Still Standing: How a Year of War Shaped a Life of Opportunity (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781971678498)

What are you going to do? Send me to Vietnam?

At just twenty-two years old, after leaving college to join the US Army, Marc Lawrence boarded a flight with no idea what awaited him in the jungles of Vietnam. Assigned as an artillery officer to an infantry unit, he spent weeks on the front lines in the Plei Trap Valley, directing artillery fire against North Vietnamese forces while facing constant danger. Whether confronting enemy fire at close range or surviving a North Vietnamese Army mortar attack, Marc often wondered if a guardian angel was watching over him.

A year later, carrying home the memories of combat and several decorations for valor-honors he insists simply reflected a soldier doing his duty-Marc returned to Florida determined to build a new life. He resumed his education, earned two degrees in geology, and embarked on a successful forty-year career in applied geophysics. His work took him around the world and, in a remarkable full-circle moment, back to Vietnam-this time as a civilian seeking opportunity rather than survival.

Still Standing is more than a Vietnam War memoir. It is a story of resilience, per severance, leadership, and redemption. The lessons forged in combat became the foundation for overcoming setbacks, embracing new opportunities, and building a meaningful life. Forever changed by war, Marc discovered that survival was only the beginning. The greater challenge-and greatest victory-was learning how to keep moving forward.