Darren Walton grew up north of San Francisco and stood out as a distance runner in high school. When he found out he would soon be drafted into the U.S. Army, Walton joined the Marine Corps, intending to be part ofthe track team. Things did not turn out that way, and Walton was soon undergoing all sorts of elite special forces training and eventually being assigned to a USMC reconnaissance unit.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," we share the first half of Walton's story of service. He explains the training he went through, how a recon team is assembled, how it prepped for missions, and what it was like to be the point man.

Walton also shares battling the jungle along with the enemy, difficult life and death decisions that had to be made within seconds, and having to be extracted after being attacked by "rock apes."

And don't miss next week's podcast when Walton shares his most harrowing moments in Vietnam, being snatched from almost certain death by extraction teams who disobeyed orders, how the Marines helped a local Vietnamese orphanage, and how hostility to the war back home compelled Walton to keep his service hidden for more than 40 years.