Bury Me With Soldiers
One Grunt's Honest Story About Vietnam
by
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In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote, "There is nothing more difficult than military combat." Mortal combat is the severest test of the human body and spirit, and since wars began, the line infantryman has suffered this trial in every one of them. In ancient times, enemies fought eye to eye. Modern man has invented ways to distance himself from the foe, but at times the individual soldier still makes eye-to-eye contact with the enemy. Any normal man who watches his enemy squirm in death will change. Any man who witnesses the deaths of his comrades will never again be what he once was.
This is an honest story of what one man saw, did, and felt as a soldier in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. The events I describe are true, although I have had to reconstruct, and for narrative flow sometimes change, the sequence and timing. This story is how I remember those events and the people involved—and what they have come to mean to me.
There are many faces of war, and Vietnam was no exception. I have talked to veterans who were the only survivors of their entire company. There were countless sieges that were more brutal and fierce than the assaults I witnessed. My war was more like a slow, flesh-eating virus. Day after day I saw men mutilated and killed.
Hollywood can often distort reality to the point that some people think films like Platoon or Apocalypse Now are complete and accurate portrayals of the war. What I saw was completely different. In the two units I served with in the Third Marine Division, I never saw anything that would shame the people of this country. I witnessed no dishonor. We never burned a village or mistreated a prisoner. Drugs were taboo, and men fought to survive and to help their friends to survive. Time after time integrity and self-sacrifice saved the day. There were incidents that did threaten the virtue of our units, but they were not assaults on the honor of the Marine Corps or this nation.
I have fought in only one war. In it, I witnessed the bravery of young soldiers, their unwavering stamina, their will to live, and their willingness to die. I lived with these men in conditions worse than anything I could ever have imagined in a protracted war that saw our country flounder pitifully and ultimately fail. With that failure, we, along with our nation, changed forever. Innocent, teenage soldiers—rock’n’rollers, rednecks, reluctant recruits—we went to fight an honorable fight to stem the tide of communism. But as the war dragged on, our music died, and the honor of this nation suffered a near fatal blow. Gone forever was our youth and innocence. For those of us who went and survived, the Vietnam War will go with us to our graves. And it will go as a task not completed.
I was one who returned, and I have written this book to honor the forgotten soldiers who served in America’s longest tragedy, who answered the call of duty to their country, and who gave their lives for it. Our children and those who want to know the truth need to know about the brave and honorable men who made a valiant effort to win a war they believed was just.
If you can find a better group of men, bury me with them when I die.
Otherwise, bury me with soldiers.
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About the Book
The late 60’s in America was tumulus and uncertain. A young Oregon ranch kid must decide whether to flee or fight. The young man understands he will not flee.
During the fifty days of living like a wild dog in a dirt den the young Marine witnesses the decimation of his grunt company. From his first patrol where his new found fellow Oregonian dies in front of him, to the wayward 500- pound bomb that kills and maims several of his company, the young marine sees that the death around him is like a slow flesh-eating virus.
Ignoring the old military axiom never volunteer the marine volunteers for a new recon company being formed. He and the other volunteers play cat and mouse in the dark and unholy jungles of Vietnam. The casualties still mount, but for the first time the enemy is now seen by the transformed warrior and he is able to fight back.
Unlike PLATOON this account shows the honor, the devotion to duty and even a few laughs. These are not Americans who fought one another, but Americans who fought for America and men this Marine would like to be buried with.
About the Author
Wayne Standiford lives in the small town of Condon, Oregon, where he works for an electrical contracting company and his wife, Deborah, operates an imprinting business. Wayne and Deborah stay busy taking part in community affairs and keeping track of Shawn, Cody, Cassie, Travis, and Ryan. They are the proud grandparents of Isaac and Wyatt.
Wayne was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal for his "composure under fire" because no one could see his toes curled inside his jungle boots. For the radio incident he was awarded the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. This medal should have been an Olympic Gold for the fastest human on the planet on the only day of his life he was able to move really fast. Older and much slower now, Wayne still grunts for a living.