By 1970, it was clear that the United States was not going to stay in Vietnam to win. But for Bruce Norton and others in the elite Marine Force Recon companies, the war was far from over. After scuba school and jump training in the Philippines, corpsman Norton returned to Vietnam, where he was transferred from the deactivated 3d Force Recon Company to the Marine 1st Force Recon Company.
Whether patrolling the Thuong Duc Corridor west of Da Nang, training new teams, or taking a hill in the middle of NVA territory, this Force Recon company put its lethal skills to work to make sure its team could survive combat behind enemy lines--where one slip could mean body bags for everyone.
In the thick of a jungle war where there often wasn't enough food, enough water, enough air support, enough explosives, or even enough radio batteries, the vulnerable Force Recon Marines knew that the only things that could keep them alive were their courage, their skills, and their loyalty to one another.
Whether patrolling the Thuong Duc Corridor west of Da Nang, training new teams, or taking a hill in the middle of NVA territory, this Force Recon company put its lethal skills to work to make sure its team could survive combat behind enemy lines--where one slip could mean body bags for everyone.
In the thick of a jungle war where there often wasn't enough food, enough water, enough air support, enough explosives, or even enough radio batteries, the vulnerable Force Recon Marines knew that the only things that could keep them alive were their courage, their skills, and their loyalty to one another.
The real stuff by a Navy Corpsman who is also an acomplished novelist. He and his fellow Marines and the ARVN troops they trained and fought shoulder to shoulder with "Walked the Walk". A look at the end of a war we shamefully threw away.
