BARRY: Bobby was one month younger than me, and we were raised like brothers.
I enlisted in the army to go to Vietnam, that was my intention.
And he didn’t want to go in the military, but he got drafted anyway.
They sent him to Vietnam, and he ended up being in my brigade.
I became a lieutenant and he begged me to help him get out of the field.
But, I couldn’t help him.
And, my nephew got me out of Vietnam.
One day I got back from a patrol.
They told me, “Your nephew Robert has been killed.
He was running to save a friend of his who had been wounded in battle and he was shot in the throat.
Enemy fire was too intense."
So, they couldn’t retrieve the body and he was in the sun for 48 hours.
A staff sergeant said, “Why don’t we seal it, the body, permanently?
That way your family, they’ll remember him as he looked like when he graduated from high school.” I was then sent to escort the body home.
I had white gloves on, and a uniform with my medals, but I felt dirty.
You know, I thought I was gonna die in Vietnam.
But, I didn’t have to go back there.
I had my ticket punched by my nephew’s blood.
And I felt that I failed him, I failed my family.
And, uh, I still feel guilty to this day.
(music plays through credits)