Produced by the I-Lab at W-B-U-R, Boston.

Welcome to Kind World.

I'm Andrea Aswahi.

And I'm Yasminammer.

You know, if you've ever lost a loved one,

then you understand how important it is to honor their legacy.

This week, I've got a story about a man who's on a mission to

honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

232 GIs killed and 900 wounded makes one of the heaviest weeks of the Vietnam War.

1965, the first American combat troops land in Vietnam.

Two years later, Gary Marquard was 18 years old.

Almost 20,000 American troops had already died in the war. Get him back here if you can, can you move him?

Gary knew he was going to Vietnam.

He didn't think he'd live past 25.

I could see my own death.

I was going to be running with an M16 through a rice patty and

get shot up.

Gary is from a poor working-class family, mom, dad, six kids, who lived in Sioux

Falls, South Dakota. His father was a World War II veteran who worked at the local

meat packing plant. Home life was rough. His father was an alcoholic and the

family sometimes didn't have enough money for heat. As the draft for Vietnam ramped up, young

healthy men with no college deferment, men like Gary, were at the top of the list.

...