It had been over fifty years since Leland had volunteered to serve in Vietnam at the age of eighteen and served fourteen months in the infantry. He did not want to talk about it-the nightmares were enough-although he was very thankful to God for bringing him through many scraps that he should not have lived through. He served as the point man for over eight of those fourteen months. The point man was the first man to walk through the jungle or down the rice paddy dike while everyone else in the platoon walked at six feet intervals behind him. At one time, after getting back home, he found himself disgruntled enough to sell his metals in a garage sale.