Hastings Vietnam War vet Natick Veterans Oral History Project

Knowing he would probably be drafted for the Vietnam Conflict, James Hastings nevertheless decided to join the Marine Corps. Training at Parris Island, he wondered “What the heck did I do?” but realized that the USMC strips you down to build you up to be a Marine. Jim tells a gripping story of his time in Vietnam, 1967-68. As a rifleman with the First Marine Division, he not only witnessed, but was a part of a war where friends died and he was severely wounded. The camaraderie he experienced was life-long, and his honest and emotional remembrances of these friends, survival and life after the war are unforgettable.