Donald P. (Don) Dorsey is a Viet Nam War veteran. This is his story:  

“In May of 1968, after completing my fourth year of a 6-year study in Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin, I quit school to join the Marine Corps. At the time, The Corps needed troops badly and was offering a 2-year enlistment. Although I was against the war and had attended a few anti-war rallies in college, I still felt obligated to serve my country, even in a bad war. At the time, my twin brother was a Marine rifleman already in Vietnam. I was 22 years old. I refused Officer Candidate School (OCS) as offered by the recruiter.

I entered boot camp (MCRD San Diego) Dec 2 and began my training. I did well and quickly moved up from squad leader to right guide (acting platoon sergeant). At the end of training, I graduated top Marine in my platoon of roughly 90 guys and received the leadership award. I was designated Honor Man, receiving a promotion and a free Dress Blue Uniform, and assigned the military occupation of basic rifleman. I was again offered OCS, but again refused.

My next stop was Camp Pendleton where I entered Infantry Training Regiment (ITR) serving as Squad Leader. Next came Basic Infantry Training (BITs) where I became acting Platoon Sergeant, though I only held the rank of PFC. Older than most trainees, I could readily see that these young kids were going to get me killed. At that time in Vietnam, the casualty rate for Marine riflemen was 50%. I volunteered for special training as a Scout Sniper. After a thorough background check, I was accepted into the sniper program at Pendleton, where I graduated in a tie for first place. Just prior to that time, my twin had been wounded. After a couple months in the hospital, his foot was patched up, and he was sent back into the field, limping. Because of the “Sullivan Law,” family members can refuse to serve in a combat zone at the same time. I waived that right so as to replace him in combat. I arrived in Vietnam in June of 1969, and my twin was sent to Okinawa a couple days later. Shortly thereafter, his company was hit hard and many of his friends were killed.

A regimental sniper, I was assigned to First Marine Regiment south of DaNang, where I was “issued” out to field units in 2-man killer and reconnaissance teams. Early in my tour, I was sent to an advanced sniper school in DaNang, where I graduated number one in my class with a perfect score, a rare occurrence. Because I was a good shot and knew my field craft, I moved up quickly from Spotter to Team Leader to Squad Leader. Toward the end of my tour, I served as acting Platoon Commander for 2 months. At the time, I was only a Corporal. After serving 11 months and 27 days as a sniper, my tour was complete. I left Vietnam for San Diego. Six days after leaving Vietnam, my promotion to SGT caught up to me, and I was honorably discharged under the “early out program” and sent home to Port Neches, Texas. That was June 1970. I had served roughly 19 months in The Corps. Although I’d been running assassination teams and reconnaissance missions for a year, I received no decompression and no psychological evaluation. Coming home was a culture shock.