1960s 1970s action action-packed adrenaline adventure adversity american american-dream american-history american-literature american-soldiers american-war american-war-literature army asian-american atmospheric authentic authenticity author:-karl-marlantes battalion battle battle-of-matterhorn battle-scenes battlefields battles black-humor bloodshed bodyguards bountyhunters bravery brotherhood brothers-in-arms brutality bureaucracy camaraderie character-development character-driven combat coming-of-age comradeship conflict confrontation consequences consequences-of-war courage cowboys cultural-clash danger death demoniacpossession drama duty emotional emotions endurance epic espionage exploitation fear fiction fictionalized fictionalized-war friendship friendships gripping grit gritty guerrilla-warfare hardship harrowing harsh-conditions helicopter helicopter-pilots helicopters hemingway heroes heroic-journey heroism heroism. hierarchy historical historical-fiction honor humanity ideology immersive impersonal-bureaucracy infantry infantrymen injustice insightful intense intense. intensity jungle jungle-warfare karl-marlantes leadership loneliness loss love loyalty manhood marine-corps marines matterhorn military military-fiction military-history military-operations military-strategy moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas morality morality-in-war necessity. novel outlaws patriotism personal-growth personal-narrative platoon political politics power power-dynamics power-struggles psychological psychological-effects psychological-impact psychological-impact. psychological-trauma psychological-warfare ptsd pulitzer-prize-finalist quests(expeditions) racial-tension racism realism realistic realistic-fiction realistic. redemption reflection resilience resistance roland(fictitiouscharacter:king) sacrifice sacrifices saigon shapeshifting soldier soldiers soldiers-experience southeast-asia squad strategy struggle survival suspense suspenseful tension tragedy trauma u.s.-marines united-states united-states-marine-corps unity us-army us-marine-corps us-marines veterans vietnam vietnam-veterans vietnam-war vietnam-war-fiction vietnam-war-literature vietnamese violence war war-atrocities war-epic war-experience war-fiction war-literature war-novel war-novels war-story war-strategies war-strategy war-tactics war-trauma war-veterans war-violence war-zone warfare warriors witnesses