Fortunate!

         The man's cap said "Marines".  It also said "Vietnam."  Ed and I were fortunate. By accident of birth we were too young to fight in the Korean conflict. By that same accident of birth we were too young, barely, to be sent to Vietnam. Ed, with a year left of  duty after my discharge, did honor duty accompanying the bodies of Marines killed in Vietnam to their families.

       Neither conflict would have been easy. In Korea the Marines were engaged with the Chinese in the frozen north thanks to General MacArthur's stupidity. Duty at the "Frozen Chosen" would have been horrific. Even as a young person I didn't like cold and the thought of combat duty in extreme cold gives me the shivers.

     Would duty in the tropical heat and mud of Vietnam been any better?  Our accident of birth allowed us escape of both conflicts. Thankfully, we escaped both.

Takk for alt,

Al

This picture of me sitting on my bunk shows how little space there was between them. The ropes were threaded through gromets on canvas and then around aluminum tubing which formed the perimeter of the bed. It was actually quite comfortable. My M-1 rifle is hanging beside me. It was issued to me after boot camp and I kept it until we left Okinawa for the States and my discharge. You ask: "Why are you wearing tennis shoes?"  It was the Battalion Commander's idea to go easy on the surface of the ship's deck. It amused the sailors. Admire my nice haircut.

ed