Taggert of the Marines

David Ekardt is a consummate writer/story-teller of tales from the American wilderness and early Revolutionary days. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ekardt grew up in the Ohio River Valley, where some of the greatest legends of the revolutionary-era American frontier walked and fought for freedom. One of his works profiles one of those legends, Sam Brady. In 'Brady's Rangers', Ekardt relates the daring deeds of those dauntless Rangers who daily put their lives on the line to protect the settlers from British-backed Indian raiders. He has also written an article for the Navy History magazine, 'U.S.S. Fort Henry, Terror of the Gulf', about the most successful Union blockade ship off the coast of Florida in the Civil War and her Medal of Honor recipient, Marine Sgt. Christopher Nugent. Also, his article 'A Matter of Honor, the Taking of the Pensacola Naval Yard', was featured in the Florida Frontier Gazette, history magazine. His article, "Fleet Marines of the Civil War" appeared in the Civil War Historian Magazine. He has a few articles on the Navy Marine Living History Association website including 'The Great Navy Salt Raids', which documents the numerous raids by the Navy and Marines on the critical salt production of the South during the Civil War mostly in Florida. "The U.S. Marines in the Second Creek and Second Seminole Wars" is now available and is unique as being the only book on the subject. It has been entered in the Marine Research Archives in Quantico Virginia, the U.S. Naval Academy Research library, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum research library and the Tampa Bay History Center research library. His latest book, "A Marine's Letters from Nicaragua" is about an incredible Marine and his experiences in Nicaragua in 1927. Ekardt attended Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, where he studied writing. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Ekardt served with 1st Radio Battalion, an intelligence unit in Vietnam. David has managed to reunite many members of his old unit and has sponsored reunions for several years. He pursues his writing career after retiring from the State of Florida. He also participates in Civil War reenactments portraying a Marine of that time and portrays a Marine during the Second Seminole War. He gives talks on the history of the Marines in Florida and the Civil War and Second Seminole War at the events, special historical events and schools.