On my next long-range patrol, and just for timeline context, it was an historic day for the world. Upon arriving at our combat base, I walked into an area where a radio was booming. Instead of that sickening song “Aquarieeeuss” playing for the umpteenth time, there was a news report. It was about mid afternoon Vietnam time. “Hey, Gentle Ben, guess what? They’re walking on the moon right now!” I nodded, then said, “big f-in’ deal, let them come walk the Da Krong Valley for a few days and I’ll be impressed.” Of course, as a space nut, I was indeed impressed – but too hard, bitter and exhausted to care at the immediate moment.
I am convinced that the so-called “thousand-yard stare” and for me which had become the thousand-mile stare, is undoubtedly a hormonal result of some sort.
About two months later my unit was pulled out of Vietnam as part of Nixon’s Vietnamization process. I spent the next three and half months in Okinawa and The Philippines. My diet was about to experience its first yo-yo maneuver of my young life. But there’d would be yet another curve thrown my way … I was sent back to Vietnam in early 1970. (Thankfully a much more benign stint of two months.)
Still hovering near the 125-130 pounds plateau, after those two days on the wooden throne, I returned to the world of the living, eating and hydrating in Okinawa. Chow was plentiful, pretty darn good compared to C-Rations, we were given liberty from Friday evening until Sunday and we spent much of that time eating excellent Japanese/Okinawan dishes in the various nearby cities and hamlets. Of course, the indigenous population had learned it was economically beneficial to learn to cook American cuisine as well. We pigged out on some good hybrid dishes in those months. We also slept – a lot and I mean a lot. And we didn’t worry near as much about whether we’d live to see another sun rise. We were, after all, young and immortal. And we had just proven it by surviving a shooting-war.
Of course, Uncle Sam wanted to keep us combat ready so he again marched us and ran us regularly. But hardly the regimen we faced in either boot camp or Vietnam. My weight increased steadily over the next three months to a shocking (LOL) 155 pounds. I was nearing 160 pounds when I realized I needed to start running a little more. It helped some, but not much. I couldn’t get below that 155-pound mark.
Then we discovered amphetamines! Those little red pills that could easily be purchased over the counter in Okinawan villages were put to good use, even though the Corps outlawed them. We used them anyway. After all, what were they going to do to us? Send us to Vietnam? They helped on 20-mile forced marches, kept us well awake during night guard duty, led to some good long rap sessions with friends and helped us lose weight. Thankfully, they were not so available as to get anyone hooked, that I knew of. And for the guys that liked to do a hunger-induced doobie every once in a while, the reds kept their weights down as well. Honestly, I never smoked cigarettes and hated the smell of marijuana so I never imbibed overseas. So I just took some reds when we had them. Oh, and I got my weight back down to 150. 
So. What have I learned from this retrospective? Dr. Fung and the Keto people are onto something old but new and interesting, if not phenomenally effective. The Eat Less, Move More philosophy certainly applied in Marine Corps boot camp and then again in Vietnam but it was to a gross extent and not nearly a viable diet plan to the non-warrior. (The Vietnam War Diet far out paces today’s Warrior Diet.)
But when returned to a lifestyle of available and plentiful food filled with carbs and no guidance or directive, my weight began to return at a rapid pace, even though I was still quite fit. This happened both between boot camp and going to Vietnam; and again when returning from Vietnam. I needed guidance and could have benefited from a forum such as this.
I also realize now what a big role hormones – especially cortisone – and sleep can play in your life.
As for fasting – a regimen that I am newly adhering to with gusto, amazement and intrigue – I can’t really say we fasted in Vietnam. Surely we must have been in a keto state and many times so. We ate regularly and snacked when we could and the C-Rations were filled with carbs and sugars. Precious little time for our system to quit squirting insulin. The things we craved the most was fast food, of course. We chatted often about cheeseburgers, cold cokes, cold beer, real candy bars, what we were going to have our moms cook for us when we got home, and planned binges of cold beer and hot gumbo, etc. At some points we obsessed over food and it was rarely over so-called healthy meals.
There was once some nameless government survey taken of Vietnam veterans and we were asked to list the top five things we wanted to do first when we got home. The results were surprising: 1. Sleep. 2. Eat. 3. Drink. 4. Sex. 5. Drive a car again. Sex finished FOURTH! And we were 19.
And that last statement might sum up all of our ability to survive the dietary and hormonal strains on our bodies.
We were 19.
Of course, now 49 years later, I deal with the subsequent maladies of PTSD, Agent Orange related heart disease and a melancholy I never thought I would experience. I, for one, am not sure I want to be 18 or 19 again … but 20 yes.
(Thank you for reading.)
There is much that goes into a life.