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Major Donald W. Griffis, USMC (ret.)
“has practiced for over 26 years in West Texas and, prior to that, served as a law clerk to Honorable Joe E. Estes,
United States District Judge, in Dallas. Before going to work for Judge Estes, Mr. Griffis served for three years on active
duty as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He served in Vietnam as both a Staff Legal Officer and as an Infantry
Officer and then was assigned to teach military law at the Marine Corps Basic School, Quantico, Virginia.” Major Donald
W. Griffis is the author of Eagle Days: A Marine Legal/Infantry Officer in Vietnam.
According to the book description of
Eagle Days: A Marine Legal/Infantry Officer in Vietnam, “This is a unique view of the War
in Vietnam. Much has been written about America's war in Vietnam, and an enduring and troubling subtext is the composition
of the body of soldiers that made up the U.S. troop deployment: from the initially well-trained and disciplined group of largely
elite units that served in the mid-sixties to what has been termed an "armed mob" by the end of that decade and
into the early 1970s. Drug use, insubordination, racial antagonism that often became violent, theft and black market dealing,
and even "fragging" (murder of officers and senior noncoms by disgruntled troops) marred the record of the U.S.
military presence. Griffis served in the twin roles of legal officer charged at various times with the task of both defending
and prosecuting servicemen, while at the same time leading combat patrols in "search and destroy" missions against
the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese enemy. His account is therefore remarkable in its personal record of experiencing what
the military should do best - meet, engage, and defeat the enemy - and what it becomes when esprit de corps, discipline, and
a sense of purpose decay.”
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