In this profile for The Wall Street Journal, journalist Emily Bobrow talks with Elliot Ackerman about his path from Marine Corps infantry officer, who served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, to bestselling novelist, and how both callings depend on what he calls "inhabiting the minds of others."

From the Marine Corps to the Page

Ackerman describes joining Marine ROTC as an unlikely candidate at Tufts University and leading a platoon through the second Battle of Fallujah, and explains how the instincts required in combat, understanding what an adversary is thinking, translate directly into fiction writing.

Halcyon and the Stories We Tell

The conversation turns to Ackerman's novel Halcyon, in which a World War II hero returns from the dead into a 21st-century America he no longer recognizes, and to Ackerman's broader belief that societies can't be understood apart from the stories they tell about themselves.

Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Unfinished Business

Ackerman reflects on the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Afghan allies still seeking safety in the U.S., and why he sees American support for Ukraine as part of a larger, unresolved argument about the country's place in the world.

Read the Full Profile

This profile originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal.

Read “Elliot Ackerman Went From U.S. Marine to Bestselling Novelist” at The Wall Street Journal →