Defeat To Victory

February 2nd 1968, the blast of the heat was as if all Hell was before us, as they rushed us off the plane into this war zone far from our home. The late night sky was lit up by flares, as gunships (helicopters) filled the night with red tracers from the miniguns firing in all directions. As they rushed us down the steps of the plane, other troops who did their tour of duty we’re running to the steps of the plane, trying to finally escape this madness. Their faces like stone portraits, was a harsh warning of what we were now entering. One young man who I could tell had seen much horror, looked me square in the eyes, and said: “If you want to stay alive, forget everything you ever learned.” Those words were the first to greet me in Vietnam, and still are etched in my memory today.


The Tet offense; was the baptism of fire that introduced me to South East Asia. I came home with that war raging within; wondering was there anything worth living for. Until another late night the battle for my heart and soul ended. March 18, 1976, the war for me changed. The scars and pain from that war I still carry within my soul, which causes me to reach out even farther to those who suffer within. There is a hope for all those who will listen. I wrote this book, to let all men know there is, Defeat to Victory.