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I chose the Marine Corps for several reasons. If I had to go to war, I wanted to go with some boys that were born for it. I knew somedayI would write about them. These were the guys I went to war with, the wild ones & the crazy ones, they lived by their own rules. They were the bravest men I will ever know. To go to war with them and earn their respect under fire, and their trust and their love, is something I will treasure forever..
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As a teenager I watched the Vietnam War getting bigger and bigger. By the time I turned twenty,
I was up to my neck in it.
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KHE SANH
Everyone in I Corps had heard about this small isolated Marine base in the Northwest corner of Vietnam: 1300 rounds of incoming in 24 hours, they stopped sending out patrols because nobody came back. Then Fox Battery (105's) learned it was our turn to go up there. Our convoy drove through an ambush between the Rock Pile and Ca Lu. Finally, we rode over to LZ Vandergrift (Stud) and flew in the last leg.
29 days later we flew out.
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The man I am standing with,Colonel Kenneth Pipes, received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for leading an attack while serving as Bravo Company Commander at Khe Sanh. He read my book when it was just a manuscript and advised my publisher, Captain Ernie Spencer, to sign me. I will always be in his debt.​
The Gunny asked me what I was going to do when I got our of the Marine Corps. I smiled,
" Grow my hair long and protest this war."
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