What a Life : How the Vietnam War Affected One Marine

As a young enlisted man, Randy Kington served on the front line with some of the first Marine combat units in Vietnam in 1965 and ’66. Kington describes his transformation from boy to man and the training that allowed him to survive nine months of some of the fiercest fighting of the Vietnam War. The good times of comradeship and of helping the underprivileged are contrasted with the life-and-death experiences that involved three major battles, countless ambushes, and search and destroy missions. On March 21, 1966, during what former Commandant of the Marine Corps General PX Kelley described as the most intense three hours of the Vietnam War, Randy received a horrific wound. He recounts the nine grueling months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. The final chapter tells of his adjustment to life in a wheelchair and the many people who played a part in his achievements.