Once a Marine
Collected stories by enlisted Marine Corps Vietnam veterans - their lives 35 years later
by
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...Always a Marine From their stories – in their own words: “A Marine sergeant boarded the bus. He immediately began to scream at us in a voice I never could have imagined possible from a human being.” “It was dark, it was hot, and the humidity was stifling that evening in July 1966 as my fellow Marine recruits and I exited the bus at “I grew up in “…I was already a senior in high school and lacked math and a language and almost anything else that was required to go to college.” “Some of the things that we were taught in boot camp still stick with me after all these years. I still hang my clothes in my closet facing in order to the left and lace my shoes left over right though I no longer tell my wife how to wash the dishes.” “These basic values and beliefs hold true now, some 40 years later, as I navigate through the rigors of life…” "All skills could be taught without forming recruits into training platoons. It is theoretically possible that recruits could enter a college campus-like environment, living in two man or even individual rooms. They could be required to get themselves to classes, and so on. The crucible training could be accomplished by creating an outward bound or summer camp environment. The skills that recruits learn and must demonstrate proficiency in before graduating could be taught that way, and at the end of it, you would have a large number of individuals in possession of certain military skills. But, you would not have trained Marines." "To attempt to train people to become Marines by simply teaching them certain skills in a relatively stress free academic environment would be like making swords without tempering the steel they are made from." All profits from this book will be contributed to the 1st Marine Division Association Scholarship Fund. www.onceamarine.org
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About the Book
The former enlisted Marines whose stories you will read in this book have a common thread.
The common thread is that they became one of the few, the proud, the Marines. They joined and entered the Vietnam war when their country called. They fought and returned home to adjust to normal lives by themselves. These are the life stories, told in their own words, of how Marine Corps vets came home, built families, businesses and are living the American dream today. Many still live their lives today with the same traditions and values taught to them by the Marine Corps and have adjusted after the traumatic experience of a war.
Marine Corps values are easy to state as: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. The Marine Corps defines these values in the following way:
–Honor as demonstrating integrity in all one does, and accepting responsibility and accountability for one’s actions.
– Courage as doing the right thing, in the right way, and for the right reasons.
– Commitment as devotion to the Corps and one’s fellow Marines.
All Marines, former and active duty, live and fight under this same creed. Read about these men who left the Corps and the war behind and used this experience as a stepping stone to success and happiness.
About the Author
Through the years we have seen and heard too many headlines of “Marines gone bad.” We wanted to offer in this book the other side of the story, showing that the vast majority of Marine Corps Vietnam veterans became well adjusted successful citizens, parents and providers. We asked former
Charles W. Latting, served as company commander of Mike Company, 3rd Bn, 1st Marines, in 1965-66 in
Claude V. DeShazo, M.D., FACS, served as Battalion Surgeon for the 3rd Bn, 1st Marines, in 1965-66 during its training and months of combat in