Vietnam Service – United States Army
“I was on guard duty in Pleiku one night when it was so dark, I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. The only things I could see well were the tracer bullets in the distance from a firefight.
“That magnified the fright and loneliness I felt. Several times during the night, helicopters brought the wounded and the dead to a nearby hospital.
“In the darkness I thought about Larry McLaughlin, my friend from Carolina Pines Baptist Church. His ultimate sacrifice haunted me for years, but especially that night.
“Then you wonder _ it could have been me and you ask why it wasn’t.
“The dawn finally appeared after what seemed a very long time.”