I joined the Army right out of high school, in 1970. I wasn't drafted (my draft number was too high), so I enlisted. I volunteered for the infantry (boy, was the recruiter pleased with me!), and after eight weeks of basic training and eight weeks of infantry training, I was sent to Vietnam. I was assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, stationed between Hue and Quang Tri, in the northernmost part of Vietnam.
    The area from the South China Sea in the east to the mountains in the west was flat, sand and gravel mostly, and pretty much bombed out and deserted. The mountains, however, were covered in heavy jungle, steep sided, and crammed in together. The mountains were where we pretty much spent all our time, patrolling weeks on end, in the heat and the humidity and rain. It wasn't much fun, as the stories show.  
    Patrick A. Fenderson,  Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, stationed in I Corps, February-December 1971