The Journey of a Warrior: The Twenty-Ninth Commandant of the US Marine Corps (1987-1991): General Alfred Mason Gray

The Journey of a Warrior tells the inspiring story of a truly unique marine who became a brilliant combat leader and achieved international prominence. General Alfred Mason Gray, US Marine Corps, was a loner by nature, and many of his peers considered him to be a maverick. At the same time, having established himself as a military intellectual of remarkable insight, he became an icon to service personnel of all ranks, as well as many prominent defense officials, politicians, and scholars. General Gray was a critical force behind the changes needed to prepare marines for the new millennium. He is now recognized as one of the finest commandants in fifty years. The Journey of a Warrior brings to the fore the journey of a most unusual individual: a warrior, a leader, a thinker, and a patriot. It is not written as a biography but rather as a retrospective of a unique marine whose impact on his institution was both untraditional and perhaps underappreciated. The Marine Corps is better for his unselfish and dedicated journey to faithfully serve his country. Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons, USMC Retired, Marine Corps Historian Emeritus, appears to have best captured General Gray's character when he wrote, "General Al Gray is imaginative, iconoclastic, articulate, charismatic, and compassionate. His Marines love him"