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Excerpt from a memoir of his experiences
in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine, 1965

Published in his book A Rumor of War, 1977

"Everything rotted and corroded there [in Vietnam]: bodies, boot leather, canvas, metal, morals. Scorched by the sun, wracked by the wind and rain of the monsoon, fighting in alien swamps and jungles, our humanity rubbed off of us as the protective bluing rubbed off the barrels of our rifles."

War has always been a terrible experience for American soldiers to endure. This is true even when soldiers go to war to fight for a cause in which they believe, such as defending U.S. liberty or saving another nation or people in danger. Indeed, accounts of major American wars like the Civil War and World War II are filled with stories of the death, pain, sorrow, and cruelty that American soldiers experienced while serving their country.

But...