A Minnesota PBS Initiative
1966
Graduating from Missouri Military Academy in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and sixty five, the first decision I would make, within my first exposure to the world, would be a mistake. I would decide to forgo college for the adventures of war. Then I would quickly learn that within war there is no adventure!
This decision would produce images and thoughts that would dwell within my mind, every day, for the remainder of my life. For in my nineteenth year I would become a professional killer and I would kill a large number of people with great precision and little remorse.
This decision would produce images and thoughts that would dwell within my mind, every day, for the remainder of my life.
I would arrive in Vietnam in December 1965 and depart in January 1967 thus the year 1966 was life altering. Fate would deal me a remarkable hand. For within this year I was assigned to the elite of the elite.
The reader should know that I was not qualified for such a task. But Recon Marines were being killed faster than trained volunteers could be found. I would live through this incredible experience only because of the skill and professionalism of the Marines that accompanied me into the jungle.
This book is our story. It is a story of the joys of life and the sadness of death. This story travels from the exhilaration of survival to the despair of defeat. Within this story is a degree of camaraderie that only the damned can share.
The darkened meandering maze we call the Vietnam War split my beloved country in two. It is for this reason that I make an effort to write about the how’s and why’s. For only through knowledge can we learn. There are 58,153 names carved into the sacred wall of granite and 2,503 reported as missing in action. It is for them, my comrades, that I have pushed this pen.
Also, you must know one basic fact: I will take to my grave an immense amount of pride in the realization that I was once and will always be “a combat veteran of the United States Marine Corps.”
Please note that the photographs are a gift from the participants.
SEMPER FIDELIS Michael Rosendahl Kissimmee, Florida
www.usmc1strecon.com
Biographical Details
Submitted From: Kissimmee, FL
Primary Location During Vietnam: Chu Lai, Vietnam 
Story Subject: Military Service
Veteran Organization: VFW, DAV
Unit: C Co. 1st Recon Bn 1st Mar Div USMC
Specialty: 0311/8651 (Rifleman/Recon Scout)
Story Themes: Brotherhood, Charlie Company, Combat, Correspondence, DAV, Death and Loss, Disab, KIA, Killed in Action, Luck, Marines, Memorial, MIA, Missing In Action, Missouri Military Academy, Nancy Sinatra, Pop Culture, Recon, Reflection, The Vietnam Memorial, The Vietnam Wall, Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW