Survivors of the Battle for Cu Chi in 1966

I am proud to be the wife of a Viet Nam Veteran. At the tender age of 19, my future husband was drafted to serve in the United States Army. The year was 1966 and the Viet Nam War was intense.

He returned home in 1967 at the age of 20 and those twenty-year-old eyes had seen more than any eyes should ever have to see. War being what it is, it produces its own unique trauma. My guy returned home relatively unscathed, compared to so many others. He had flashbacks during the first July 4th celebrations when firecrackers would pop. The sound was just too similar to the pops he heard so often in the jungles of Viet Nam. He also had problems when a certain kind of helicopter would fly overhead. He had flashbacks of being in the jungle and viewing the tree lines where the enemy would hide. He also has substantial hearing loss and frequently has trouble sleeping. He is a Viet Nam Veteran in every sense. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service to his country.

It is now 41 years since his return from war. He is recently retired from his job as a truck driver and now has more time to spend pursuing some of his favorite things. Recently, he returned to visit a website he found online a couple of years ago. The website was set up by one of the men who served in Viet Nam at the same time as my husband.

The website is Survivors of the Battle for Cu Chi 1966. The opening paragraph on this website says:

" We are the survivors from the 1st Bn 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division that fought for a place called "Cu Chi Viet Nam" also known as "Hell's Half Acre" because of the fierce fighting that had taken place when we and the rest of the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division arrived and made it our Base of Operations."

That Base of Operations was home to many young American men who were still in their late teens and early twenties. Just kids, sent off to fight a war that the United States of America did not intend to win.

Over the past 39 years of our marriage, my husband has talked in bits and pieces of his experiences in Viet Nam. I recall one story that was just infuriating. My husband was the driver of the Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) or "Track" that carried about 6 men into combat. On this particular day, their APC had a problem with the ramp. The entire rear of the APC was open and could not be closed, which left them sitting ducks in the jungle. As they were working on the ramp and trying to get it repaired, they found themselves suddenly under fire. They radioed to their superiors asking permission to return fire. Permission was denied and they remained unprotected in the jungles of Viet Nam, ordered not to defend themselves.

Fast forward to their return home from this "conflict." The men who survived after being forced to serve in the dark jungles, sitting exposed in a disabled APC and being ordered not to return fire, found a less than heroic return home. They were humiliated, degraded, spat upon, refused employment and disgraced in many ways.

Those were dark days in our country, yet they still live in the hearts and minds of our Viet Nam Veterans. Today, there is more respect shown to these deserving Veterans and they have earned the best this country has to offer. When a United States Veteran of the Viet Nam War feels ashamed to say that he served his country in Viet Nam, there is something terribly wrong. As a nation, we owe these men and women the honor they so deserve, even though it is more than 40 years in coming.

My husband has recently been in touch with several of the men who served along with him in Cu Chi. This morning he had two phone calls from men who were in the Bobcat Division along with him. One was in the 1st platoon and one was in the 3rd platoon, where my husband served. They talked a long time as they began to share stories about the war and about how their lives have been since 1967. They are also planning a reunion for next July in Nashville, TN. There will be about 100 men and their wives attending the week-long event. Stories will be shared, memories revived, tears will be shed, and there will be laughter. Even after Viet Nam, there will be laughter . . . as life goes on, there must be laughter.