Twins Platoon member, Rod Leick was talking to a woman that had just finished reading The Twins Platoon. She told Rod how angry and upset she was after reading the part about boot camp. She would like to know how you all feel (now) about the way you were treated (then) and if you think the treatment you received in boot camp was excessive or do you think it was necessary.
To respond to this question, click below to leave your comment.
In the September 2006 issue of Leatherneck magazine the book Twins Platoon appears on page 78 in Books Reviewed making it recommended reading. For a book to be reviewed by this prestigious magazine is an honor.
July 4, 2006, almost 40 years later.
Chris, I have just finished your book. I feel compelled to write you.
All dates and times are not exact but close. I was about one month ahead of you in boot camp at MCRD. Upon graduation I received orders for West Pac and MOS 0311. By October I was in Vietnam and assigned to 3/9 3rd Marine Division. We were based out of the Rock Pile on the DMZ. Route 9 from Dong Ha went right thru our perimeter. At the start of Tet, 1968 we were cut off. No one from my squad escaped Vietnam without injury or in a body bag.
I spent 11 months at Great Lakes Naval hospital. I was the lucky one with only a hand injury. Guilt started to set in. I finished my tour of duty at Quantico, VA. as a rifle coach. Honorable discharged as an E-5 in July of 1969.
Like you my return home was strange to say the least. While on convalesce leave from the hospital my best friend on the way to a party at the U of M said “Don’t tell anyone you are a Marine and don’t say your were in Vietnam”. Everyone was having a wonderful time while I knew my brothers were fighting for their lives. The guilt set in, how could I be here when I knew what was going on over there? I wanted to fit in, the guilt was stronger. Read the rest of this entry »
