Following in the footsteps of three older brothers, Roger Busch joined the Navy in 1966. After basic training in San Diego, he was sent to Hospital Corps School at Balboa Naval Hospital, and then duty at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He received orders to the Marine Corps, trained at Camp Pendleton, then deployed to Vietnam in June 1966. Busch was assigned to Lima, 3/3 and was out in the field most of the time as the corpsmen on search and destroy patrols all along McNamara’s Line (or “wall”), including stints at The Rockpile, Khe Sanh, Gio Linh, Ca Lu, Dong Ha, Con Thien, and the C-2 Bridge by the DMZ. Busch discusses bonding with guys over sports (“if it ends in ball, I'm going to like you”), and rock ‘n roll; he describes patrols, outposts, bunkers, P-38 can openers, incoming rockets and mortars, and ambushes. He recalls the Marines’ camaraderie, the E-tool, R&R in Panang, Malaysia, a Bouncing Betty, a Thanksgiving meal, and a great friendship with Barton Haynes, Springsteen’s first drummer, who was killed in action.