How My Mother Reacted to Me Being Assigned to Vietnam:
My Mother Cried when I first broke the news that I was going to volunteer for Vietnam service.
She then cried again, for a longer period, when I told her that my orders had come through and that I would be shipping out for Vietnam.
She then cried again, for the third time, when I returned from Vietnam all in one piece. Those tears were different though--They were tears of gratitude and happiness that I had lived through my Tour and that I was again home safe.
As for letters to my Mother--Like DMZ-LT, I never wrote her about the rocket attacks that I went through while on the Airbase. I always wrote about the lighter, and more amusing, things that went on during my time in Nam. I did not want her to worry any more then she was worrying already.
I often thought about what my Father would have felt and said about me going to Vietnam, but he had died several years earlier, when I was only fourteen years old. I never had the ability to talk with a Father Figure concerning such matters.
To all of my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I again wish you a MOST HEART FELT and SINCERE:
WELCOME HOME
VIETNAM 1968
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