Taken from I Served As A Civilian Advisor During The Vietnam War by Terry Coleman:
The Vietnam War involved both military and civilian personnel.
I served in the State Department's United States Agency for International Development, part of President Nixon's ''Pacification Program'' from 1969-1971.
After having served in the Peace Corps in India, I wished to return to Asia.
The US Foreign Service was recruiting former Peace Corps volunteers to work in the new Pacification Program in South Vietnam. At the time I was ambivalent about the war. However, I took the job as an advisor to the Vietnamese Social Welfare chief in Quang Tin Province, wanting to help civilian Vietnamese.
My first experience of what I was getting involved in occurred as my plane descended into Saigon. Looking out the window I saw large holes in the ground filled with water. They were bomb craters. The realization that I was in a war zone was chilling. As the jet taxied to the terminal I witnessed green body bags being loaded into a military airplane. That's when my stomach tightened.... Read More