Sgt Grit’s Marine Forum

For my birthday last month, among the gifts were “A Rumor of War” by Phil Caputo and “Matterhorn” by Karl Marlante. Loved them both. The books were similar only in that they were both written by boot Marine butter-bars about their first tour and the coming of age combat brings. Caputo’s “A Rumor of War” takes place around Da Nang from March of ‘65 through about May of ‘66 so the time and place are different and of course their experiences are different. Even though Caputo was a war protester and a war correspondent after his enlistment, he treats the Marine Corps with the combination of respect and insiders criticism that only someone who’s “been there and done that” can.
“A Rumor of War” was very good, “Matterhorn” was excellent. Since my tour was ‘65-‘66, I couldn’t relate to the racial strife of the period and since I wasn’t a Combat Marine, the fear and pain of humping, fire fights and all out battles is something guessed at but never experienced, up close and personal. I’ve also read “The Magnificent Bastards” and “Guns Up”. Each time I finish one of these books, I thank God my tour wasn’t a combat tour.
For me, “Matterhorn” didn’t pull any punches. The book dealt honestly with the f___ ups, a$$holes, chicken $hit and bull $hit so common in the Corps but did it with respect. It was refreshing to see situations from a Company and Battalion perspective instead of just the bitchin’ and complaining of uninformed enlisted Marines in the mud. The book reminded me of why I got out but didn’t make me feel any sorrow for having served. I guess what I’m trying to say is I never got the feeling Marlante was being whiny or bitter. As they said so many times in the book, “well there it is”. It was the Marine Corps. There it was.
 The person that gave those two books to me got the recommendations from our local newspaper. In addition to “A Rumor of War”, the fella who wrote the review of “Matterhorn” recommended “Paco’s Story.”

[quote user=“jerryd6818”]For me, “Matterhorn” didn’t pull any punches. The book dealt honestly with the f___ ups, a$$holes, chicken $hit and bull $hit so common in the Corps but did it with respect. It was refreshing to see situations from a Company and Battalion perspective instead of just the bitchin’ and complaining of uninformed enlisted Marines in the mud. The book reminded me of why I got out but didn’t make me feel any sorrow for having served. I guess what I’m trying to say is I never got the feeling Marlante was being whiny or bitter. As they said so many times in the book, “well there it is”. It was the Marine Corps. There it was.

Just finished it this morning . . . as Jerry said : It ‘Didn’t’ pull an punches . . . as for the racial stuff, I ‘Didn’t’ see much of it, ironicly, until I got ‘Back’ . . . in the unit I was discharged from, it WAS, a bit of a problem.  I also ‘DIDN’T like the ending . . . I could understand the LT’s problem, it ‘Was’ complcated issue . . . still, by doing ‘Nothing’, I felt that he did do his ‘Suposed’ friend, a ‘Disservice’ . . . Hey, it was only a novel, an a VERY good one.     [H]

made me feel empathy for the characters, and memories of the good bad and ugly we have endured in our Corps.Mostly the good that we brothers are to one another.