“These five pictures- all taken by Maggie of me on the occasion of our first wedding anniversary: September 11, 1966. Sadly the pictures do not include her, although her presence is everywhere evident in our humble one bedroom apartment on Orange St. in Oakland. We chose to celebrate at an intimate dinner for two that included champagne and wedding cake which was left over from our wedding reception on Treasure Island the year before. I had arrived home 10 days prior at Travis Air Force Base to be greeted lovingly and tearfully by Maggie.
“Note how thin and tanned I was after 10 months in Vietnam!
“Not exactly heroic thin, but nerdy and looking all of 18 even though I was 27. What a cruel thing was done to me: sent into combat one month after my marriage in a position (firing battery executive officer) for which I was not trained and with a battalion commander who was an alcoholic destined to be relieved of command.” — Richard John Geib
