Anton Olmstead Myrer was a United States Marine Corps veteran and a best-selling author of American war novels that accurately and sensitively depict the lives of United States military personnel while in combat and in peace time. His 1968 novel, Once An Eagle, written at the peak of the Vietnam War, is required reading for all Marines and is frequently used in leadership training at West Point. The novel, considered a classic of military literature and a guide to honorable conduct in the profession of arms, has been compared favorably to Leo Tolstoy's magnum opus War and Peace. Eight years after publication, Once an Eagle was made into a television mini-series starring Sam Elliott. Glenn Ford played a supporting character.

Once an Eagle is a 1968 war novel by American author Anton Myrer. The novel takes place between the 1910s and 1960s, and covers many of the United States' military involvements during that period. Once an Eagle tells the story of Sam Damon, career Army officer, from his initial enlistment as a private to his rise to general officer rank. Damon is an honorable soldier who rises in rank by success in field command, and cares for the welfare of his troops. His career is contrasted with that of another soldier, Courtney Massengale, who has no honor, no concern for his troops, and rises in rank through staff positions by cunning and political connections. As the two rise in the ranks together, they frequently clash in their views.