As I sat on the Greyhound bus I opened the window as it pulled away. I knew what I had to do, what I promised to do. Pulling the letter out of my pocket I stared at the brownish stains. Closing my eyes and once again being transported to the lush greenery of Vietnam.

"Sarge I don't feel I will make it out of here," PFC James (Jimbo Lighthing) Smith told me as he handed me a letter addressed to his mother.

Taking his letter I laughed and said. "Get your ass on the copter." This was the last day we both were in Vietnam.

I wish I was there when his mother received that her son had gallantly died for his country. To hold her and tell her the truth. He died for his brothers next to him, not for God and country.