The author of Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden, recently wrote in The Atlantic about the passing of Richard “Lefty” Leflar of West Conshohocken (pictured right above). Bowden met Leflar when he was interviewing veterans of the Vietnam War for his follow-up to Black Hawk Down, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam.

The article in The Atlantic is titled, “‘Okay, I Will Join the Marines’” and is described as the story of Lefty Leflar, who “epitomizes the experience of countless young Americans for whom the Vietnam War never ended.”

The first paragraph of the article:

The old Marine Richard “Lefty” Leflar died two weeks ago at his home in West Conshohocken, just outside Philadelphia, mean as ever, at the end of an afternoon of watching football, smoking cigarettes, and eating waffles with ice cream; his body riddled with half-century-old shrapnel, his back killing him, his heart wittering; yelling into the phone at his son, Brian, who lived a few doors away, to “run down the fucking street and carry me up the fucking steps!”

Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall, however The Atlantic does offer a free trial.

Photo: VietnamWarHeroes.org