Warriors, in their own words, is brought to by the Honor Project, committed to putting the heroes of our nation on record.

This presentation is dedicated to the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

John C. Muir was a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War.

He hailed from four generations of men and women who served in

distinguished military service. He was also cousin to John Muir, the famous naturalist and

conservationist, who has been called the father of America's national parks. In 1965,

John Muir volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps and was sent to Vietnam.

We interviewed him in 1994, and he was an excellent storyteller who delivered powerful words about fighting the war and returning home.

I was with Echo Company, Second Battalion First Marines.

My MOS was 0-311, which is basic Marine Corps riflemen, which is a good definition of the bottom of the pile.

What are your impressions of basic training, maybe juxtaposing that the times of the day, the time you went in, and the 60s, what was that

all about for you?

Well, first of all, in juxtaposing the basic training regimen with the 60s, probably

doesn't really work in this instance because I went to basic training in September of 1965.

And at that time most of the country was either unaware of the war in Vietnam or totally behind it.

There was no real significant anti-war movement per se at that time. The beginnings of the student unrest were

starting to be felt, but they were really talking about other subjects other than a war.

It wasn't until a little later on that the war became one of their primary focuses.

And I come from a military family anyway. As a matter of fact, the second day I was

in boot camp, my uncle was killed in Vietnam. He was the battalion commander of third

battalion, 3rd Marines, and Lieutenant Colonel. And at the time he was the highest-ranking

American that had been killed in Vietnam. And that was the beginnings of my education as to the reality of the war as opposed to my

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