Gerald, I gotta ask: after =40= years, are 2 guys gonna =remember=, much less recognize, each other?

Quite often . . . yes.

Before I got a computer, I called Camp Pendelton to ask if there was someone who knew if there was a regimental historian for the Ninth Marines.

The individual I talked to didn't know of anyone, but he gave me the phone number of a retired Lieutenant Colonel, (Chester Farmer) who was living in San Diego.

I called him and introduced myself, asking him about a Regimental Historian. He said he didn't know of one, and then asked if I was related to Audrey Valentine. I told him I was his son, and he said, "I remember your dad! I was the platoon sargent of the mortar platoon he was in."

He gave me the phone number of a man in Louisiana. When I called him and told him who I was, he said, "Lieutenant Lightsey told me that your father was dead! I was the one who took his place when he was hit!"

I gave him my dad's phone number, and I gather that he and dad spent a few hours on the phone together.

So, yeah, people do remember.

Ken V.

Thanks, Ken.