Prologue

PROLOGUE

November 5, 1968

Western Union Telegram

Mr. and Mrs. Kurt Taylor

Delaney Horse Farm

Route 6

Tullahoma, Tennessee

I deeply regret to confirm that your son Lance Corporal Mark James Taylor died in Vietnam 1November 1968. He sustained fragmentation wounds to the head and body from hostile mortar fire while participating in a night operation against enemy forces. Please accept on behalf of the United States Marine Corps our sincere sympathy in your bereavement.

L. F. Chapman Jr., General USMC Commandant of the Marine Corps