VIETNAM UNCENSORED: STORIES OF BROTHERHOOD, SACRIFICE & COURAGE

I saw things in Vietnam that made me rethink everything I thought I knew about courage. We were Army and Marines, but what did it mean to be brave? I asked myself if bravery had weight, color, and sound. Could you smell it, taste it, feel it? I know it lived inside of us, and we became its tool. Day after day, thousands of us fell, our duty demanding it. But we never thought of it as bravery. We thought of it as a necessity. We kept moving.

Our duty, our responsibility, was to fight for America. But when you’re in the field, the war becomes something else. It becomes about your brothers. We didn’t leave them behind, not even when they were dead. Not even when the fire was so thick it seemed like it would swallow us whole. Men crawled through the dirt to carry a wounded comrade to safety. And the thought of leaving someone behind never crossed our minds. It wasn’t courage. It was just what we did.

Courage is a made-up word. We use it to explain actions that go beyond what anyone thought possible. I’ve seen men do things that had me questioning what was real. But still, we never thought of ourselves as brave.

My memoir, Vietnam Uncensored, is the story of my unit. The way we survived. The way we fought for each other. It’s the tale of what happened, not how history sometimes tells it. You’ll see the two faces of the war, the good and the ugly. It’s available now on Amazon — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1836630751 and all the proceeds go to veterans in need through the Kaufman Fund. Stand with me and make your reading count. Thanks.