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View Full Version : An exercise in Futility? VN vets thoughts.



Swampyankee
05-24-08, 12:03 PM
While at Lejuenne in the late 70's we started to have infamous Marines showing up for court-martials. One, whose name I've forgotten, was court martialed because he gave into the enemy's demands. The story goes, after he cooperated with the enemy he became a citizen of VN. Of course it was a propoganda thing for Charles. But he got homesick and decided to return, and found out forgive and forget wasn't in the Marine Corps dictionary.

Anyway, this isn't about him. This is about a Marine who had gone to VN, served his time, came home to stateside duty, found it to be full of too much CS, and decided he did what they wanted hime to do, went to VN, now there wasn't any reason for him to remain in the Corps. He was done and knew he wouldn't reup.
I remember this one case especially because I myself could relate with him on the grounds that the CS was extreme at times. I even worked with a Deputy that had gone to VN 2 or 3 times and had been wounded as many. For some reason they wouldn't let him go again so after his time was up he got out. Again, barracks life wasn't his thing.

Now I know most of you would've had to do the same, do a year in country, come home and do 1 or 2 years in barracks somewhere. I don't know if the CS would have been as severe for other MOS' other than 0311, but you grunts would have experianced it. My question then is this, how hard should the Marine Corps have come down on this particular Marine, who had done his time incountry and afterwards quietly went home before his time was up? Bear in mind, only 3 short years before his courtmartial Carter had pardoned all the hippy draft dodgers.