Vietnam Service – United States Marine Corps
“You learn quickly that you always stay focused in Vietnam if you wanted to survive. One stray, wandering thought, and it could be enough to get you killed.”
“And many times, you got killed even if you didn’t do anything wrong. My best friend in ‘Nam was just hunkered down beside me when a mortar shell fell on him. He just turned to mist. Just that quick. I knew, and everyone around us knew, it could have been me.”
“I have a lot of physical problems now. My doctors tell me that many of them were brought on by my time in Vietnam. But if I had to do it all over again, I would. I always dreamed of being a U.S. Marine. I kept a model of the Iwo Jima Memorial on my bedstand. I was a U.S. Marine. I am still a U.S. Marine. Perhaps I was born to be a U.S. Marine.”