Read Online Return To Forever by James Frishkey - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James Frishkey
Ads: Link
into the Army but simply couldn’t handle basic and AIT. He tried every angle he could think of to get out and finally his conduct earned him a dishonorable discharge which would haunt him the rest of his adult life. He returned home to his job at Ford while his friends continued to serve a country that saw no value in their service. His return also surprised his girl who was dating other guys and would continue to do so.
Phil was also home, no longer a member of the Annapolis Class of 1968. His grades and inability to keep up physically ended in an honorable discharge. In spite of this harsh return to reality, he still had a good enough transcript to get him into the University of Michigan, a top tier university on a par with Stanford and the Ivy League schools. His dad, however, was stunned and embarrassed that his son failed at the most important opportunity he had been given. He would never get over this nor completely forgive Phil for his failing.
As Joe’s deployment in Viet Nam was coming to an end, he often wondered how in the world he had avoided getting wounded. Although technically classified a Radio Relay repairman, Joe was a Marine and Marines were infantrymen first and foremost and infantrymen were doomed to hump the boonies and seek out and confront the enemy.
Joe’s dad was not a hunter or gun enthusiast and Joe had never fired a weapon before joining the military. To say he excelled would be an understatement. His skills as a marksman became well known among the 3rd Marine Division. He was encouraged to consider sniper training but preferred to remain an obscure yet treasured asset in combat by his peers.
When Joe rotated out of ‘Nam his sector in Dong Ha had been quiet for several weeks. The day he was scheduled to leave, Charlie decided to attack the airbase. Joe was waiting to board while the pilot decided whether he should chance taking off amid the artillery barrage cascading down on the air field. The pilot asked Joe if he was the Marine who’d been given emergency leave and asked to see his orders. Joe never answered and simply handed him the envelope containing his orders. The pilot never looked at them. He just told Joe to get on board and they took off for Da Nang. As Joe sat in the plane he was overcome with the smell of death. The plane had been used to transport wounded and those beyond mortal care. Joe knew that smell and it would stay with him the rest of his life.
Joe returned stateside just before Christmas and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, SC. It didn’t take long for his well-documented skills with the rifle to catch up with him and he was immediately selected to join the Marine Corps shooting team, stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA. As a competitive marksman, Joe would practice for hours to perfect an already impressive talent. Now he was shooting with the best of the best…from all military branches and Olympic level civilian shooters. He did not disappoint.
On August 3, 1969 Joe was discharged from the Marines. His return home was unceremonious; no parades were planned in his honor. In fact, returning vets were often ridiculed and called baby killers by student activists who were screaming for our total withdrawal. Joe saw no upside to wearing his uniform in public and carefully packed it away. Unfortunately the horrors he experienced could not be included in that box.
When the Tet Offensive was launched by the North in January of 1968, it was clearly a huge defeat militarily for the enemy. To the American people, however, it revealed the flaws in the reports of enemy weakness that were being sold by the military brass and, ultimately, it proved to be a huge communist propaganda victory. Seeing the battles unfold on TV each night set the stage for even Walter Cronkite’s acknowledgement we would not win this war. Joe accepted this reality with great difficulty. So many friends had been sacrificed…for what?
When Johnny heard that Joe was back home he
Phil was also home, no longer a member of the Annapolis Class of 1968. His grades and inability to keep up physically ended in an honorable discharge. In spite of this harsh return to reality, he still had a good enough transcript to get him into the University of Michigan, a top tier university on a par with Stanford and the Ivy League schools. His dad, however, was stunned and embarrassed that his son failed at the most important opportunity he had been given. He would never get over this nor completely forgive Phil for his failing.
As Joe’s deployment in Viet Nam was coming to an end, he often wondered how in the world he had avoided getting wounded. Although technically classified a Radio Relay repairman, Joe was a Marine and Marines were infantrymen first and foremost and infantrymen were doomed to hump the boonies and seek out and confront the enemy.
Joe’s dad was not a hunter or gun enthusiast and Joe had never fired a weapon before joining the military. To say he excelled would be an understatement. His skills as a marksman became well known among the 3rd Marine Division. He was encouraged to consider sniper training but preferred to remain an obscure yet treasured asset in combat by his peers.
When Joe rotated out of ‘Nam his sector in Dong Ha had been quiet for several weeks. The day he was scheduled to leave, Charlie decided to attack the airbase. Joe was waiting to board while the pilot decided whether he should chance taking off amid the artillery barrage cascading down on the air field. The pilot asked Joe if he was the Marine who’d been given emergency leave and asked to see his orders. Joe never answered and simply handed him the envelope containing his orders. The pilot never looked at them. He just told Joe to get on board and they took off for Da Nang. As Joe sat in the plane he was overcome with the smell of death. The plane had been used to transport wounded and those beyond mortal care. Joe knew that smell and it would stay with him the rest of his life.
Joe returned stateside just before Christmas and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, SC. It didn’t take long for his well-documented skills with the rifle to catch up with him and he was immediately selected to join the Marine Corps shooting team, stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA. As a competitive marksman, Joe would practice for hours to perfect an already impressive talent. Now he was shooting with the best of the best…from all military branches and Olympic level civilian shooters. He did not disappoint.
On August 3, 1969 Joe was discharged from the Marines. His return home was unceremonious; no parades were planned in his honor. In fact, returning vets were often ridiculed and called baby killers by student activists who were screaming for our total withdrawal. Joe saw no upside to wearing his uniform in public and carefully packed it away. Unfortunately the horrors he experienced could not be included in that box.
When the Tet Offensive was launched by the North in January of 1968, it was clearly a huge defeat militarily for the enemy. To the American people, however, it revealed the flaws in the reports of enemy weakness that were being sold by the military brass and, ultimately, it proved to be a huge communist propaganda victory. Seeing the battles unfold on TV each night set the stage for even Walter Cronkite’s acknowledgement we would not win this war. Joe accepted this reality with great difficulty. So many friends had been sacrificed…for what?
When Johnny heard that Joe was back home he
Similar Books
