Marshall’s life brings together a constellation of choices and struggles in the pursuit of true belonging. This process started when he was a mere teen. At only 17 years old, he had earned a highly coveted scholarship to Harvard. Rather than settling in to take the easy path, he rejected it, opening the door for a life of alternatives. So began his odyssey, starting in the womb-like silence of a Swiss boarding school. From there, he found his way through the war-torn cities of Vietnam and back to an America that had transformed considerably in the time he had served abroad.
Born into a family who could not tame their own devils, Marshall’s formative years were steeped in violence. His mother, Sally, struggled with mental illness to such an extent that she was involuntarily committed in 1954. Throughout this period, she was administered electroshock therapy and heavy medication—a disruption that would traumatize their entire family structure. Marshall’s father had very little physical presence in his son’s life as he grew up. As events unfolded, he became a wellspring of both aid and challenge in Marshall’s life.
At 12 years old, that was enough for Marshall to reveal his troublemaking ways. He fearlessly challenged a 15-year-old with a peripheral vision issue that had overpowered him. Of course, this early show of rebellion was a harbinger for the problematic decisions he’d make as he grew older. Marshall’s summer at Howe Military School was a short one. His nonconformist disposition proved an impediment to the enterprise. He was then packed off to Switzerland for boarding school. The separation from his family was still deeply felt.
In 1962, at the tender age of 18, Marshall joined the Marines and shipped off to Vietnam. His radicalizing experiences during this time must have made him the worldling he later became. These experiences further amplified his sense of dislocation upon returning to the United States in 1966. The America he returned to was a place of upheaval and in many ways, of sharp contrast to the one he had departed.
Despite his rising success, Marshall’s relationship with his family was still strained and filled with resentment and disapproval. At 29 years old, he unexpectedly appeared on his parents’ doorstep in Houston, Texas. It had been twenty torturous years since he’d seen his father. The reunion crackled with awkwardness. Questions loomed over Marshall’s life decisions, particularly his connections to Charles Manson and his commune during the late-‘60s.
Marshall, having lived as an itinerant homeless hippie, hitchhiking from California to Texas, had a chip on his shoulder. He was a man looking for fortune and for meaning, personifying the plight of so many youths in that tumultuous decade. Though his father’s absence during those formative years would leave scars so deep that healing was impossible. Instead, their relationship turned more sour and full of desire.
Marshall’s story is eerily relevant today, where toxic forces conspiring online actively seek to harm our most vulnerable youth. Yet, his experiences offer a hopeful antidote to neglect’s darker path — the search for identity in a fractured world.
“This is my life. This is how I will live it.” – Marshall
Marshall died at 80 on September 14, 1995. Through challenges both personal and political, his life journey invites deeper reflection on the complexities of familial relationships and the lasting impacts of trauma—social, psychosocial, and physical. As society grapples with contemporary issues surrounding mental health, familial bonds, and societal expectations, Marshall’s narrative remains relevant—a reminder that every choice can lead down unexpected paths.