[Vision2020] Grunt's-Eye View

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Columns section of the December 5, 2005 edition of Army Times
(www.armytimes.com) with a special thanks to Anthony Swofford, writer of
this column and author of the book "Jarhead".

I strongly encourage V2020 subscribers to read "Jarhead".  It is well worth
the experience.  I am currently reading my copy and will gladly mail it to
anybody interested.

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Grunt's-eye view

By Anthony Swofford

I joined the Marine Corps in 1988 at the age of 18. I put my feet on the
yellow footprints for many reasons, chief among them a family history of
military service. The Corps offered me a chance to travel the world and test
myself; because I joined as a rifleman, I would truly learn to be one of the
"First to Fight."

The Fleet Marine Force called to me like some kids are drawn to New York
City or Paris. The rest of the reasons are in "Jarhead," the book I wrote
about the Corps and my time in it. 

I am often asked why I wrote the book. I have as many answers as I've had
questioners. First, I wrote the book because I am a writer, one who lived
through one of the essential experiences of manhood: warfare. 

I am not a former Marine who wrote a book, but a writer who had in front of
him his experience as a Marine, something very few people on the face of the
Earth have had. I had these great subjects - warfare and the Marine Corps -
but I tried to avoid writing about them for many years. Finally, I could no
longer avoid them. I had to take the shot, if you will. 

No great books had been written about the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and I
wanted to write one. Certainly, there had been a few histories of the war
written, but not a grunt's-eye view.

I pursued my formal education after leaving the Corps, receiving my
bachelor's degree in 1999 and my master's degree in 2001. The day after
receiving my master's, I wrote the first few pages of "Jarhead." 

I wanted to write an honest and unflinching book about a young man falling
in love with the Marine Corps - joining, fighting and coming out the other
side altered in ways he never could have imagined. I wanted to understand
the 18-year-old Tony Swofford who put his feet on the yellow footprints and
who would never be the same.

I wrote "Jarhead" in a year, one of the more grueling years of my life. As a
Marine, I always had the support of my leaders and peers. The officers I
served with were, I believe, some of the finest the Corps had to offer, as
well as the enlisted men with whom I shared gear, fire watch, foot patrol
and combat operations. 

But a writer has no platoon commander, no senior noncommissioned officer, no
subordinate men on his team to assist with preparation for the patrol order.
The patrol order on a book is simple: Write the best book you can and make
every sentence count.

I spent a year alone in a room, forming sentences and making meaning out of
my past. At the end, I had a book that honestly and artfully rendered my
time in the Corps. I knew not everyone would agree with this rendering, but
I also had no doubt that those who were honest with themselves would
recognize the institution and the men. 

War is not a clean business, and training men and women for war is just as
messy. Those who insist otherwise are dishonest. 

We wear our dress blues as a point of pride, and the cleanliness and beauty
of the uniform is in direct conflict with the real work we do as Marines:
putting rounds downrange, living in the dirt, kicking down doors. 

We also attempt to rebuild, but first and most often, we must tear the place
down to find the bad guys and kill them.

As a corporal and chief scout with the Surveillance and Target Acquisition
Platoon of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, I discovered retired Gen. Alfred
Gray's "Warfighting." I knew the book was intended for officers, but I read
whatever I could about theories of war and doctrine. 

While writing "Jarhead," I often had Gray's book near at hand. The general
wrote that uncertainty, disorder, violence and danger are part of the nature
of war. I felt that these elements should also be part of writing about war.
And I agreed with the general's statement: "War is among the greatest
horrors known to mankind; it should never be romanticized." 

One of the greatest disservices a country can do to its war dead is honor
them without recognizing the tragic nature of war. With my book, I also
wanted to honor those living, those who'd served with me in the Gulf War and
those who'd served in prior wars, as well as those who would eventually
fight in the wars of the future. "Jarhead" is both an apologia and a love
letter.

The film adaptation of my book does the same work. The screenplay was
written by William Broyles Jr., who served in the Marine infantry as a
platoon commander in Vietnam. He knew the jarheads in my book; he admired
them and their youth and training and the mad, unnatural world they'd
inhabited - that of combat. 

No other screenwriter could have done my book, the men and the Marine Corps
justice. Broyles' relationship with the Corps is older than mine, and he
fought in a more complicated war than I did, but there is something
immutable about the young man who chooses to serve his country as a Marine.
Broyles knew this and transferred this knowledge from my book to his
screenplay.

When I watch "Jarhead," I do so on many levels. I'm the real guy named
Swofford being portrayed by an actor. I lived the life he is acting, and I
wrote the book he is working from. I'm a former Marine, and as the opening
and closing voice-overs state, I used a rifle. A rifle is still a presence
in my life - not just any weapon, but one issued from a Marine armory for
combat. 

The responsibilities of writing a book are many, just as the
responsibilities of a Marine are many. I served honorably and with valor,
and I wrote my book honorably and with valor. I want Marines to read and
watch "Jarhead" and recognize this, and I want the uninitiated to read and
watch it and understand the men who serve and how and why they do so. 

Our country asks no greater deed of its citizens than to fight; in return,
the country has a responsibility to understand the people who fight and the
life of the combatant. My story offers this. 

The movie is a sober nod of understanding, a Semper Fi across the ages.

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Take care, Moscow.

Pro patria,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 
 
--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.