“Outstanding memoir of service as a Marine rifleman and subsequent radicalization… There’s not a false note in this book, full of both pride and sorrow. It’s just the retort to those who wonder why Vietnam vets can’t just forget about the past and move on… Smart and self-aware, Musgrave delivers one of the best recent books on America’s experience in Vietnam.”
—Kirkus, starred
“Sobering… [Musgrave] poignantly captures the rigors of jungle warfare… Heartfelt.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Riveting, gritty, piercing – this work by John Musgrave illuminates the journey of many a veteran, from generation to generation. John guides the reader on the well-trodden path that begins with the early enthusiasm of seeking the life of a warrior, to the fulfilling of that which was sought after, and then to the aftermath of having found it. John describes in high magnification what every step on the path looks like, and feels like. Thankfully, for any reader, but especially for combat veterans, John shows us how to retreat from the oft-viewed abyss of guilt and despair to confront the visible and the invisible wounds, and to experience post-traumatic growth.A must-read for veterans, and for anyone who loves one or is trying to love one.”
—Vincent K. Brooks, a fellow combat veteran, General (US Army, Retired), and Vice Chairman of the Gary Sinise Foundation
“The Education of Corporal John Musgrave is a passionate, fascinating, and deeply humane memoir of both war and of the hard work of citizenship and healing in war’s aftermath. A superb addition to our understanding of the Vietnam War, and of its lessons for the present.”
—Phil Klay, author of Redeployment
“This memoir will do for an entire generation of Vietnam veterans. I was reminded of every emotion I experienced before I went to the war, while I was there, and when I came home to a hostile America. I was moved and glad for being reminded. Veterans of later wars will find echoes of their own wars, albeit experienced with different technology, but with the same humanity. All readers of this fine piece of writing will benefit from its insights and heart.”
—Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn
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