http://www.oralhistory.ws/tpl/norton_audio.php?file=4d28fe8a4d0cc9c06cf456fc0bc42e04c18e8c4c.mp3

Mr. Bayard grew up in Sulphur, but is a native of Pleasant Hill, where he spent much of his time at his grandfathers home on the Civil War battlefield of April 9, 1864. He joined the United States Marine Corps on September 12, 2001. Mr. Bayard yearned to fight as an infantryman in the fight against terrorism, but was detailed to drive a wrecker in the long march from Kuwait to Baghdad in the Iraq War in 2003. He was awarded the coveted Combat Action Ribbon, but the experience of the war affected him deeply when he returned home, especially when casual friends would blurt out very awkward questions.