Barry Fixler - Semper Cool: One Marines Fond Memories of Vietnam

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I finished reading Semper Cool and wanted to let you know that your story will stay with me forever... When I have a bad day and I am feeling bad about my loss, I will think of you and the inspiration I felt as I read your story. It helped me to understand what my son was going through in Afghanistan.

CHERYL HODGES, gold star mother of CHRISTOPHER R. HRBEK, USMC,
Killed In Action January 14, 2010

Your stories of combat are timeless and will resonate with warriors across the generations, from Vietnam and Afghanistan.

GENERAL JAMES N. MATTIS, USMC,
commander in chief, U.S. Central Command

Barry Fixler, a Jewish kid from suburban Long Island, N.Y., joined the Marine Corps when he was 18 years old because he believed he needed discipline; he was right. The result is Semper Cool, which I recommend be submitted for a Pulitzer Prize. The book is an incredibly detailed account of the making of a United States Marine. Youthful hormones permeate it. Fixlers Vietnam buddies are always tired, hungry or horny. The crotch crabs tale is worth the price of the book.

TOM T.J. COLLINS, retired journalist,
CBS Evening News and Newsday

If War is Hell, Barry Fixler discovered an even grimmer inferno in Vietnam. A riveting, incomparable, firsthand account of a combat Marines experiences and the intriguing aftermath effects on a young warrior.

SELWYN RAAB, author of
Five Families (a New York Times bestseller)

No book to date covers a Marine's journey before during and after the Vietnam conflict with so much depth, understanding and passion as Barry Fixler's Semper Cool.

DAN LAURIA, USMC (ret.),
AKA "Jack Arnold The Wonder Years

Semper Cool provides a tremendous insight into the role the experience of war can play in the development of loyalty, morality and courage. Barry Fixler has enabled non-combatants like me to understand how service in Vietnam could transform a clueless adolescent into a man of honor.

RITA TAVEL FOGELMAN, director,
West Nyack Free Library

This is a powerful and raw book about one man's experience of war in Vietnam. It is unflinching, direct and scary on several different levels.

JOHN D., book blogger, layersofthought.net

It's terrifying... I recommend it.

T.D. MISCHKE, The Nite Show With Mischke,
CBSRADIO WCCO AM830

ONE MARINE'S
FOND MEMORIES OF VIETNAM

Copyright 2010 by Barry Fixler.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This is a work of nonfiction. In an effort to disguise the identities of some of the individuals, certain names and personal characteristics have been changed. Any resulting resemblance to individuals, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional.

Published by EXALT PRESS NEW YORK, LLC.

Publisher's Cataloging-in-Publication
Fixler, Barry.
Semper cool : one marines fond memories of Vietnam /
Barry Fixler. 1st ed.
p. cm.
LCCN 2010933990
ISBN-13: 978-0-9825184-0-3
1. Fixler, Barry. 2. Vietnam War, 1961-1975
VeteransBiography. 3. MarinesBiography. 4. Vietnam
War, 1961-1975Personal narratives. I. Title.
DS560.72.P39F59 2010 959.7043092
QBI10-600160
ISBN-13: 978-0-9825184-2-7 (Kindle K3v01.10)

Formatted for the Kindle 3 by Taylor Dye
Cover design by John Hamilton

For Mitch Sandman
and Mike Lucas

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You might wonder why I titled this book Semper Cool: One Marines Fond Memories of Vietnam. How, you might ask, could I have fond memories of Vietnam? I saw Marines severely wounded or killed on a regular basis. I endured the horrible hardships of combat. How could I have fond memories?

There is no doubting that I am a very lucky man. At most reunions with my war buddies, Im usually the only one without a Purple Heart, which is awarded to those wounded in combat.

Somehow I made it through the Siege of Khe Sanh and the worst that Vietnam could throw at me and suffered little more than a scratch, when men all around me were wounded or killed.

I look at myself today, and Im in great shape. I came home from Vietnam mentally and physically sound, and that is reason enough to have fond memories.

Since Vietnam, Ive had success in life and in business, and to this day, I attribute my accomplishments and the way I conduct myself to the values instilled in me by the United States Marine Corps and lessons I learned in Southeast Asia.

Every Marine is responsible for the legacy of the Corps. I never want to be the one who tarnishes that, and still I want to do more. Thats why I am pledging all of my profits100 percent of my royaltiesfrom this book to wounded combat veterans and their families and the children of warriors that were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for our country.

Vietnam was an adventure. Some days were pure horror, while other days were just plain miserable. I saw a lot of death at a young age. Yet, when it all was over, despite the hardship and horror, I felt as if I had accomplished something important. I still feel that way.

I would do everything again in a heartbeat, no second-guessing. Of course, Marines were hurt and killed. I feel terrible about all of the men who lost their lives or their good health, but if I had to do it over again, I would.

The Marines gave me quiet confidence, and my combat experience left me with healthy self-esteem.

I could attend a dinner with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whos a multibillionaire, and maybe a few dignitaries or doctors or lawyers, and I wouldnt feel inferior. I am as much their equal as they are mine.

I am a combat veteran, a combat veteran. I helped fight a war and I put my life on the line when my country asked me to. Thats all the confidence I need to hold my own in any group.

I joined the Marine Corps in part to earn my fathers respect. I grew up hearing all of his Army stories from World War II in the Pacific and how in awe he was of the Marines. My dad was proud of my service, and that means the world to me, and I am proud of the men and women who continue to risk their lives to defend our country and the ideals it stands for.

Dont move or Ill fucking kill you!

The big guy in the black trench coat across the counter of my jewelry store shoved an automatic pistol into my face and screamed while his partner in white stood to his side.