Front row left to right:'Duke' Taylor, deceased; 'Water Bull', Jerry,Lt. Mike Galyean(Koolade Kid)
Back row...Standing-left to right...Frank Young, 'Short Round', Mike Mauger (radio), Gary Welsh, Cruz, Rick Materna (Sgt. Mat)
Back Row....Standing between Mike Mauger and Gary Welsh is Larry Perkins (Doc Sue)
On A Far Away Battlefield
'The Arizona Territory'... South Vietnam... the Men are Marines of Charlie Company 2nd Platoon. Continuous rains brought an added challenge to Combat for these Marines. Clothes and gear soaking wet for many days at a time was aggravated by the relentless, nagging mud.
On this day, after returning from a patrol, these Marines of Charlie find themselves with a break in the weather, a short reprieve from combat and a few rare moments to relax and enjoy an even more rare chance to share a beer with their buddies.
The guys on the resupply chopper had dropped off a ration of beer and somehow had even managed to get a large cake to the Marines of 2nd. Plt.
Able to wash off some of the mud and finding that resupply had also brought in fresh utilities for them to change into,
Sgt. Materna and these 10 Marines of Charlie Co. then gather together to have their photo taken...
...capturing this good memory in a land where such things were few and most often very, very far between.
The date is November 10, 1969.
In war the simplest pleasures, such as a little less mud, dry clothes and something to eat that actually tastes good, are greatly appreciated .......they don't come often and are not long lasting. Soon afterwards the warrior finds himself back in an arena where the simplest of things can be the most dangerous of things.
Charlie Co. 1/5