Question
I’m a Native American, Ho Chunk Nation, from Wisconsin.
On or about Christmas time 1968, I experienced my very first firefight—it was terrifying. Before the Dewey Canyon operation in A Shau Valley, one of my closest friends was killed while walking point; I volunteered to take over his job. It’s nerve-racking and tiresome to walk alone far up in front of my platoon and my company. Walking point, life expectancy is very short; usually the first contact with the enemy you were killed or wounded. I was good and became a deadly killer and hunted for the enemy and did my job well. I was never scared. The only fear I had was the fear of being captured.
One time I was on guard duty when a blue flare exploded above us. Suddenly the enemy attacked us in waves. We held our positions and fought them off until the sun came up when it was over. We captured an enemy soldier. I wanted to kill him but I chose not to because he was not on equal terms with me. We went out on patrols to look for more. With my platoon I came upon an enemy soldier, shot a whole clip of rounds in him and killed him.
In fall 1969 they started pulling some of the 3rd Marines Division out of Vietnam—my tour had ended. I left Vietnam and flew to Okinawa. I left there and landed at Travis Air Force Base in California. March of 1970 it was cold; the snow was flying when I finally made it home to Wisconsin where my journey had all started. I was discharged from the U. S. Marine Corps on September 1971. Memories still haunt me when I was a young Ho Chunk Marine that went to war and survived through many firefights on the battlegrounds from A Shau Valley, to Laos, the DMZ and the jungles of Vietnam.
Summarize the story you read in 2 to 3 sentences in your own words. write in 6th grade level
On or about Christmas time 1968, I experienced my very first firefight—it was terrifying. Before the Dewey Canyon operation in A Shau Valley, one of my closest friends was killed while walking point; I volunteered to take over his job. It’s nerve-racking and tiresome to walk alone far up in front of my platoon and my company. Walking point, life expectancy is very short; usually the first contact with the enemy you were killed or wounded. I was good and became a deadly killer and hunted for the enemy and did my job well. I was never scared. The only fear I had was the fear of being captured.
One time I was on guard duty when a blue flare exploded above us. Suddenly the enemy attacked us in waves. We held our positions and fought them off until the sun came up when it was over. We captured an enemy soldier. I wanted to kill him but I chose not to because he was not on equal terms with me. We went out on patrols to look for more. With my platoon I came upon an enemy soldier, shot a whole clip of rounds in him and killed him.
In fall 1969 they started pulling some of the 3rd Marines Division out of Vietnam—my tour had ended. I left Vietnam and flew to Okinawa. I left there and landed at Travis Air Force Base in California. March of 1970 it was cold; the snow was flying when I finally made it home to Wisconsin where my journey had all started. I was discharged from the U. S. Marine Corps on September 1971. Memories still haunt me when I was a young Ho Chunk Marine that went to war and survived through many firefights on the battlegrounds from A Shau Valley, to Laos, the DMZ and the jungles of Vietnam.
Summarize the story you read in 2 to 3 sentences in your own words. write in 6th grade level
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The story is about a Native American man from the Ho Chunk Nation who served as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam during the late 1960s. He experienced his first firefight around Christmas in 1968 and took over a dangerous role called "walking point," where he had to lead his platoon while facing enemy threats. After serving in Vietnam and witnessing many battles, he returned home to Wisconsin in 1970, but the memories of his time in the war continued to affect him.