This interview was originally published on ALL MARINE RADIO in August of 2016 — due to technical errors it has not been available to listeners… enjoy. Mac
Karl Marlantes needs no introduction to most Marines… but in case you don’t know him, here is a brief rundown of who he is from
Wikipedia:
Karl Arthur Marlantes (born December 24, 1944) is an American author and
Vietnam War veteran. He has written three books:
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (2010),
What it is Like to go to War (2011), and
Deep River (2019).
Early life
Marlantes grew up in
Seaside, Oregon, a small, coastal logging town.
[3][4] He played football and was
student body president at
Seaside High School, from which he graduated in 1963.
[5] His father was the school principal.
[6]
He won a
National Merit Scholarship and attended
Yale University, where he was a member of
Jonathan Edwards College and
Beta Theta Pi,
[7] and played as
wing forward in the rugby team.
[8] During his time at Yale, Marlantes trained in the Marine Corps
Platoon Leaders Class.
[9] He was awarded a
Rhodes Scholarship at
University College, Oxford.
[10] He returned to Oxford after his military service and earned a
master’s degree.
Vietnam War
Marlantes left after one semester at Oxford to join active duty in the
U.S. Marine Corps as an
infantry officer. He served during the
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