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Chapter 34
Reflections
As the End of my ‘tour’ began to approach I couldn’t help but look around and ask ‘what have we accomplished’? It was a ‘rhetorical’ question- but one I couldn’t honestly answer—I had helped fight an enemy that refused to retreat even when beaten—I had watched our Marines give all they had to do what our Country expected them to do—I had watched with pride as the Marines in my platoon—in our Company and in our battalions had performed as advertised— they had been brave, courageous, adaptive, aggressive—they had shown compassion for the innocent and the vulnerable—even at the expense of putting their own safety at risk. They had died, been wounded , faced fearful circumstances in the dark and dangerous jungles of Viet Nam. They had survived hunger and thirst—hot and steaming conditions—mosquitos, snakes and other creatures—miserable, wet clothing—weeks and months without the basic comforts of a hot shower, a hot meal, a cool drink and the comforting embrace of their loved ones—in some cases—forever! The average age of these Marines was 22—the ave. educational level was H.S. grad plus one yr. of higher ed. @ 61 In 1965-66 they were all volunteers—they wanted to be Marines —to fight for our Country. This was not a War that was won by winning battle after battle—which we did—it was a War that could not be measured by the
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