It was in some god-forsaken outpost far, far away and long ago. It was probably near the "Parrot's Beak," a geographical part of South Vietnam that bordered Cambodia. It was muggy, hot and smelled bad. It always smelled bad.

An officer from Battalion came around and informed all the officers what had happened the day before back in Memphis, Tennessee. He told me and the other Lieutenants to be careful and make certain none of the "Brothers" went crazy when they got the news.

I went to the platoon sergeant and gathered the squad leaders. I told them. Two of the squad leaders were black. I said to them in particular that I would stick close to the platoon and if they needed me I would be there to help try to explain it.

I knew that would be impossible. Who could explain it?

Not much happened that day. We sat around and cleaned gear. We ate mess. We looked up at the cloud cover and wondered if it was going to rain.

We had just done six days in the field. It was a series of long walks and no trouble. Charlie was nowhere to be found, and we were all thankful for that.

But we were tired, and that probably helped keep passions down.

I thought I smelled marijuana a couple times that day, but it didn't bother me. I don't recall much else from that day in March of 1968.

Tomorrow will mark a special spot on another long walk. It will be the inauguration of a man with African American blood in his veins. It is not the end of the long walk, but it certainly is a milestone along the way - an important one along that long and bloody road.

I am so proud of OUR country that I get choked up just thinking about it. I am proud for you and all of us because the day is about to dawn.

I served proudly with your fathers and grandfathers, your cousins and uncles, in a dangerous faraway place. We sweat together. We bled together. We feared together and we suffered the losses of friends and buddies together.

We ate the same stuff and b**ched about it every time. We smoked the same stuff. We drank the same stuff.

We all just wanted to make that date when we could go home in one piece, still breathing.

And we all felt that loss back in 1968.

Dr. Martin Luther King said we would someday see the promised land.

Tonight we are all standing on that mountain and looking over at that promised land.

And we are all standing together.