3rdmardiv.1st amtracs A Co 3rd pltn 03/09/1967 to 09/25/1967CuaViet.Hey out there. 40 years is a long time. For some of us its like yesterday and never leaves. Been fighting the VA for a long time for benefits. They want me to prove my claims. I went to the wall in DC 10 years ago. Confirmed. If anyone in this outfit needs proof the book is "WAR WITHOUT HEROES" David Douglas Duncan. Harper & Row Publishers New York and Evanston. Operation "Fortress Sentry" What a joke. During the monsoons. We lost a lot of people for nothing. I still have nightmares. Been on medication forever. The worm is going to turn. I saw faces in that book that I remember but dont know the names. But I do remember the names of those who were blown away. Names I do remember are Don Shepler and Pete Dunton out of Phoenix, P.J. Ball from N.Y., Chris Bartel Pomona,CAL. Frank Ritkeske KIA my best friend while I was in the brig for sleeping on post. Bullshit. I had one eye open. We had been in the field for nine days. Me and Andre Olsby were made examples of because of because there wasnt enough body counts for the General so we must be sleeping on post. Then while I was in the brig the airfield in Da Nang which we were right next to was rocketed. We were not allowed weapons. So we went into a sand bagged hole met for 10 people which 40 of us tried to fit in. You want stress. I feel so sorry for the Iraq veterans. I was that age way back. Theyre going through the same problems when they come back. They are not labeled baby killers yet. But I know what war does to a persons mind. Its so distorted. Will sign off.