No place for cowards or those who surrender to fear,
Time has come and we must leave Scholdfield,
With rucksacks, rifles and dressed in full battle gear,
Assembled in formation marching into the Hawaiian night,
Boarding planes soon to take flight,
Up into the star laden sky,
Next stop, Americal Infantry Division headquarters in Chu Lai,
Orientation lasted a few days then we were sent on our way,
To LZ Ross doing perimeter guard and patrols each day,
In The Que Son valley in Quang Tin Province,
It was there that we experienced our baptism of fire,
Earning our Combat medals and Badges,
Another booby trap but this one was no dud…
As the Doc, I was drenched in other men’s blood,
Back at LZ Ross they attentively listened to the radio transmissions,
Taking in every word then seeing the Red Cross on the side of the Iron Bird,
As it flew by… the L-T and R-T-O survived… fortunately this was a day no one died,