93K views · 1.6K reactions | "If you really want to be a master, you might just have to go out and buy yourself a pistol." — Gunner Wade, the 2nd Marine Division Gunner | U.S. Marine Corps | Facebook

Life expectancy for a machine gunner in Vietnam was 2.8 seconds. U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Private First Class Charles Armitage learned that all too well in January 1969 serving as an M60 machine gunner while attached to Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. Listen to Charles tell his story of how a medical corpsman sealed his fate with a toe tag and a status of “killed in action” as we commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day in another episode of “Stories of Valor.” | U.S. Department of Ve