Loyalty Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 7, Marlantes describes how he examined where his loyalties were as a young Marine officer in 1967. He was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine reserve, attending Oxford University in England on a Rhodes scholarship. While he disagreed with the politics behind the war in Vietnam, he had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Marine Corps and to the country and he thought constantly of his fellow Marines and friends who were fighting and dying. He was also in love with a young woman in England, however, and wanted to stay with her.

Marlantes had a friend at Oxford, another American Rhodes scholar named John. He and John talked extensively about whether they should return to the U.S. where Marlantes would go into active service and John would likely be drafted. Another option would be to avoid service by...