Of course we have not really mentioned a huge part of this trip, and that is the Vets. This is a period of time that our parents lived through, but we are not as familiar with. We have heard the history of the politics and how unpopular the war was, but it has always remained something for the history books.
Getting to know this group of guys and their wives has been a great experience.
At first, it was very hard to imagine that these guys were part of a war. They really all reminded us of a favorite uncle perhaps. Through the trip, they would mention areas that they had served in, stories from their time in the war, which made the entire trip much more memorable to hear what Vietnam was to them.
At the beginning of the trip, they each told us when they served and what branch they were in. Later in the trip, as we got to hear their stories, we understood a little more. They were only 18-22 y/o, an age when many of us were concerned about what to wear to a football game. And they were living what Apocalypse Now was based on. We are talking tours in the Mekong Delta, supply routes through the Hai Van Pass (more on that later), helicopter pilots… and now doing humanitarian missions. These guys are serious bad a** s!
We had a ceremony for them at the end of the trip, and here are a few pictures: