Boy Sergeant

<p>A college dropout who was drafted to serve his country Doug Warden was barely 20 years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1967 as a private first class. He was “green as a gourd” in the ways of warfare but he stayed alive listened and learned from his platoon leader and became a capable leader. He was first a rifleman then a few days later a Radio Telephone Operator for his platoon leader and then for his company commander. He gave up the relative safety of serving in the company command<br />post to return to his platoon. He became a squad leader platoon sergeant and platoon leader in a remarkable short period of time. He would return to the states a staff sergeant with 5 months time in grade. Along the way Doug became one of the most decorated soldiers in the 1st Battalion 12th Cavalry.</p><p> </p>