Page 129 - Stand Down Vietnam

On my last day in Vietnam, I kept thinking I might make
it home; I didn’t expect to because I took too many
chances. I was out on patrol when they came and got me
by helicopter. I had gotten wounded and was wearing a
bandage.

I had parasites in my body and that messed me up.

I spent time on Okinawa pulling NCO duty. I had to be
sent stateside, so they could get me medically well.
Finally, I went to El Toro, California, I stayed there
for about a month.

I saw combat, more than I care to remember. One thing;
you learn to not make friends in combat because they
get killed. My best friend, Ronald Howk, got killed.
I had four or five guys I was close to, but when my
best friend got killed, I just didn’t make friends
anymore. Most of my Marine Corps friends are people
I’ve met since being home.

When you go out on patrol with ten people; seven get
shot and you are dragging them back, your perspective
of life is changed. Take the My Lai incident, for
example; the chain of command knew, they knew. I
absolutely believe Calley did wrong and was rightfully
Court Martialed. I would not have given or followed
that order.

When I returned back to the states, I had members of
the Hell’s Angels offer to escort me home to Kentucky.
The protestors were yelling, calling us baby killers
and all. The bikers stopped a lot of the protests.

Every time somebody called me a baby killer, I’d hit
them. I mean, what are they going to do to me? Send
me back?
When I look back, I don’t think we should have been
there; it was not our country, not our war. That’s the