Year of Survival - Intro - 07:2018

malfunctioned it would have fired 600 steel bearings into our column.
Both men survived and Frenchy was ordered back into the bush a few
weeks later when discharged from the 95th Evacuation Hospital in
DaNang.
I also experienced the heartbreak of not being able to save the life of a
fellow Marine charred and riddled by the shrapnel of a grenade booby trap
in the middle of the night. The Russian roulette nature of war and the
hatred that motivated revenge instilled a “don’t mean nothin'” devil may
care attitude. Except for Dan Gallagher, the CAP Marines I knew that were
killed in action, Glen Fiester, J.J. Arteaga, Rae Rippetoe, Robert Gaffigan
and Ronnie Ross lost their lives before they could celebrate their 21st
birthday. Rippetoe, Gaffigan and Ross were killed by PFs our “allies.”
Even though some have passed, this book could not have been
undertaken without the support of 7th Company members that lived the
nightmare life of a CAP Marine and made it back to the world (United
States). They are Paul “Tex” Hernandez, Steve “Booboo” Boosinger,
Michel “Frenchy” Wilson, Bill “Doc” Coonfield, John “Paladin” Shockley,
Greg “Chief” Fragua, Frank Hutson, Juan “Doc” Sanchez, Eddie “Chipper”
Caiado, Jim Wallace, Ed Nunez, Rene Torres, Al Singleton, Mike “Seadog”
Wright, Al “Hofacker” Ryan, Ernie Soliz, Neil “Bama” Cooper, Mike Burns,
Channing “Blinky” Prothro, Terry Westbrooks, Terry “Stretch”
Straavaldsen, David Stevens, Everett O. Cooper, Prentiss Waltman, William
“Doc” Donoghue, Arthur “Brother Chubby” Yelder, Ken Duncan, Roch
Thornton, Glen Trimble, James “JimRudey” Vollberg, Nathan “Willie” Fulfer,
Mike Harper, Nelson Kilmister, Guy Melton, Dennis “Hucklebuck” Prock,
Scottie Shirley, Al Simmons, and others that are mentioned in this book.
We survived horrors that no human being should ever face, but we made
it. Some of us crippled. All of us traumatized. So when I say that I came
to know the darkness in Vietnam, I mean complete and utter mental and
physical darkness. I consider this memoir the first ray of light to shed light
on those memories. My hope is that it can attest to the insanity of war and
honor the heroism of the Patriots asked to fight it. All incidents and
accounts are true stories based on my diary and the recollection of other
2nd CAG, 7th Company, CAP Marines. The photographs and interactive
media used in this book were either captured personally or by CAP
Marines that have graciously shared them with me.