Former Osoyoos resident George Jmaeff, right, graduated from U.S. Marine Corps boot camp in 1968. He graduated top man in his platoon, explained his sister Helen Smyth, and in this photograph was receiving his certificate. Photo submitted - Click on picture for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-April 7, 2010
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
“If the word gets out that one of the characters is inspired by George, I hope a lot of his friends and family find out,” said Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War.
“He was one fabulous man. Osoyoos should burst with pride to have raised him.”
Marlantes, who lives in Washington state, is referring to former Osoyoos resident George Jmaeff, who inspired one of the characters in his book.
“Some guys become icons. He was this archetype,” said Marlantes about Jmaeff. “He was this big, handsome, Errol Flynn type of character.”
Marlantes’ book is a fictional novel.
But it is based on his real-life experiences fighting in Vietnam.
The novel is about a company of Marines who build, abandon, and retake the Matterhorn outpost – a remote hilltop in Vietnam, explains a review in the New York Times.
One of the characters is named “Vancouver” and this is the character that was inspired by Jmaeff.
“He and I ended up in the same company,” said Marlantes, who was the First Lieutenant of Company C, 1st Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment.
Marlantes vividly remembers March 1, 1969 – the day Cpl. George Jmaeff died in a battle to seize Hill 484, at the age of 23.
“He’d been hit by mortars on an assault,” he said, explaining Jmaeff was being treated for those injuries when he found out his platoon was in trouble.
He ripped out his IV tubes and charged the hill.
“He was horribly wounded,” Marlantes said. “And he died saving the lives of his guys.”
Jmaeff, who was born in Oliver on Aug. 14, 1945, posthumously received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism – the highest award the Marine Corps can give.
Helen Smyth, Jmaeff’s sister, now lives in Coquitlam.
“It matters not if you are a proponent of the Vietnam war or in the alternative an opponent of that war… the kids that went there, whether by choice or call of duty, went through absolute hell, and we should never forget,” she said in an email.
Smyth said a few years ago she happened upon a Marine who served with her brother. She began receiving emails from him and other Marines who either served with Jmaeff or knew of him, from all over the United States.
It was in one of those emails that she was told Marlantes was writing a book and Jmaeff was the inspiration for a character in his book.
“During the Vietnam war, the Marines who served with George called him ‘Canada,’” Smyth explained. “To this day there are three Marines who wear a silver bracelet with George’s name on it to remember him by.
“Some of those Marines, to this day still don’t (can’t) accept his death and those who knew him, loved him like their own brother.”
Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells remembers Jmaeff well.
“He grew up here, was a good friend and buddy,” he said. “I knew him from when he was about 12, through high school.”
Wells remembers Jmaeff playing basketball, playing in a band called Panix 66 and taking road trips.
“He was a great guy,” he said, adding Jmaeff stood about six-foot-four. “Was really quite a character.”
Wells said is looking forward to reading a copy of the book and already has one on order.
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