Matterhorn

This isn’t just a war story about the Vietnam conflict. It is a frank, blunt, and firsthand novel about a period of time that our Nation has largely forgotten, involving race issues, antiwar sentiment, and command oversights. Don’t misinterpret my comment. This isn’t an antiwar book, but a book written by a young man, an Ivy League grad who chose to be a Marine officer when very few of his counterparts chose to join him. His story is fact but with fictional names of the characters and, in a few cases, the terrain features. For example, the “Matterhorn” is in fact Hill 881 (North), “Eiger” is Hill 881 (South), and “Skycap” is Hill 861, while the rest of the sites in the book are the actual bases/towns, such as Khe Sanh, The Rockpile, Khe Sanh Combat Base, Dong Ha, and others. Concurrently, the names of the characters are fictional, listing a command organizational chart citing the names/titles from the commanding general down to the platoon level. It’s apparent by these signals that the book is based on the author’s personal experiences, that the fictional names are real people, and that the blunt, often uncomfortable observations in the plot are accurate. Maps and organizational charts are provided.

Those who served in the Corps during that socially unsettling time, and specifically those who fought in the Khe Sanh area, can identify with the social tension, the political turmoil, and the operational environment. You will appreciate, and perhaps understand, why the author took over 30 years to write his story. It’s a tough book.

Marlantes has considerable credibility as a first-time author. He’s intelligent—a Yale graduate and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He’s courageous—a Navy Cross, a Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, and two Purple Hearts—all in a few months. And he relates his story in a blunt, take-no-prisoners style that reflects in detail many of the political, military, and societal issues that prevailed in the late 1960s. Race was a factor during those years, and it is prevalent in his plot. Command relationships are addressed in such a blunt manner it may cause discomfort among some readers who have no experience from that era. All of these realities placed a tremendous burden on the shoulders of the junior officers and NCOs, and it’s from that vantage point that the author recaptured his personal experience. Those realities dictate the flow of the plot.

Above all, and in exact and close detail, the author smoothly blends the political culture, the delicate personal relationships, the flaws in the command structure, and the manner in which he and his Marines enter a fight. They do so with professionalism, courage, and unselfish bravery, while extraneous personal, political, and racial matters go on the bench, and the Marine culture prevails.

Essentially the thrust of the book focuses on the interpersonal relationships between the company grade officers, the SNCOs, and the junior Marines as they cope with very difficult operational situations, some involving command relationships in garrison but most being combat related. The intensity of the combat to take, give up, and then retake key tactical objectives is extremely realistic, as is the immeasurable impact of poor weather on the operational use of helicopters to resupply the troops and evacuate dead and wounded. In this environment close combat primarily falls on the shoulders of the junior officers, the NCOs, and their Marines, while the rest of the chain of command monitors tactical radios and points at maps, helpless to advise or assist except with indirect fire.

Some will say that Matterhorn is intended as an indictment of the Vietnam War and a criticism of the senior leadership in that war. I disagree. In my opinion this book has to be interpreted as one that reflects the war from the perspective of a 22-year-old officer and his teenage Marines and the challenges they had to consistently contend with to complete their mission. It’s a book about leadership at the company level, some decisions by senior officers whose operational viewpoint was still in Korea, the racial and societal complexities that challenged leadership, and the conviction that the backbone of our Corps is the grunt who goes toe to toe with the enemy.

Mark my words, by the time you read this review, this book will be a bestseller on several lists, and many Marines, primarily former and retired, will have read it.

MATTERHORN: A Novel of the Vietnam War.
By Karl Marlantes.
Atlantic Monthly Press/El Leon Literary Arts, New York, 2009
ISBN 9780802119285, 598 pp.
$24.95 (Member $22.45)