Colin Broussard

I was 24 the day Saigon fell.

I arrived in Saigon in November of 1974. Before that I'd been at the U.S. Embassy in Nepal. I'd had both Embassy guard training and special training to be a bodyguard.

In Saigon I was one of the Ambassador's personal bodyguards.

Despite the tense situation, I never felt scared. Your marine training just takes over during a time like this. You don't think. You don't have a whole bunch of feelings.

After everything was over and we were on our way out, aboard the 7th fleet in the South China Sea I began to feel sorry that we'd left so many Vietnamese behind. And I feel sorry for the 56,000 Americans who died for nothing.

I grew up in Deer Park, Texas. I enlisted in the Marines after I graduated from high school in 1969. Texas is a patriotic place. Deer Park is a small town-there were no hippies, no one was smoking dope. We joined up because we felt it was our duty to serve our country.

I would encourage any young person to give the U.S. Marine Corps a try. A young American should try to serve his country. And when you leave the Marines your experience and training will help you the rest of your life. You learn leadership skills, poise, courage and self-confidence.