February 2nd 1968, the blast of the heat was as if all Hell was before us, as they rushed us off the plane into this war zone far from our home. The late night sky was lit up by flares, as gunships (helicopters) filled the night with red tracers from the miniguns firing in all directions. As they rushed us down the steps of the plane, other troops who did their tour of duty we're running to the steps of the plane, trying to finally escape this madness. Their faces like stone portraits, was a harsh warning of what we were now entering. One young man who I could tell had seen much horror, looked me square in the eyes, and said: "If you want to stay alive, forget everything you ever learned." Those words were the first to greet me in Vietnam, and still are etched in my memory today.