Marching as to War is about attitude—too much of the “right stuff,” if you want to view it that way. Good soldiers always strive to do the right thing at all times. So, what happens when a young, returning Viet Nam veteran gets pitted against a super-smart, spoiled college junior and things go awry?
Reviewed By Jon Michael
Miller for Readers’ Favorite. Rating: 4-Star
To the constant refrain of “The Lion Sleeps
Tonight” (with appropriate variations), Scott Shepard, a wounded Vietnam vet
just back from the war, tells his own story of his adjustment to life back
home. He’s in college now—Iowa State—and finds himself involved with a teen
prodigy who is enrolled at the age of sixteen. The plot of Marching As To War
by Scharlie Martin follows the stages of this topsy turvy love affair
especially as it affects Shep’s ongoing responses to his service. Diane is as
much a challenge, it seems, as his life and death actions overseas. Further
crises, some quite comic, arise from members of Diane’s family. But the most
pressing—and often moving—crises take place in Shep’s mind as he grapples with
the vagaries of romance and especially of his combat experience, of which he
has flashbacks that grow in intensity as his love affair develops. The ending
is a blend of surprise and whimsy.
Shep is intelligent, perceptive caring, and funny. He has a cynical wit about
life and shows a flair for spontaneous, self-cutting similes and metaphors—as
though he doesn’t deserve to be happy or even to live at all. My concern and
respect for him kept me turning the pages because I needed to find out if Shep
resolves his difficulties in both spheres. Scharlie Martin’s characterization
of this searching, brilliant, suffering, and witty man made me care. Martin’s
skill at keeping things moving made Marching As To War a breeze and the final
conclusion was both disturbing and profound.