Just met with Joe and talked about his trip to Vietnam all of 42 years later. He leaves the third week in September. Since the first time I met Joe his time there has been a recurring part of our conversations. The stories are rich and real never settling to the level of mere anecdote. This trip represents closure and perhaps a stimulus towards a new beginning. I have travelled with him as he watched his buddy gun down nine regular Vietnamese soldiers for deserting in the face of Vietcong attack, watch his senior officer commit public suicide on Christmas eve, watch the machine gun barrel melt with the heat of repeated use as 7000 Vietcong were killed in battle and join in his temporary invasion of Cambodia. May the spirit of healing travel with him.
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