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Article: Mendoza shares military experience
- Article from:
- Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
- Article date:
- August 27, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Albert Mendoza thought service to his country was more important
than a high school diploma. He had enough credits to graduate, but
left school in 1964 to enlist in the Marine Corps.
Thinking you can fight is one thing, said the 62-year-old Vietnam
veteran in the comfort of his La Verne home. It didn't take long for
war's harsh realities to hit the teenager whose childhood ended in
the jungles and rice paddies of Southeast Asia.
Like millions of "the few, the proud," Mendoza refuses to put
"ex" in front of the word Marine.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he declared.
Mendoza did two tours in Vietnam. He was admittedly troubled by
the death that surrounded him, but he stubbornly refused to ...