Rattlesnake Dreams: An American Warriors Story

This is not my story, and I apologize I do not know Dean's unit or rank. It is about a friend, who I met in Santa Cruz, CA through a group of long distance runners. It was possibly in the late 70's, while we were all on a very long run in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Dean, as I knew him, shared a memory about a horrible engagement that he and his platoon were assigned as a diversion to a bigger military engagement during the Vietnam war. He said they were sacrificed, never expected to return. I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember his commitment, to return as a journalist to document the atrocities of his experiences. Yes, it is a bit fuzzy, but it wasn't until 2016 when I read his self-published book, "Rattlesnake Dreams", that I knew he fulfilled his commitment and life's work. A remarkable story, and a memoir that began in the Vietnamese Village of Tho An, in April 1966. The story he first shared with me was one I could never put aside, much less forget, it was unbelievable, the idea that we could sacrifice over 58,000 of our own warriors, and more than 700,00 Vietnamese during the course of the War. Dean passed away in February of 2017, shortly after his 74th birthday. I was glad that our lives had crossed paths, if ever so briefly, and to have been able to understand more of his life through his memoir. I hope contributing Dean's work to Operation Triumphus will leave a legacy for all of our warriors that have fought for the freedom of others. Thank you for your service.