Jack Lewis

Lieutenant Colonel Jack Lewis or C. Jack Lewis USMC retired (November 13, 1924 – May 24, 2009), was a former Marine, screenwriter, and author of 12 books and an estimated 6,000 magazine articles and short stories. He was the co-founder and editor of Gun World magazine and continued contributing articles to that publication until the time of his death. Lewis wrote under the name C. Jack Lewis due to four other writers with the name of Jack Lewis.

Biography Lewis was born in Iowa in 1924. He sold his first short story, "The Cherokee Kid's Last Stand", at the age of 14 for $5.00, which Lewis thought was better money than a field hand's wage, which was then a dollar a day. Buoyed by his success, Lewis submitted an unsolicited Andy Hardy screenplay that was rejected by MGM. He did not sell any more stories until he was 22.

Lewis recalled being lost as a child in a Department Store and being found by two Marines in dress blues. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at 18 years of age in World War II and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1945.

After the war, Lewis attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism. After obtaining the degree, Lewis reentered the Marine Corps through the Marine Corps Reserve. He worked on a Marine training film, then was assigned as a technical advisor to the film Sands of Iwo Jima, where Lewis said he advised the cast how to lace up their leggings.

Screenwriting Lewis began his screenwriting career in 1950 with several Westerns, including the Lash LaRue feature King of the Bullwhip for Ron Ormond.

With the start of the Korean War, Lewis returned to active duty for six years in the Corps. He served as a combat correspondent and photographer, where he earned the Bronze Star during his second Korean tour, filming Marine aircraft bombing enemy positions. During the Korean War, Lewis had his first experience with the M1 carbine. He fired eight rounds at an enemy soldier before a Marine with a Thompson submachine gun felled the soldier. Lewis discovered that six of his rounds had hit his target with no effect; Lewis began to carry a Thompson.

Lewis submitted over two dozen magazine articles to Marine Corps Headquarters about the exploits of the Marines in Korea. Headquarters sent them back, saying that they sounded too much like Marine propaganda; Lewis then sent them to his civilian literary agent who had them published, with a payment for Lewis of $200 each. Lewis sent copies of the published articles to the Headquarters person who had rejected them.

After Korea, Captain Lewis served as a company commander in the 4th Marines at Camp Pendleton, then was transferred to Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay as a Public Information Officer. During his Hawaiian tour, Lewis was assigned as one of the technical advisors to John Ford's Mister Roberts. When no one could find a stunt performer to drive a motorcycle off a pier, Lewis did the job himself. Lewis later appeared in Ford's film Sergeant Rutledge. Lewis's continued contact with the Marine Corps led him to: write the screenplay to Marshall Thompson's film A Yank in Viet-Nam that was filmed on location in South Vietnam in 1963. have his first novel, Tell it to the Marines, published in 1966.

Quote "I've been told that I'm not smart enough to realize I can't tilt windmills and win, but tenacity has a life and a way all its own, I've found. If one approach to a problem doesn't work, figure out how to go around it"