Transcript
My mom always talked about the Marines liberating Guam
in World War II, and we were grateful,
so I always wanted to be a Marine.
So because it was the height of the war -- and in some ways
I thought, "I better get in this before it was over."
It was like one of those World War II movies, you know,
"Let's all get in this before it's all over
and we'll be home by Christmas."
Well, I didn't feel we were going to be home by Christmas,
but I knew I had to do something,
and I enlisted in the Marine Corps right out of the blue.
My band even said, "We're becoming successful,
we're playing the big clubs, and you decided
to go in the Marine Corps, shave your head?"
I said, "Yeah, I have to, I just feel like I need to do that."
And when I told my dad, he slapped me
because I was the third son that will be going over to Vietnam,
and he didn't want to put my mom through that again.