Cleveland veteran is part of new book telling the story of an Army infantry ...
The story of how he nearly died one day in Vietnam is part of the contributions by Cleveland attorney Patrick McLaughlin to the just-published book, " Dogface Charlie ."
The book traces the 1966-1969 experiences of the soldiers of Charlie Co., 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division during the war in Vietnam.
"They're real-life stories told by the guys who lived it," McLaughlin said. "But it's not all blood and guts."
He noted that the book's nearly three dozen contributors include the wives, widows and other family members of these soldiers, all providing vignettes of their experiences during the war.
Former Sgt. "Mac" McLaughlin has two contributions in the book. One deals with battles in the Binh Long Province in 1967 -- including the machine-gun incident that McLaughlin survived by diving to one side at the last second.
His other contribution to the book features assorted personalities, incidents and bygone battle buddies of the war.
