I received this interesting note from an ex-Marine regarding my article on Eddie Slovik:

During the Vietnam era, while in the marines, I found myself faced with a similar moral conviction as Slovik. I wasn’t in Vietnam, but I found that I had to make a choice to accept the immoral garbage or go UA(AWOL).

I feel a kinship with Slovik, but when I first heard his story, I thought of him as a coward and a shirker. Funny how circumstances change us. I “quit” the marines and was gone for 8 months, and the FBI arrested me and took me back. I stood a Special Court Martial and defended myself. Fortunately someone “up there” was looking down on me, because the marines apologized to me and promoted me meritoriously. To my knowledge, I’m the only marine to do that. I learned the old adage about walking a mile in the shoes of another before you judge them.

RH

The Best of Laurence M. Vance