"Doing what had to be done” was a motto that Joseph Barone personally followed. In Vietnam, he was the CID Agent assigned to the 11th Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) under the Americal 23rd Division from July 1968 - July 1969.

He normally worked alone in the field and supported his own and two other brigades. One night, a troubled helicopter pilot related the story of the needless killing of unarmed civilians by the brigade’s commanding officer.

This initiated the advisement of CID authorities and upper headquarters, but the case was soon covered up, though the details resurfaced and led to the first murder trial of a general officer since the turn of the century. After Vietnam, Warrant Officer Barone lost much of his interest in the military and eventually retired, but later became involved in the international import/export business in Cuba, Panama, and South America.

He was unfairly targeted by the Department of Justice and the FBI for nearly seven years, partly because of his long and close friendship with a Mafia capo and being falsely accused of being a high-tech spy, but he still thrived and lived an unusual, long life according to his own principles. .