About
While at Boston College taking a course called The Vietnam Experience, I found myself immersed in the Vietnam War in ways I had never thought of before. I served in the Marines back in the mid 2000’s and was influenced in my youth by movies such as Platoon, Hamburger Hill, and Full Metal Jacket but my military experience would never come close to the horror of the Vietnam War. I was also influenced by the mystery that was my uncle. My uncle had been in Vietnam as a Marine, yet I had never heard him speak of war or the military once. The only obvious symbol of his life in Vietnam was that of a large scar running across his chest and the photos of him in Nam that were sequestered in his basement, where I would gawk over them.
Out of respect for my uncle and the insistence of my mother, all too aware of my interest, I resisted prying into his Vietnam experience as a youth until this college course. I finally asked him some questions and learned that my uncle Paul served with Mike Company, Third Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment from 1967-1968. My intrigue grew and I began researching the 7th Marines on my own. I came across the Mike 3/7 Association website where veterans from my uncle’s unit shared stores and remembrances. From there I read through stories of an attack on Hill 25 which occurred on November 2, 1967. It’s difficult to explain the connection I felt to the ten Marines killed on that day and to the stories shared on the website from and about the men who remembered that fight. I’m not even certain what drove me to write the first few letters to some survivors, but the payoff has been tremendous and a true gift.
This site is the culmination of what has come from retired Marine Gunner Gilbert Bolton giving me a call after receiving my letter in July 2021. He encouraged me to interview the men he served with and to record for posterity the memories of the men who served in M/3/7 and the fight on Hill 25. Since that day, other letters were sent, phone calls had, and incredible visits and interviews followed. Interviewing the survivors of Mike 3/7 from 1967-1968 has been one of my greatest honors and privileges, and the more I hear, I realize I need to learn more. When I wrote an email to George Martin; the Mike 3/7 association’s principal member and reunion organizer, he not only invited me to the Mike 3/7 reunion but forwarded my contact information and letter to all the members of the organization. This influenced interested veterans to reach out to me by phone and email, and as of this post, I have spoken to approximately 22 of Mike Companies’ surviving members. The veterans I have spoken with have helped me get in contact or have pointed me toward the necessary resources to learn as much as I can about the attack on Hill 25 and the stories surrounding Mike company’s time in the Arizona Territory.