Old Soldiers Return, Find Peace in Vietnam

[Tom Paine 1949]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

 

[JGalt]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

Evidently some folks aren't cut out to be in the Corps.

 

[Moonglow]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

I knew a lot of people who lived in pain over that war...

 

[JGalt]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

I knew a lot of people who lived in pain over that war...

A hell of alot more people lived in pain after WW2. The rules of engagement were more relaxed back then and many American soldiers witnessed or committed some pretty hardcore atrocities.

But being the men they were back then, they swallowed it down and kept it to themselves.

 

[Moonglow]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

I knew a lot of people who lived in pain over that war...

A hell of alot more people lived in pain after WW2. The rules of engagement were more relaxed back then and many American soldiers witnessed or committed some pretty hardcore atrocities.

But being the men they were back then, they swallowed it down and kept it to themselves.

I would have mentioned that yet this thread was about Nam, man.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

Great article.

 

[harmonica]

..I love the Asian women ....much less obese

 

[JGalt]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

I knew a lot of people who lived in pain over that war...

A hell of alot more people lived in pain after WW2. The rules of engagement were more relaxed back then and many American soldiers witnessed or committed some pretty hardcore atrocities.

But being the men they were back then, they swallowed it down and kept it to themselves.

I would have mentioned that yet this thread was about Nam, man.

Well let's see: The Vietnam War officially started in 1955. Even though he didn't serve in Vietnam, Lee Harvey Oswald served in the Corps from 1957 to late 1958. He was trained in aircraft surveillance and the use of radar, in order to detect Soviet or Chinese aircraft.

After leaving the service, he moved to Russia in 1959, married a Russian woman, and finally found some peace.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

After leaving the service, he moved to Russia in 1959, married a Russian woman, and finally found some peace.

No he didn’t. Neither did you. But nobody gives a shit.
What were we talking about again? Oh yes ... Vietnam.

 

[JGalt]

After leaving the service, he moved to Russia in 1959, married a Russian woman, and finally found some peace.

No he didn’t. Neither did you. But nobody gives a shit.
What were we talking about again? Oh yes ... Vietnam.

You're absolutely right. I never moved to Russia, nor have I ever thought about it. Why the fuck would I want to live in some country whose people only have three emotions: Depression, revenge, and vodka?

Although it would probably beat living in some far-eastern mud hut, eating rice every fuckin' day, and trying to figure out what their monkey sounds mean.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

After leaving the service, he moved to Russia in 1959, married a Russian woman, and finally found some peace.

No he didn’t. Neither did you. But nobody gives a shit.
What were we talking about again? Oh yes ... Vietnam.

You're absolutely right. I never moved to Russia, nor have I ever thought about it. Why the fuck would I want to live in some country whose people only have three emotions: Depression, revenge, and vodka?

Although it would probably beat living in some far-eastern mud hut, eating rice every fuckin' day, and trying to figure out what their monkey sounds mean.

Peace, man. We’re talking about Vietnam ... and peace of mind.

Your talk of those “three emotions” and “meaningless monkey sounds” ... seem to describe your own normal state of mind and all your contributions here.

 

[harmonica]

..my wife's uncle died in one of the biggest ''ambushes'' in USMC history 2 July 1967...Operation Buffalo.....

 

[whitehall]

Why is it surprising for an American Vet. to marry a Vietnamese woman? Americans didn't hate the Vietnamese.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

Why is it surprising for an American Vet. to marry a Vietnamese woman? Americans didn't hate the Vietnamese.

Most Americans in Vietnam, not speaking the language or understanding the culture, had limited relations with Vietnamese women during the war, outside of bars and brothels. In the countryside they were completely unable to distinguish friends from enemies among peasants, and after the Tet Offensive they realized that even in the cities they were not safe. Besides the small minority of French-educated Catholics on the U.S. payroll in Saigon, there were tens of thousands of desperate displaced peasant women who learned a bit of English, and of course always a few young men who “fell in love” with such women. More Americans killed Vietnamese women than loved them during the war.

Four decades later, after the U.S. finally ended it’s hostile sanctions against Vietnam, after we stopped supporting Red China’s border conflicts with Vietnam, after the U.S. ended its support of the Khmer Rouge remnant exile government in Cambodia, and after we half recovered from our obsession with our own “MIA“ “prisoners of war,” old veteran soldiers could reconsider returning, healing themselves, maybe finding kids they left behind. My OP links to such sad stories as well.

 

[gipper]

When I lived in NYC I knew the owner of a bar who had been a Marine in Vietnam. He wasn’t a tough guy when I knew him and I never really found out how he became a Marine or what he did in Vietnam. I was surprised when, after being forced to sell his business, he went to Vietnam. Even more surprised when I heard he married a Vietnamese woman ...

This article is about U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam, moved there years later, and finally found some peace.

The US veterans going back to live in Vietnam

I knew a lot of people who lived in pain over that war...

That war should have put an end to American interventionist wars but sadly, our government is completely controlled by the forces Eisenhower warned about in 1960. Our government follows a policy of imperialism.

WWI was supposed to be the war that ended all wars. Yet, millions more have died in new wars. Time to get rid of our pathological leadership.

 

[whitehall]

When are we going to get beyond the "old soldier finds peace" cliche? Too bad the radicals in the democrat party still can't find peace in the U.S. South.