Vietnam veteran and storyteller ready for appearance at The War Memorial
He’s a decorated veteran, an acclaimed author, and soon, he’ll be at The War Memorial.
On April 9, best-selling author and Vietnam War veteran Karl Marlantes appears at The War Memorial for an evening that includes insightful discussion about his life, military service, and literary career.
“I’m a good storyteller with all kinds of stories,” Marlantes said in speaking with the nonprofit organization in March. “I’m someone who was there at the time and has some perspective. I’ve thought about Vietnam pretty deeply and am settled with it.”
Highlights of An Evening with Karl Marlantes: Echoes of the Vietnam War include a VIP reception, a moderated conversation with audience question and answer period, and a photo opportunity. Victoria Stewart, assistant director of the Wayne State University Humanities Center, will serve as moderator. Marlantes is set to share his insights on war, service, and storytelling, including his 2009 novel “Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War.” This book is set in Vietnam in 1969 and draws from his experiences.
“It’s going to be a moderated question and answer, so it will be open to the audience,” he said. “I’ll stay there as long as there are questions. Someone’s going to have to cut it off.”
A Yale graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, earning the Navy Cross, Bronze Star, and other honors. His celebrated novel “Matterhorn” was hailed by The New York Times as “one of the most profound and devastating novels ever to come out of Vietnam—or any war.” His other works include “Deep River,” exploring Finnish immigrants in the Pacific Northwest, and his latest release, “Cold Victory,” which examines Finland's political climate after World War II.
Diving into his military service, it was in the summer of 1967 after he earned a degree from Oxford University that Marlantes was faced with what he calls a horrible choice, either “hide behind the privilege of having a Rhodes Scholarship” or fight in the Vietnam War. He chose the latter.
In the early months of 1968, Marlantes was assigned to 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, part of the infantry.
As a first lieutenant, Marlantes was in Vietnam from October 1968 to October 1969, primarily stationed in Northern I Corps where the Demilitarized Zone met the border of Laos.
“We’d be out in the bush maybe 30-40 days at a time and guys would so much jungle rot and rashes that we would come back to Vandegrift Combat Base and stay in tents to get ourselves back in order,” he said.
The 1st Battalion, 4th Marines in Vietnam were assigned to a tactical area of responsibility, interjecting supply lines coming down from the north and uncover any supply depots, hospitals, and ammunition dumps.
“We were in the jungle all the time looking to interrupt the NVAs (North Vietnamese Army) activities,” he said. “We would be dropped in and as soon as we got artillery in, we would use that as a cover to go out and do our job.”
One story that appears in “Matterhorn” is Marlantes’ description of the battles of Hill 484 and Hill 400 which occurred in March 1969 in Vietnam’s Quảng Trị Province.
“We were dropped in to rescue a recon team, and the team ran into a company that was skedaddling toward Mutter’s Ridge,” he said. “It was decided to take on this company. One of the faults I give to the war is there was no military objective. It was just body count.”
In the battle, a whole regiment of NVA, which he estimates to have been around 60 soldiers strong, surrounded Marlantes’ unit.
“We would end up with assaults on fortified positions like that,” he said. “If we found an NVA position, we would take it out, or we would be in the jungle trying to figure out where they were hiding ammunition.”
It was during the first week of March 1969 that Marlantes was involved in combat situations that resulted in him receiving the Navy Cross, the Navy’s second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force.
“We were asked to assault an NVA position. We could see them on Muter’s Ridge and there were two hills next to each other, 400 and 484. The number of meters is how you designated hills,” Marlantes explained.
The first assault came on Hill 400, which resulted in about eight Americans being killed in action. The following day was the attack on Hill 484.
“We lost a lot more then,” Marlantes said. “We were getting hit with mortars all around us. When I saw that, I knew it wasn’t a company we were up against, it was a regiment. We had to pull off 484 and move to 400. I can remember picking up a handful of dirt and starting to cry because I’d never see anything as beautiful as a handful of dirt again. I knew we would die. There was no getting out.”
After defending themselves for about three nights, the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines were just about out of ammunition.
“I thought I don’t want to die here,” he said. “The clouds cleared that evening and we got tons of ammunition and water. The next day, we were ordered to take Hill 484.”
With two platoons alongside, Marlantes led the assault on Hill 484.
“That’s where they said I got the medal,” he said. “I was wounded there. I sometimes burst into tears when I think of how young Marines are. The average age in my platoon was 18 years and 10 months.”
On the side of Hill 484, exposed to enemy fire, Marlantes was faced with a line of bunkers setup with machine guns.
“Everybody hit the ground and the whole assault was stopped,” he said.
It was at that time when Marlantes remembered being in a class led by a major who said that a day will come when he would earn his pay.
“And he said ‘you’ll know when that day is because you’ll have to step up and lead,’” he shared. “I remember laying on the ground and thinking this is the day.”
Marlantes gathered troops – a machine gunner on one bunker and a M79 man on another bunker - to try and suppress the fire.
“I stood up and ran up the hill all by myself,” he said. “I thought I’d be dead, but knew it had to be done.”
Spotting a movement off to his right, Marlantes rolled over to shoot.
“It was an 18-year-old squad leader and the entire two platoons were coming up the hill behind me,” he said. “I couldn’t tell what that felt like. We took the hill, and held it again that night. I was wounded, and ended up on a hospital ship.”
When he received the Navy Cross, Marlantes knew he could never throw it away, something that members of the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War were doing.
Speaking about his journey as an author, Marlantes said that he’s always wanted to write.
“I had written in college and won a big prize for writing short stories,” he said. “When I came back from the war, I thought I would write the great American novel of the Vietnam War. It was the summer after I got out and I spit out 1,700 pages. I thought novel writing was easy. It was actually more like journaling.”
Marlantes learned the craft of writing novels and how to develop characters, going from first to third person style. Discussing the process of writing “Matterhorn,” he said it wasn’t until 35 years after he finished writing it that the fictional book was published.
“I got over 100 hundred rejections,” he said. “The thought was we lost the war and nobody is interested in reading about it.”
Reflecting on his time in Vietnam and what he hopes folks will take away from the event at The War Memorial, Marlantes said “We were really young and out there without much support. When we came home, we were vilified. I hope Americans take it to heart. There’s nothing worse than seeing your friends killed and coming back and having people throw things at you. The worst part of Vietnam was how we were treated.”
Premium tickets to the event are $55, with general admission on sale for $30, and student tickets for $15. Discounts are available for veteran and active military. Premium tickets include the VIP reception, a designated seating section nearest the stage, first access to the photo opportunity, and a special discount on copies of “Matterhorn” and “What It Is Like to Go to War.” General admission and student tickets include open seating at the at the main event and a photo opportunity with Marlantes. To purchase tickets, click here. To learn more about The War Memorial’s Vietnam War Commemoration Celebration, click here.