Albert Lawrence grew up in San Mateo, California, and joined the Merchant Marine at age 18. He was drafted into the Army in 1966 at age 19. After basic training and AIT at Fort Ord, he went to OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia and received his commission. He arrived in Vietnam in September of ’67 and spent three months as platoon commander of "the black platoon" (more than 90 percent of his Soldiers were black), 5 months as commanding officer of the division mortar battery, and then three more months commanding his old platoon. He spent his last month as battalion operations officer (S-3). Then-Second Lieutenant Lawrence recalls his first firefight, which happened after his platoon sergeant had been medevac’d with malaria. Lawrence was as scared as everybody else, but his RTO—by his actions only—reminded him of his duty. He also tells the heartbreaking story of a private in his platoon who stepped on a punji stake and ended up dying from the wound. He also remembers his bout with malaria, his fondness for the Montagnards, and his happy return to the Merchant Marine.

Key Words: Tet, Pleiku, Montagnards, USNS General LeRoy Eltinge (T-AP-154)