Can you describe how you felt coming home from a deployment or combat?

For me it was certainly a mixed bag. Nervous about taking up the mantel of husband and father. Excited to see my family again and concerned that my absence made my young daughter feel like I deserted her.

After leaving Vietnam, I went to Okinawa for four days to pick up the items that I had left there and prepare to go to the states. While there, a Marine that had just arrived from Vietnam, informed me that my best friend had been killed the day after I left Vietnam. I was sad, angry and shocked. Stateside, myself and other Marines, made the trip by bus from Marine Corps Air Station El Toro to LAX. At LAX we were greeted by maggots that tried to block our way, and called us every name they could think of. One woman asked me how many babies had I killed while another told me to repent for my sins. I was in uniform so that I could fly at the military standby rate. I was not in a good mood but I kept my discipline and did not respond to these maggots as I wanted to.

Excited and a little scared too. I would always be so excited to see friends & loved ones but I always felt a little anxious because I didn’t want to be different from what they were hoping to see.