Great illustration of how few of us are left with the spirit to live on, despite what we have been trough. Unfortunately as is seen in the picture few were able to put there lives back together if they were lucky enough to return. I consider myself blessed to be on this planet after endurring the parrels of war.

Kind of a scary group ? We were hot and miserable, and wanted to be home. I took this photo early in the morning, so the guys didn't look that great. But we were thankful for getting each morning on our way to being a short-timer, that's under 90 day. Then you would go into the panic mode. Once you had made it as far as only 90 days left. It meant you really had a chance of getting back home.



This thing works! Part of a large drain pipe became a shelter on this artilery outpost. It fared better than our ponchos, and make-shift tents.





This is one of my best friends when I was in Nam. He was lucky enough to get a job on a combat base near Da Nang, South Vietnam. We were out in the jeep he was assign to look at this mine crater left from the night before. It had blown up a truck, fortunately the passengers made it out OK.







This was my first squad leader. His 2nd tour of Nam, he had decided he wanted to make one more tour. Suicide, why anyone would want to come back to this place I'll never know. He did teach a few things though. Nam was not a conventional war. The rules of war didn't apply. The enemy would constantly snipe at you and run and hide. Few face-offs of power. It became a very frustrating experience. Never knowing when the next attack would come. We changed our tactics, and learned to fight like our enemy.






This is Lonnie, He and I were pinned down for 2.5 hours during a firefight near the city of Da Nang in 1969. Finally our unit was able to rescue us. We had surrounded a a village in which a NVA suicide company had been catch after blowing up the ammo dump in Da Nang late the night before. Thanks to a Patton Tank & an Ontos, we were able to retreat.




One of our elder statesman. He was our original "Rocketman", he was later wounded in an ambush west of Da Nang. He went home, he was one of the veterans who kept us in line. Teaching us what really matter.









Ahhh yes, nothing like a good cup of chocolate in the morning. We would save our coco for special occassions. Like morning, we'd get 1 package for every sea ration meal we recieved. Believe me it was worth gold in the field, guys would bargain, and fight over the stupid little packages of chocolate.









Yes that is a TV, but of course he had the priviledge of staying in on a combat base with some of the comforts of home. Of cousre he could only get one channel, American Arm forces broadcasts, so he missed allot of the home town baseball games he wanted to see. Oh well what are you going to do, it was a war you know. :O)








This is our re-enactment of Iwo Jima, California style. One of the fellow Marines carried a California flag around with him for good luck. Don't know if he made though, we tried allot of things, I had a St. Christopher which I hung around my neck. I made it back, but I believe God brought me back, and not the hope I had by wearing the metal.

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