Sometimes we fail to look around us and really see those who walk by. There are many who served– some who damn near didn’t make it back. Here’s one you’d least expect. Lawdog Bob sent me this. That’s strange because he thinks Marines are just big galoots with nothing more than muscle between the ears.

Khe Sanh was no cakewalk. A good friend flew in and out several times in a dust off. He punched out from pancreatic cancer several years ago while I was in the hospital. He was never able to talk about what he went through and I don’t blame him. Having a full time- job as Charon the boatman on the River Styx would not be my first choice of MOS. Dennis is right about one thing.  Indochina is like a stain you can never quite wash out of your soul-nor would you want to.

I came home in camo fatigues with a survival knife showing below the edge of my shirt. A few brave souls pointed at me or flipped me off. Nobody spit on me. Smart people with a well-developed sense of survival instinct. Welcome home, Dennis.

Ed. Note. Bob corrects me and says Dennis was in the 82nd “bird poop” Airborne. We in the Air Force concluded (rightly) that anything that purposefully falls from the sky is bird-related. Since the 82nd was Army, I am embarrassed. I thought the Marines (III MAF) had a monopoly on Khe Sanh. My friend Lars I mentioned above was Army 62B and was involved towards the end when the runway was blocked by the C-130.