Loon: A Marine Story will be published May 19.
Following are excerpts from the Random House Press kit.
A perceptive memoir of the Vietnam war that is unique for the author’s background: McLean joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Phillips Academy, where George W. Bush was a schoolmate. Making excellent use of more than a hundred letters he wrote home from the war zone from November 1967 to July 1968, McLean reconstructs his time in the Marines with a sharp eye for detail and a very readable—at times almost poetic—prose.
—Publishers Weekly
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Dear Editor/Producer:
In the opening chapters of his compulsively readable coming-of age memoir LOON (Presidio Press Hardcover; May 19, 2009), Jack McLean writes, “In the early spring of 1966, Vietnam was still a country and not yet a war. I was eighteen and without a plan. But now I had an option.” Today, we’re all so media-saturated and internet savvy that it’s difficult to imagine stumbling into a war almost by accident, with little idea of the political and moral dilemmas involved. Yet that’s exactly what happened to Jack.
Kids like Jack didn’t go into the military. The unprecedented wealth and privilege experienced by the baby boomer generation had already started to alienate them from the idea of service that their parents had subscribed to, even before the horrors of the Vietnam War became fully known. A school mate of George W. Bush at the prestigious Phillips Academy, Jack grew up in an upper middle class New Jersey suburb. But when he failed to gain acceptance to college, he made a decision that shocked his family. Jack’s subsequent experiences at Parris Island, in Vietnam, and particularly at the battle of Landing Zone Loon changed the shape of his life in ways he never could have foreseen.
In an interview, Jack can discuss:
- Why the battle at Landing Zone Loon—which took place on June 6, 1968—has been in the news recently, and why it has made such a lasting impression
- What recruit training at Parris Island is like—and how it transformed him into a Marine
- What he knew about Vietnam before he entered the military—and what he found when he got there
- His experiences as the first Vietnam veteran to attend Harvard
- His advice for young people considering a career in the miltary today, with the prospect of serving in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.
Compelling, intensely personal and beautifully written, LOON offers a Marine story of courage and sacrifice as well as a unique window into a pivotal moment in American culture. Let’s talk soon about Jack McLean and LOON.
Sincerely
Publicity Contact: Lisa Barnes
“The battle at Loon erupts suddenly and sucks you in. Like Jack McLean, you ask: what am I doing here? The answer is: you joined the Marines and now it’s time to fight for your life. A gripping story of violence and dedication to survival.”
—Bing West, author of The Strongest Tribe
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LOON: A Marine Story (A Presidio Press Hardcover; May 19, 2009) is a lyrical memoir of a prep school boy who creates his own path to higher learning: enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps, fighting in Vietnam, and then studying at Harvard.
Raised in suburban New Jersey, Mack McLean attended the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, with George W. Bush. After graduation, eager for change, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. At the time, Vietnam was a country and not a war.
In LOON, McLean takes readers from Andover’s privileged campus, to the infamous Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, to the battle at Landing Zone Loon in the rugged hills along Vietnam’s Laotian border. During that period, Jack transformed from a sheltered boy into a Marine, and ultimately into one of a handful of survivors of a horrific three-day assault during some of the heaviest fighting in the Vietnam War.
Richly textured and full of action-packed battle scenes, LOON is a piercingly honest and beautifully written story of an infantry Marine and his comrades as they face the challenges of boot camp, stateside service and, ultimately, war. It neither glorifies nor mystifies. It simply tells a compelling story about courage, honor, sacrifice—one that will resonate not only with those who have military experience, but also with anyone intrigued by this pivotal moment in American history.
About the Author
JACK MCLEAN was raised in Summit, New Jersey, where he lived until admittance to Phillips Academy. Upon graduation, McLean enlisted in the Marine Corps. In the fall of 1968, McLean returned to Massachusetts to enter Harvard University. He has had a thirty-five-year career as a marketing executive in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. The father of three grown daughters, McLean currently lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
A Talk With Jack McLean
Author of Loon
Your memoir takes its title from the battle at Landing Zone Loon, which took place on June 6, 1968. That battle has been in the news recently. Why?
During the battle, a helicopter crashed while evacuating part of our battalion. Several on board survived, but most were killed in the ensuing fireball. Last year, due in part to recent breakthroughs in technology and DNA identification techniques, the remains of the final four missing victims were recovered from the crash site. One was buried in Los Angeles last fall. The remains of the other three will be buried together at Arlington National Cemetery this May.
It has been many years since that day. What made you decide to tell your story now?
The decision evolved over several years. I began by transcribing my letters home and filling in some blanks as a legacy for my three daughters. Over time, as I began to reunite with my Vietnam brothers, their interest and encouragement led me to create a piece that would honor the lives of those who served.
You graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. Most of your school mates, including George W. Bush, avoided military service that could result in their going to Vietnam. What made you decide to join the Marines? How did your family and teachers react?
I decided to enlist in the spring term of my senior year. It was 1966. There was a mandatory draft. I was not immediately interested in attending college; and the Marine Corps, unlike the other services, had a two-year program. Absent other plans, it seemed like an obvious choice. I felt that I would simply get the obligation out of the way and continue with my life.
My parents were stunned. All but two or three very supportive teachers (all veterans) were stupefied.
For those of us who haven’t (and probably never will) experience recruit training at Parris Island, tell us what you encountered there. How were you transformed from a high school kid into a Marine? What does it take to survive, and to succeed?
The Marine Corps is very efficient at training recruits at Parris Island. They’ve been doing it successfully, with few modifications, for a long time. They focus exclusively on group discipline, Marine Corps education, marksmanship, and physical training. There is no margin for error in any of these disciplines.
Even though I knew what to expect, and in particular that there was a focused purpose to the harassment, I found it rigorous beyond all imagination. That being said, graduation was the proudest moment of my life. The meticulousness of the training contributed immeasurably to our unit’s effectiveness in Vietnam and certainly saved my life time and time again.
How much did you know about Vietnam before you joined the Marines? When you finally got there, was it what you had anticipated?
I knew that Vietnam was just beginning to escalate when I enlisted, but felt that my chances of going would be slim. Were I to go, I naively thought that it would be in supply or some rear support capacity.
By the time I arrived a year later (after a year in supply), it was as a grunt in an infantry company at the very peak of the conflict. Although it was what I was trained for, the experience proved to be well beyond any expectation I had formed ahead of time.
Did you expect to get into Harvard after you left for Vietnam? What were you doing when you found out?
I had always planned to attend college after the Marines. Before I left for Vietnam, I had several interviews and decided to apply to Boston University. In response to the urging of several Andover teachers, I applied to Harvard as well. I had no expectation of being accepted.
The acceptance letter arrived one morning in April 1968. I was in my fighting hole at Con Thien cleaning my weapon, having just returned from an all day patrol in the jungle.
What happened at the battle of Landing Zone Loon, and how did your commander, Captain Bill Negron, prove instrumental to your survival?
Captain Bill Negron was a seasoned Marine veteran who had come up through the enlisted ranks. He took over our slack company three weeks before Loon and supported us well with training, equipment, and an incalculable moral boost. Loon was a mistake. We were sent into an area on which there was poor intelligence. We were isolated and overwhelmed by a vastly superior force. Bill Negron got many of us out alive.
What was your homecoming like? Did you adjust well to Harvard life after your hiatus?
Homecoming was surreal. A matter of weeks separated my return from Vietnam and freshman registration in the tempestuous fall of 1968. I switched my entire focus to academics and pushed all that was Vietnam as far as I could from my mind.
What advice would you give to high school graduates who may be considering military service today?
Freedom is a choice that doesn’t come without strings attached. My brother Don served in the Peace Corps after college. My cousin Mike was a freedom rider in Mississippi. It is important that we all serve in some capacity during our lifetimes. The military is but one of them.
Thank you for visiting.
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
This book emerged from more than one hundred letters home that I wrote during my two years in the United States Marine Corps from 1966 to 1968. My mother saved the letters and often encouraged me to "do something with them". Thirty-five years later, my second wife, Karen, discovered the letters, as deeply buried among my possessions as my Vietnam War experience was buried inside of me. Karen echoed my mother's earlier encouragement.
