Remember the Sacrifice

We could hear the sounds of the firefight from our company position. The sounds of M16s and the distinctive, kack, kack, kack of the AK47s. It was our 1st Platoon who had been on patrol that day. They had walked into a squad or platoon of NVA (no one was ever able to determine the size of the NVA unit). I was in 3rd Platoon and we were immediately told to get ready to go and support the 1st Platoon.

As we moved out, the firing had ceased and we continued to the position of the 1st Platoon and they were informed we were coming. We walked up to their position, where they had engaged the enemy, and right away we noticed a covered body on the ground. I asked who it was and someone told me, "It's Foster." I leaned down and pulled back the poncho which was covering his body and immediately recognized Mark Foster.

Mark Foster and I had gone through infantry training together at Camp Geiger ( a part of Camp Lejeune) and staging at Camp Pendleton. We arrived in Vietnam at the same time and were assigned to the same infantry company. He went to 1st Platoon and I went to 3rd. We knew each other but were never close friends but we didn't have to be. In Vietnam, we were all close in some way or another. I can still see Mark lying there on the ground covered with that poncho. I'll never forget that day or that sight.

That was on February 2 1970 and he and I had been in country about 7 months. After 7 months of seeing stuff like that, you almost became numb to it. I was saddened when I saw his body but then we moved on to take care of business. There was no time for mourning the dead or you might be next so we didn't dwell on it. But I will never forget the price Mark Foster paid while involved in that very unpopular war. He gave his life in that miserable place and I will continue to tell people about his sacrifice.

On November 13 1969, we were on a company size patrol in the Arizona Territory, in north central Vietnam. The patrol had been uneventful and we were ready to turn around and head back to our position. Then, we hard the sound that none of us wanted to hear; a booby trap had exploded and we knew someone was down. We were really ticked off because this patrol had gone so smooth and we were not that far from our next position (ticked because someone was hurt).

It was Baldwin from 2nd Platoon. He had tripped an M26 booby trap and was hurt really bad. We all thought he had died that day but he lasted until December 23 and he died as a result of the injuries from the booby trap. I knew Baldwin slightly and probably had spoke to him a few times. He would have stood out among us because he was 29 years old and we were all 18 and 19 years old. He would have been considered a 'pappy' to us youngsters. He left behind a 6 year old daughter and I can't imagine what that would be like to lose your father at that young age. Sanders Baldwin was a good guy and I will always remember his sacrifice.

When I returned home from Vietnam, I was released by the Marines and tried to forget the previous year of my life. I just thought I would go home and put that nightmare behind me and get on with my life. But there were too many reminders; people at work, the media and friends wanting to know what it was like. I couldn't put it out of my mind because of all the attention the war was getting. The war protesters and the things they said about us would just make me want to choke one of them.

To me, they had no respect whatsoever for the men who had lost their lives or had been seriously wounded or lost arms and legs. I was living with my sister and she encouraged me not to watch the news or anything which showed those spoiled brats spewing garbage from their mouths. Did they really think that going to Vietnam was at the top of our list of things to do following high school?

I had made progress in getting on with my life and forgetting the war and then I got a letter from a friend I had been in Vietnam with. He was still there and had wrote to tell me that my good friend Ray Maninger had died as a result of wounds from a grenade. Oh no, I almost lost it right there in the kitchen of my sister's home. I had to struggle to hold back the emotion and tears formed in my eyes and I couldn't hold back. The war had followed me home and just when I thought I had put it behind me, there it was again, right in my face telling me I had lost a good friend.

We called Ray Maninger 'Goober' because he looked like Goober on the Andy Griffith Show. It was all in fun and he accepted the nick name. He had a young wife in Jacksonville FLA who used to send him "for his eye only' photos of herself. Ray was a machine gunner in our platoon and was a very likeable person. I will never forget Ray Maninger and the sacrifice he made by dying in Vietnam.

There were other Marines who paid with their lives during my tour in Vietnam with B Company 1/5 Marines but these three are those who come to my mind as I write this. I don't ask, "Why them and not me?" because I believe God is in control of all things and it's His business to control life and death. I also don't consider myself as a favorite of God's because He brought me home alive and in one piece. When I received that letter telling me about Ray's death, part of my anger was, I was home and he was dead. At that time, I wasn't a Christian and didn't understand God's sovereignty and it was hard for me to accept.

These events were 50 years ago and I can still remember these details and what happened as if it were yesterday. I will never forget these men and many others who paid with their lives. It was not their first choice in life to run off to Vietnam with the Marines but that's how life, and death, turned out for them. I simply ask that you never forget the sacrifice these men made regardless of your political views or opinion of war. A lot of us didn't have a choice (and running to Canada wasn't a choice).

In the years since my war, I have become a follower of Jesus Christ and understand and know the sacrifice He made for me and the entire human race, past, present and future. He put Himself on a cross to die for our sin. He paid the price which we couldn't for the forgiveness of our sin. By faith, knowing and understanding that He is the only way to salvation, will save us from our sin and eternal death. It is by His grace we are saved and not by anything we can do. I also understand that not every person can understand or accept this. I can't make anyone come to Jesus and be saved but I ask that you consider it and know the alternatives. Remember the sacrifice.