Vietnam was the first time that Americans of different races had to depend on each other. In the Second World War, they were segregated; it was in Vietnam that American integration happened in the military - and it wasn't easy.
Karl MarlantesIt was all absurd, without reason or meaning. People who didn't know each other were going to kill each other over a hill none of them cared about
Karl MarlantesI don't want any romantics to go into the military. I'm not a pacifist. I think we need a military, and the better one we have, the better off we are. I don't want kids going in there thinking that it's John Wayne on Iwo Jima. That's not healthy.
Karl MarlantesWar is society's dirty work, usually done by kids cleaning up failures perpetrated by adults.
Karl MarlantesIn the military I could exercise the power of being automatically respected because of the medals on my chest, not because I had done anything right at the moment to earn that respect. This is pretty nice. It's also a psychological trap that can stop one's growth and allow one to get away with just plain bad behavior.
Karl Marlantes