I spent '70-'71 in Vietnam in artillery and survived the siege of Lao Bao during Operation Dewey Canyon II. The ARVN called it Lam Son 719. Better known as the Laos Incursion, it was the last major ground offensive of the war involving US troops. You may recall how the American-backed ARVN dashed into Laos and were crushed by the NVA.
I left Vietnam on Good Friday and was home for Easter. As a Catholic, I pondered the irony. I hadn't called ahead and when I knocked on the door late that night my parents were terrified. But when they opened the door, instead of a military officer sent to notify them I'd been killed, they found what was left of me.
My father was proud of my service. Somehow my mother knew that my last months in Vietnam were awful and that I was changed, but she was thrilled that her only son had returned home.... Read More
