Lewis B. Puller Jr.

Perhaps a soldier's greatest fear in the jungles of Vietnam was being the victim of a booby trap set by the Viet Cong. The VC were experts in concealing booby traps such as pits filled with pungi sticks (bamboo stakes sharpened to a point that would easily shred flesh). Other deadly traps included rigging grenades or land mines to trip wires. When a soldier broke the wire, usually by walking through it, the explosive was set off. Many mines were set to explode two or three feet off the ground, with the intention of literally tearing a man in half. Lewis B. Puller Jr. was the victim of a VC booby trap.

Puller, the son of Lt. Gen. "Chesty" Puller—the most decorated Marine in U.S. history, with fifty-three ribbons and medals—followed in his father's footsteps...