Defeat To Victory: (A Soldier's Story)

February 2, 1968.

The blast of heat felt like all of Hell had opened before us as we were rushed off the plane into a war zone far from home. The late-night sky was lit by flares, and gunships filled the air with red tracer rounds from their miniguns, firing in all directions. As we hurried down the steps, other troops- those who had completed their tours-were sprinting up them, desperate to escape the madness. Their faces, like stone portraits, served as a harsh warning of what we were ente...