Merriam Press Military Monograph 135. Second Edition (February 2012). The author joined the United States Marine Corps at the young age of eighteen. His destiny was to serve his country as a Marine and make the Marine Corps his career. Thirty years later he retired at the highest enlisted rank of Sergeant Major. He reported to Parris Island, South Carolina in 1969 for recruit training and retired in 1999. During his initial first three year enlistment he would serve in Vietnam and Okinawa. In August 2010 he published his first non-fiction book titled Lasting Visions: With the 7th Marines in Vietnam 1970. It captured his first year and a half in the Marine Corps. His first book takes you through combat in Vietnam and his subsequent tour in Okinawa and the Orient. Lasting Visions: It Comes With The Rank is his second non-fiction book. He has picked up where he left off in his first book and continued through a 30-year Marine Corps career. For the full story and complete understanding of this Marine's military career, Lasting Visions: With the 7th Marines in Vietnam 1970 is a must read. The author's unique style of storytelling will capture your attention and keep you in suspense. He errs on the side of comical, unbelievable, crazy, and downright egotistical. His personal experiences, while progressing through the enlisted ranks, take on a whole new perspective of what some may believe happens within the ranks. His stories shed some light on what it is like receiving orders and working alongside those in the position of authority. As long as there are officer and enlisted ranks in the same unit there will always be differences of opinions and individual ideas of how things should work. As with most command decisions, the author believes that anyone in a position of authority, must always practice good common sense. His stories convey that this is not always the case. Contents: Foreword; Chapter 1: Republic of the Philippines (1971-1972); Chapter 2: Drill Instructor Duty; (1974-1976) Chapter 3: Marine Barracks 8th and I (1977-1980); Chapter 4: 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines (1980-1981); Chapter 5: Istanbul Turkey and Wellington New Zealand (1982-1985); Chapter 6: 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (1986-1988); Chapter 7: Bangkok, Thailand (1989-1991); Chapter 8: Sergeant Major (1992-1999); The Author; 49 photos.