Archive for the 5thplatoon Category

I went straight from TBS to Recon training at Coronado/Pendleton with my University of NM classmate Rob Barnes and a bunch of Navy Seals, then on to 1st Recon Bn. in DaNang with Rob.

I took over Alpha Co., 2nd Platoon in mid-January and was on my first patrol just before the Tet Offensive started. It was an OP on Hill 423, a ridge above Antenna Valley, SW of Da Nang and W of Marble Mountain. The day the battle started we watched in amazement as the lead elements of an NVA regiment sauntered down the valley toward DaNang. Same thing was happening with two other 1st Recon patrols in Happy Valley and Elephant Valley. Meanwhile Westmoreland and Johnson couldn’t believe there was a war on so all we could do was watch.

Late in the day the U.S. cease fire was lifted and we were able to deploy all the Marine and Army arty, NGF, Marine and Navy air and Spooky gunships we had on stand-by all day. By the end of the day that regiment (and the other two attacking DaNang) ceased to exist as a viable fighting force. It was a beautiful thing!

That night they came to get us. No need to tell any of you what it’s like sitting on a bare hill waiting for the shit to hit the fan. NVA sappers managed to disconnect every trip wire, claymore and other early warning device we had before starting the attack with machine guns and mortars. Our little band held, but not without the help of some fine shooting by Marine 105s. Nothing like dropping 50 and firing for effect on your own position for your baptism of fire. I’m forever grateful to any of you who were pulling the lanyards that first night of Tet.

In addition to running LRPs out of DaNang, I was assigned for a month to the 1st Air Cav for Operation Delaware operating out of Quang Tri into the Ashau Valley. Managed to survive several forced helicopter landings in Bell H-13s and Hughes LOHs caused by excess lead and numerous holes in the cockpit and machinery. Those young hot shot Army pilots all thought they were bullet proof. But of the five of us Marines detached for that operation only two of us returned.

I managed to survive RVN without any new holes in me. Not so Rob Barnes. In May I ran a patrol down from Bach Ma mountain into Elephant Valley, scouting a way to move a larger force into the valley in a clandestine manner. Arriving at the valley floor we engaged NVA moving back and forth to DaNang and had a very hot extract. A few weeks later Rob tried to insert a patrol on the valley floor and was immediately engaged. He was killed instantly in the ensuing firefight. Later that day after his patrol was extracted I identified his body at the DaNang air base morgue before he was shipped home. A great loss. He was a damn good officer, patrol leader and comrade.

Returning from RVN I was stationed at Camp Pendleton with 5th Recon and got to go to SCUBA School in Key West, Fla. and Amphib Recon in Coronado. Had great fun practicing water inserts and extracts off submarines, high speed boats, rappelling out of helicopters and either swimming or rowing rubber boats ashore – in the middle of moonless nights, and usually in the rain. I also acted as the diving officer at Camp Pendleton and got to search and recover a downed helicopter and an occasional truck or amphib vehicle the Navy dropped over the side during ship to shore operations.

Back in New Mexico I went to law school in 1970 while being the CO of Delta Co., 4th Recon for three years. I got to take my troops to Alaska for cold weather training, Ft. Carson, Colo. for mountain training and Coronado, CA for amphib recon training during those three years. Having obtained my NAUI SCUBA Instructors license while still stationed at Camp Pendleton, I started a SCUBA school at the University of New Mexico and taught a couple hundred students a year for over a decade, taking them to San Carlos, Mexico and San Clemente Island for their final open water experiences.

I’ve been a business, finance, real estate, transaction lawyer for over 40 years now. I managed to take sailing lessons at Quantico during TBS and became instantly and irreversibly hooked. I have sailed in small boats all up and down the west coast from Vancouver to Baja California, the east coast from Florida to Annapolis, from San Francisco to Hawaii and all over the Leeward and Windward Islands of the Caribbean. Once a year I go with a group of divers to collect fish for the Albuquerque Aquarium in the Bahamas and I try to take my family sailing in the BVI at least every other year.

I’ve also stayed in pretty good shape all these years, having completed three Hawaiian Ironman races, finishing 35th overall in 1983. No longer an Ironman, I now tell folks I’m more like an Iron-oxide man, but I still do 100 mile bicycle tours, long runs and resistance training. For my 70th birthday I ran the annual La Luz Trail Run – 9 miles, 4,000+ elevation gain up the face of the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque. Finished in 3 hours and I wasn’t last.

Three marriages and five great kids later I’m still working my ass off. My youngest, a beautiful daughter, graduates from high school in May and I still have one in college. My wife, Lorna, who is also my law partner of many years, and I are about to become empty nesters. I addition to being a great labor/employment lawyer for management, she is heavily involved in both local and national non-profit groups, including ACCION, a micro-lender to small business. In addition to law practice I’m a principal and Sr. VP/General Counsel of Noribachi Corporation, www.noribachi.com, a company I helped found seven years ago that manufactures high intensity commercial and industrial LED lighting headquartered in Los Angeles. And, with a client and partner, I’m starting a major residential development around a new $140M LEED certified high school in Rio Rancho, NM, just north of Albuquerque.

Livin’ the dream!

Semper Fi!

For the previous two years Tom led the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, supporting the living Recipients of the Medal of Honor. Prior to that, Tom was a Team Leader in The White House Office of Science & Technology Policy program ”Entrepreneurs in Residence.” That program focused on the FDA processes to approve cutting-edge medical procedures and devices with direct impact on Wounded Warriors.

For eight years previous General Wilkerson served as the chief executive officer of the U. S. Naval Institute (www.usni.org), one of the oldest professional associations in the United States. Prior to accepting the CEO post in 2003, Wilkerson was executive vice president of a subsidiary to a major publishing conglomerate focused on training first responders. Before that, he was CEO/president of a subsidiary to a Fortune 250 financial-services corporation.

Tom Wilkerson’s military career spanned 31 years from graduation with the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1967 to service as a Marine Corps Fighter/Attack Aviator, and finally to senior leadership as a Major General of Marines. Along the way he was a U. S. Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) graduate; exchange pilot with the Royal Air Force; commanding officer of Marine Corps Fighter Attack Squadron 251; and combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm. In his last active duty assignment – as Commander, Marine Forces Reserve – Wilkerson led the largest command in the Marine Corps, with more than 100,000 Marines at 200 sites around the United States.

Tom is a member of The Society of the Cincinnati and the Council on Foreign Relations.

He and his wife, the former Lynn Reid of San Diego, Calif., have two daughters, Jennifer Lynn and Catherine Aileen.

In 1962 I was an immature techy nerd HS senior and the son of an Air Force pilot with four kids to educate. So, I applied for and received a full ride to a Cornell EE degree on the Holloway NROTC program. The Marine major who ran the show there called me a ‘total dufus’ (great start, huh?).

I had the thrill of being an ROTC guy with a buzz cut on a liberal campus full of anti-war protesters. Worse yet, the guy/girl ratio was 16:1. Put the two together, and the dating action was pretty slim. But, I did get $50/month spending money!

My 1st summer cruise was on an aircraft carrier in the Caribbean, and I thought, “This is the life for me!” until I compared the brown shoe officers below deck to the squared away Marine security detail. Boy Howdy, I was hooked! USMC, here I come.

Basic School was a blur but I remember being considered “very weird” because I really liked running the obstacle course! My folks were at Andrews AFB nearby, so I managed to drag my roommate Bob Winn there a couple of times for home cooked meals and water skiing. The most humorous lecture at TBS? Why, the “Cowboy Bob” Georgetown liberty caution, of course!

The most important thing I learned in Basic School? While leading a platoon on a night attack on a fortified position, we were ambushed, and I froze for an instant. The ‘observer’ said, “Do something now, Lt. You’re people are dying.” What a life lesson!

While in Quantico, I went to church near Mary Washington’s campus and met my first wife, Ellen. We were wed 4 months into flight training.

After giving Capt. J.D. Jones my slip with ‘75’ on it, and in lock step with Andy Solum, I was off to all phases of flight training. My Col. USAF Dad pinned my wings on, and I transitioned to the EA6-B Prowler (electronic reconnaissance version of the A-6 Intruder) at MCAS Cherry Point. RVN, here I come! Gonna kick some Viet Cong butt! Andy was on the same flight to Danang.

Having trained like crazy to “do it right”, I arrived 4 April ’70 to find that, after 5 years continuous service, VMCJ-1 had been ordered to stand down to Iwakuni by June. I opted to stay in country (is that totally nuts, or what?), and the MC only got 2 months EA6-B combat flying out of me after all that training expense! What followed was a 9 month patchwork quilt as a battalion FAC for 3 months out of Marble Mt. (ask me about the flying scarf incident”), training in Okinawa to load the air group aboard ship and becoming a C-47 driver for H&MS-11, MAG-11.

In the latter role, I was right seat on an unfragged boondoggle to a small strip with Aussies waiting to swap a pallet of Foster’s lager (yum!) for some captured AK-47s. Mission accomplished, but after takeoff for the return flight somebody put a rifle round through the bird’s hydraulics which made for an interesting landing with the left gear up and the right down. The airplane fixers flew in, patched up ‘Barbarian III’, and we flew it back to Danang. The XO was obligated to chew us out even though he was aware of the flight beforehand. Nothing went in our records (as the incident officially never happened)!

Came back to TX as an advanced jet instructor for 1½ years and then decided to look for a civvie job in technical marketing/sales in ‘72. Nothing out there! . . . until I stumbled into the lobby of a Hewlett Packard plant in Colorado Springs while on vacation. I ‘dialed for dollars’ from the lobby until the Sales Manager rang me there and said, “You’re bugging the s**t out of my people. You’ve got 30 seconds to tell me what you want.” I got three sentences in before he said, “I was in the same squadron!”, and the rest is history. They had an opening that was pretty much a match for my resume.

Our daughter, Amy, was born in Colorado Springs. A year later HP transferred me to a sales position in the SF Bay area where I spent 5 years being tutored in the HP way.

I was then recruited to a small manufacturer’s rep company selling instrumentation in Silicon Valley. After 3 years in San Jose learning that business, I followed the Peter Principle to the letter, got in way over my head by opening an office in LA for them, buying a house that was too expensive and ending up divorced and broke.

So – back to the Bay Area to start my own rep company which I merged with another fledgling rep company. Best of all, I met my current wife, Geri, in ’87, married her, and got another daughter, Becki, to boot! Best thing I ever did.

We built the company up and sold it in ‘02. That first ‘retirement’ lasted a month before I was recruited to be the national sales manager for a semiconductor test equipment company for 2 years, then their international guy for two years, and I pulled the plug again. Along the way Geri and I had numerous trips to Europe and terrific experiences.

Well – a month later I turned into that company’s ‘Japan specialist’ and made 14 trips there in 2½ years to build the market. Didn’t make a cent, but all expenses were covered. Geri and I had wonderful weekends there! That was the 3rd and final retirement.

Fast forward to today and you find Geri and me healthy and happy. We found a ‘coastal cottage’ south of Santa Cruz, CA, in ’14, and we now make our home there. Our favorite get-away is the Marines Memorial Club in SF for an overnight after theater, shopping, etc.

Born	July 12, 1943 (age 73) Baltimore, Maryland
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1960-1967 (USN) 1967-2002 (USMC)
Rank	General
Commands held	HMT-301 MAG-26 2nd FSSG Joint Task Force 160 Marine Corps Systems Command Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
Awards	Defense Superior Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star

I was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. I Joined the Navy Reserve in 1960, and transferred to the regular Navy in 1961. I served on a destroyer before gaining admission to the Naval Academy Prep School. I won appointment to the Naval Academy and graduated as a Marine Officer in 1967.

After Basic School and Flight School I served in Vietnam with First Marine Aircraft Wing. That was followed by tours on both coasts, numerous schools and eventually, squadron command. After a staff assignment at Headquarters, Marine Corps I took command of Marine Aircraft Group 26 in time to deploy to Desert Storm.

As a General Officer, I commanded 2d Force Service Support Group, Joint Task Force 160 (A humanitarian JTF caring for Haitian and Cuban refugees in Guantanamo Cuba) and Marine Corps Systems Command. My last two assignments in the Corps were as Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources and Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. I retired in 2002.

I married Barbara Silva in June, 1967. We have a son, Matt. We are also blessed with two grandsons and a wonderful daughter-in-law.

I am currently a defense consultant and corporate board member. I also serve as a volunteer on the Boards of the Navy- Marine Corps Relief Society and the Navy Mutual Aid Association.

I’m a mediocre bass fisherman, an avid reader and an unpaid laborer on my son’s farm in Charles County, Maryland.

Michael J. Williams was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 12, 1943. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1960 and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in June 1967. He also holds Masters Degrees from the University of Southern California (1974) and the College of Naval Warfare. He was promoted to first lieutenant on September 7, 1968, and upon completion of Naval Flight Training at Pensacola, Florida, he was designated a Naval Aviator in February 1969.

Promoted to captain on February 1, 1971, Williams served operational tours in both the continental United States and the Republic of Vietnam before being ordered to the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, Quantico, Virginia, in 1973. Upon graduation in June 1974, he served on Okinawa, Japan with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Returning to the United States in the summer of 1975, Capt Williams joined Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 at Quantico. There, he was designated a Presidential Helicopter Pilot while serving in various positions with the Squadron. He was promoted to major on August 1, 1977, and in July 1978, he was selected to attend the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Quantico.

Following graduation in June 1979, Maj Williams was ordered to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, where he served as a Company Officer and Executive Assistant to the Commandant of Midshipmen. He transferred to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, El Toro, California in July 1982, for duty as Executive Officer of Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 16, and later as Commanding Officer of Marine Helicopter Training Squadron 301. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on October 1, 1982.

From June 1984 until June 1985, LtCol Williams attended the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Following graduation, he was ordered to the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa, where he served as the Assistant Division G-3. Returning to the states in the summer of 1986, he reported to Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., for duty as the Marine Corps Program Development Officer, and later the Head, Program Development Branch, Requirements and Program Division. He was promoted to colonel on October 1, 1988.

In July 1989, Col Williams transferred to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina, as the Wing Inspector before assuming duty as Marine Aircraft Group 26, Executive Officer in April 1990. Col Williams then assumed command of Marine Aircraft Group 26 (MAG-26) on July 16, 1990. He deployed the MAG to Saudi Arabia to participate in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, returning to the United States in May 1991.

He was assigned duty as the Vice Director for Operational Plans and Interoperability, J-7, and Vice Director, Joint Staff for Military Education, The Joint Staff, in November 1991. While serving in this capacity, he was selected for promotion to brigadier general in December 1991, and advanced to that grade on April 1, 1992. BGen Williams served in that capacity until July 16, 1993, when he assumed command of 2nd Force Service Support Group (2nd FSSG). On June 8, 1994, BGen Williams was appointed Commanding General, Joint Task Force 160, a humanitarian relief effort for Haitian and Cuban migrants at Guantanamo Naval Base, Cuba. He resumed command of the 2d FSSG on October 31, 1994. He was advanced to the grade of major general in March 1995 and in July was appointed Director of the Marine Corps Staff, Washington, D.C., He assumed assignment on July 23, 1996, as the Commander, Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico. He was promoted to lieutenant general on August 5, 1998. LtGen Williams served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Programs and Resources, Headquarters, Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., as his last assignment prior to becoming the Assistant Commandant.

Lieutenant General Williams became the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on September 8, 2000, and was advanced to the rank of general on November 1, 2000. He served as Assistant Commandant until September 9, 2002, and retired from active duty in November 2002.

From an email:

I was wounded near Hill 950, north of Khe Sanh, in August 1968. Medevac’d to Japan, and then to Bethesda. Osteomyelitis developed in the bone of my foot and could not be eradicated, so the Medical Board retired me and I entered civilian life without a clue of what to do. Graduated from Duke Law School in 1973 and practiced law in Raleigh, NC until 2007, when I chose to retire early to enjoy life, and I am.

I had an unusual path to Hill 950.

From TBS I was sent to Recon Replacement School, in California, and from there to Okinawa. When I reported in at Okinawa, I told them I wanted to go to Vietnam. As I recall, the captain to whom I made that statement responded “All right, dumbass, don’t unpack your bag,” and I was on a plane the next day headed for Khe Sanh, where the siege had just begun. To my surprise/disgust, I was dumped into the regimental S-3, where I stood 12 hour shifts. At least I got to learn a lot watching the regimental CO, Col. Lownds and his XO, Lt.Col. Rann. When you and the army came to clear out the remaining NVA during Pegasus, I was sent out to be temporary liaison to the First Air Cav. When the siege was lifted, Lt.Col Rann was given command of 2/4 and had pity on me and took me with him, so I finally got my platoon. 2/4 was then down on the coast east of Dong Ha, along the Cua Viet River, trying to block NVA infiltration from the north.

Hill 950 is more or less due north of Khe Sanh and east of Hills 881N, 881S, and 861. During the siege and afterwards it was the location of a radio relay station, with a platoon providing security. It is so high and steep-sided that it was thought the NVA could not successfully attack it, but from time to time they would make it into the wire. In bad weather it is often socked in or above the clouds, but on a clear day you can see forever from it.

When, after Tet, Gen. Davis decided to aggressively pursue the NVA, 2/4 packed up in early June and moved west, and damned if I didn’t end up at Khe Sanh again. We were the security force while the engineers blew up the fortifications and the base was abandoned, and we then did ops near the Laotian border and north and east of the former base, and for a while my platoon provided security for the relay station on Hill 950.

If you can still hump up 861, you have done well. I decided early on that activity was the best medicine, and still run every day.

As a side note, my son, Jim did a tour at 8th & I, and while he was there I got to visit with Mike Williams when he was Assistant Commandant. Pete Pace’s son was a platoon commander in my son’s company, and Pete selected Jim to be his aide while Pete was Vice Chairman, not knowing initially of the family relationship.

My father was a career Marine enlisting in 1941 after Pearl Harbor, commissioned in 1944 as an Infantry 2^nd Lieutenant, and retiring as a Lt. Col. in 1966 – just 6 months before I was commissioned as a 2^nd Lt. from the NROTC unit at the University of Idaho. I inherited his sword, most of his uniforms, and most of his accouterments. Upon arriving at TBS in June 1967, some of the officers (Capt. J. D. Jones) loved that I had “old Corps” stuff, and some, particularly our Company Commander Major Angus gave me grief at every inspection, but couldn’t deny they were regulation.

Upon graduation from TBS as an 0302 (my requested MOS) I had orders to Vietnam, departing Travis Air Force base at 1800, Dec. 31^st 1967. Jan 4^th, I landed in Da Nang and was assigned to Golf. Co. 2^nd platoon, 2^nd Bn, 26^th Marines stationed in Phu Bai. On Jan 20^th we were loaded on C 130’s and told we were going to Con Thien – but after takeoff, I was told we were headed to Khe Sanh. I didn’t know where either of them was at that point so it didn’t make any difference until we landed at Khe Sanh and the whole picture changed. I remember thinking “this isn’t good.” I was wounded on April 8 as Golf Co. was the first Company to leave the wire from hill 558 after being kept inside the perimeter for 2 ½ months. The objective was hill 700, from which we had been receiving fire for the entire time we were on the hill, to search for and destroy the enemy. We found them.

When I rejoined the unit, the 2^nd Bn was at Camp Carroll, then Con Thien, and in June became the 3^rd Marine Divisions Battalion Landing team – always working along the DMZ (not good duty.) I was later transferred to Hotel Co, as the XO, and as the Company Commander. I left Vietnam in late Jan. 1969 with orders to Camp Pendleton (my home for about 6 years growing up as a dependent.) Since I’d initially requested Recon at Basic School, I finally got my wish and spent the bulk of my time at Pendleton in the 5th Force Recon Co, until they were disbanded in 1970 and finished my commitment with an Infantry regiment. I left the Marine Corps in late 1970. I always thought I would make a career of the Corps since that was all I’d known for the first 25 yrs. of my life but that changed.

I married my high school sweetheart 10 days after returning from Vietnam and 10 months later she was pregnant with our first child. I was due to return to Vietnam in 1970 and decided, based on my first experience, “it was a war we weren’t going to win, and I wasn’t prepared to leave my wife a widow and baby without a father” so put in my papers to exit the Corps.

I spent the next 40 years on the Company side of the Property Casualty Insurance industry retiring in Monterey, Ca. in 2010. My wife (Sue) and I have been married since Feb. 1969, have 2 grown daughters and 5 grandchildren. We’ve lived in Carmel Valley, Ca. since 1994.

I joined the Marines during my junior year at St. John’s University in Queens, New York City. I was a member of the Platoon Leaders Class and went to OCS the summer preceding my senior year. I was commissioned during the graduation ceremony and shortly thereafter reported to TBS, my roommates were Hank Wright and Mike Williams. To say I was uncomfortable, being a street kid from Brooklyn, in the company of these two squared away outstanding Naval Academy graduates would be an understatement. Both of these men reached out with kindness and patients helping me acclimate to a new and unfamiliar environment.

After graduation I received orders to Motor Transport School. My roommate was Jack Sammons. Joe Laslie was one of our classmates. I was then ordered to Camp Pendleton and assumed command of a company in the Staging Battalion.

A memory that is scorched in my memory occurred one evening in early February. As I entered the Officers Club at Camp Pendleton I checked the bulletin board which posted the names of officers recently killed. It was then I learned of the death of my roommate and friend Hank Wright on February 6th. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t think of Hank.

I landed in DaNang on March 13th 1968.and was assigned to 11th Motor Transport Battalion, 1st Marine Division. As a platoon commander and company commander, I spent the next 13 months as a convoy commander running conveys up and down I Corps. In June of 1970 I left active duty and began a business career.

I was blessed with an undeserved successful career. The success I experienced was built on the leadership foundation forged during my association with the men I served with in the Marine Corps. I was able to retire in August of 2005. At the time I served as Vice chairman, Chief Information Officer for Mellon Financial Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh. In that capacity I was responsible for some 8,000 professionals around the world. I retired to begin a career in EMS.

So at the tender age of 59 I went back to school. I received my basic certification in February, 2006 and continue to respond to 911 calls as an Advanced EMT with Dorchester County EMS in South Carolina. My EMS career has taken me down many paths over the past 10 years. I went to Haiti as part of a rescue and relief team after the earthquake. I was humbled by the faith, joy and gratitude of the Haitian people who had lost everything. I have also used my EMS certifications to start the Charleston Street Wellness Patrol. We are a confederation of EMS personal and nurses who minister to the homeless and poor of Charleston. We conduct wellness clinics and conduct patrols in the homeless camps, under the bridges and in the woods. We bring healing, resources, love and respect to the least of our brothers and sisters. Our tag line is “Helping not Judging”.

I am proof that our Lord has a sense of humor. He has taken the mess that this dark and broken man has made of his life and used it to do His will. He who has been forgiven much loves much.

Peace My Brothers

Since I ended up in the Wing I didn’t get to Nam until most of you were back here in the States. I was a 46 driver with HMM 263 out of Marble Mountain 69/70 and was send back to Pensacola as a flight instructor/maintenance inspection pilot/line div officer. I left active duty in May of 73 to join the family construction business in Massachusetts. I retired in 2009 and moved to Sun City West AZ. I am presently a Lt in the Maricopa County sheriff’s posse here in Sun City West. It a takes up about 800 hours of my time each year. It’s a volunteer position with no pay, but we basically provide policing/ health and welfare here in Sun City West supporting the counties sheriff department. The rest of my retirement is spent on my hobbies Ham radio and fishing. In retirement I have built an station that I can bounce signals off the moon, its portable and is presently in Nebraska. I’m headed back to Massachusetts later this summer to spend some time with my brother who has been diagnosed with ALS. We plan to do some fishing before the disease limits his mobility.