Members of the Wall: fly a tattered flag

The journey began in 1962; my part ended in 1969 when this story began as a kept promise to the best officer I ever met. He didn’t make it out of Vietnam; not many of us did –half a dozen, maybe. The captain was a brush kicker, field promoted because of his skill and not of his pedigree. He knew even our own government would never own us or admit their own complicity; of all of us, I was the writer, in his eyes, because I helped his spelling when he wrote his wife. He asked as a favor to him if I would put our story on paper so maybe someday someone would read it and know we played our part. He asked that it be told as it happened – no candy coating and no veneers of civilization added.



There is nothing politically correct about this book. Language is often derogatory and racist, which I know may offend readers. I find it offensive myself. Keep in mind that this was war in the 1960's and it wasn't a nice world we lived in. To change the tone is to change the truth, and I promised the Captain I would tell the truth to the best of my ability. This is a work of fact and fiction - the names, dates and places have been changed to accommodate the State Department, but the story is absolutely true.