleed, die, and survive in a hostile land.—Carlo D'Este, author of PATTON: A GENIUS FOR WAR

"As an embedded journalist in an Infantry Platoon, O'Donnell paints an authentic picture of our Nation's most precious assets—The Marine Riflemen—engaged in one of their fiercest fights. WE WERE ONE is a gritty, boots-on-the-ground account that enables readers to witness the overwhelming will and courage of Marines as they move against the enemy."—J.N. Mattis, Lt. General, U.S. Marine Corps; Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force

“With unprecedented initiative Patrick K. O'Donnell volunteered to live and fight alongside American soldiers and Marines in Iraq in order to construct a real-time, eyewitness history of the fighting. ....the author's most important accomplishment among many is to put a human face on the troops who are fighting against some of the fiercest enemies America has ever encountered. ... The bonding experience of combat can be a tired cliché for readers, but O'Donnell captures it without cheapening it. ... O'Donnell paints a picture of intense bravery. ... These Marines knowingly walked in the shoes of their grandfathers in the Pacific war, and their fathers in Vietnam. They proudly referred to the Battle of Hue City and the conquest of Iwo Jima as part of the long heritage that they would join when they won the Battle of Fallujah. ... Read O'Donnell's excellent book and you will know that they are indeed, as were each preceding generation, ‘The Greatest.’”—THE NEW YORK POST

“O’Donnell depicts in graphic detail the sights and smells of urban combat and the bravery of young leathernecks."—MILITARY HERITAGE

“A graphic account…portraying in the starkest terms the infantryman’s war.”—ROANOKE TIMES

“First-rate reading…admirably depicts the brutal realities of street-to-street, house-to-house fighting…WE WERE ONE, more than the others, captures the sensory details and emotional drama of good men killing and dying for one another and their country.”—MARINE CORPS TIMES, AIR FORCE TIMES, NAVY TIMES, and ARMY TIMES

“O’Donnell takes the reader into the private world of a Marine infantry platoon…His descriptions of the Marines clearing houses, fighting the heavily doped-up insurgents, as well as the physical, mental and emotional toll it takes on the Marines are among the most descriptive and heart-breaking accounts to come back from the Iraqi front…For those who want to begin to understand the deadly nature of fighting in an urban environment, the determination of the enemy, as well as the inherent problems in 4th Generation Warfare—as well to begin to understand the determination and dedication to their fellow Marines of those young men who are doing the fighting—then this is the book for you.”—LEATHERNECK

“Cover[s] the war that the mainstream media neglects: the story of countless acts of courage and sacrifice among the young soldiers and Marines who tend to remain anonymous unless they make a mistake.”—Military.com

“Pat O’Donnell was with us on the ground in Fallujah—house to house. His story is historically accurate and describes the greatest personal and professional test of our lives. WE WERE ONE is destined to be a classic of urban close combat, and honors the memory of all who made the ultimate sacrifice for their brother Marines. I am deeply thankful that Pat kept his oath to Lima Company.”—Lt. Col Willy Buhl, CO Task Force 3/1, Operation AL FAJR

Patrick K. O’Donnell is the author of three previous books: Beyond Valor, winner of the prestigious William E. Colby Award for Outstanding Military History; Into the Rising Sun; and Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs. He is also the founder of the Drop Zone (www.thedropzone.org), an award-winning online oral history Web site. He lives in Virginia.