What It Is Like to Go to War

We in the US have so many taboos. Combined with uninformed strong opinions, we think we’re talking about sex or drugs or freedom but we’re not: we’re just spouting garbage. Karl Marlantes wants to do away with ignorance about war. He does so with the perspective of a Vietnam combat veteran who, over much time and pain, with much introspection and luck, has emerged a sensei. He teaches us the personal and social costs of war, deeply and more viscerally than I ever imagined possible. And honestly! He stares the taboos in the face, those from right left and center, and crumbles them with gentle candor. Is war necessary? How does a person survive the trauma of killing another? ...how many even recognize that trauma in themselves?

You have your own opinions about war. Perhaps you’re rah-rah bomb-the-bastards. If you’re a friend of mine, you’re more likely a pacifist who deplores war but has never actually given it any serious thought. I’m here to suggest that this book is for both types, and for everyone in between. (Disclosure: I consider myself someone who seeks peace but is personally prepared to commit violence in response to other violence. I came to this mindset many years ago and only after much deliberate thought.) I didn’t have the benefit of this book in my twenties but wish I had.

My one quibble fizzled. Marlantes went to Vietnam from Oxford, where he was on a Rhodes scholarship. Before that, Yale. He is not your average grunt. Of course he has the intelligence and resources to meditate, reflect, and grow. But as I neared the end I felt ashamed of my reaction. He wrote this because he grew, because so very few others had the opportunity to do so. He wrote so that we’ll give them that opportunity. His target audience isn’t the 17-year-old enlistee: it’s policymakers. And you, dear friend and voter, are a policymaker. Might I ask you to read this book? And pass it on?