From Dong Ha to Manhattan Beach: A Marine’s Vietnam Story and a Cop’s Career
A retired Marine and police officer recalls being drafted at 19 after struggling in college, completing boot camp in San Diego and training at Camp Pendleton, and serving as a supply Marine who volunteered for Vietnam.
He describes arriving through Okinawa to Da Nang and being assigned to FLSU in Dong Ha near the DMZ, enduring constant heat, rain, heavily chlorinated water, C-rations, perimeter guard duty, patrol sweeps, convoys to bases including Khe Sanh, and frequent shelling that targeted the airstrip, ammo dump, and fuel.
During Tet 1968 he was wounded in the shin during a massive attack and treated at Dong Ha’s underground hospital and later Cam Ranh Bay before returning, taking R&R in Bangkok, and going home via El Toro amid concerns about protests.
He later spent decades with Manhattan Beach PD, including undercover burglary work on the South Bay Burg team, and discusses PTSD triggers, delayed symptoms after retirement, and improved VA care.
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