BlueGhosts - Marshall Barrentine

Every afternoon, when I would come in from work, my wife, Shirlene, who was pregnant with my first son Michael, would say, " Did you hear about so-and-so, he got his draft notice today?" I could see the hand-writing on the wall so I joined Nov. 16,1969. I went through Basic Training at Ft. Benning, Ga. From there I went to Ft. Rucker, AL. for Aircraft. Mech. and Repair. I arrived in Blueghost Country June 2nd-1970 and went straight to work in the Maintenance Hangar. About a month went by and one morning somebody asked for a volunteer to go to "Guns". Guess who volunteered? One of the first guys I met was Sgt. Dale Baker, who was getting pretty close to going home. He was very helpful in getting me settled in and to this day a dear friend.

I was with F Troop 8th Cav. when we moved from Chu Lai to Quang Tri. They were a great bunch of guys, Gary Hughes, Hector Mendoza, Paul Asvitt, Mike Connor, Paul Metevier, Clinton Brown, Tudor Esquire III, Campbell,Tucker, Julio and others that I can not remember their names but they will always be in my thoughts. When I was rotated back to the states I went to Hunter Army Airfield at Savannah, GA. From there I went to Germany for three years with the 159th Medical Detachment stationed at Montieth Barracks just out-side of Nuremberg. When I came back to the States I went to Ft.Campbell,KY., where I ETS'd on Dec.12-1977.




Larry Payne & M. Barrentine	Phillips & Marshall B.

Back home in Marianna, FL, I went to work as a Correctional Officer for the state of Florida. On Thanksgiving night 1997, while getting ready for work, I had a massive heart attack, and was forced into early Medical Retirement. It surely changes your whole life when something like that happens, but I am still here, by the grace of God, and I take life one day at a time.

I will always cherish the life-long friendships I made in Vietnam and my time in the U.S. Army, but I will always be........... BLUEGHOSTS FOREVER!


Barrentine & Turner

Tail # 627 shot down in Aug-Sept of 1970. The engine was shot out, then a hard landing, the crew survived.	M Barrentine

Photos from Dale Baker.