April 30 was the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. My time in Vietnam during the war was served in I Corps, the northernmost provinces of South Vietnam. I was never in Saigon. Critically wounded on my last tour, I was medically released from the Marine Corps in 1971. I went home and tried to assume a normal life.
On the outside, I appeared normal (whatever that means) and tried to move past the memories seared into my mind of my time in Vietnam. By 1975, I had been married for two and a half years. My post-traumatic stress nearly destroyed my marriage, but a merciful God brought healing to my mind, soul, and marriage.
I remember in early 1975 being strongly impressed that I was to go back to Vietnam. Then came April 30, when the North Vietnamese Army rolled into Saigon and our years of involvement and the 58,000 lives expended seemed wasted. We didn’t lose the war; we quit! I thought of my last Vietnamese militia counterpart in the villages we protected. Sgt. Tan said, “You Americans go home after 13 months. We live here.”
I often wondered what happened to him as tens of thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers were placed in harsh reeducation camps. From 1975, when the “Bamboo Curtain” closed off Vietnam, I prayed for an opportunity to go back. Fourteen years later, I was on a plane headed to Vietnam.
There were many experiences I could talk about regarding my 20 trips — too many to discuss here. That’s why I wrote a book a few years ago, A Time to Kill, A Time to Heal, hoping it would help other warriors move past their combat trauma. In remembering the fall of Vietnam, I want to reflect on some lessons learned during my years of ministry there.
For years, every time there was a threat of military conflict, media talkingheads would almost always bring up the “Ghosts of Vietnam.” No more Vietnams, they would all say in unison so we would not risk another conflict for any reason. Since Vietnam, we have made the same mistake over and over again. Political leaders get us into conflicts; the warriors win the battles, and the politicians lose the wars.
Iraq was won, but then Barack Obama snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Today, Iraq is nothing more than a proxy of Iran. Afghanistan was the next defeat. We took out the Taliban very early on but then decided to stay and take a backward tribal country that has never been conquered and make it a democracy. I remember Joe Biden saying there would not be a repeat of the fall of Saigon, but then we watched as helicopters flew in and out of the embassy in Kabul as we abandoned another ally who trusted in us. It was the fall of Saigon all over again!
Since returning to Vietnam, I have met many former South Vietnamese soldiers who suffered immensely after the war. Yet they were focused on providing for their families and, if possible, getting out of Vietnam for a new life in America. We will never know how many died trying to escape by boats. The estimates are over 500,000.
In my lifetime, there’s been only one president who understood what standing up to the expansion of communism looks like. President Ronald Reagan accomplished this via “Peace Through Strength.” In dealing with communists, his motto was “Trust, but verify.” I fear President Donald Trump might be tricked into trusting Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin without verifying. That would be a tragic mistake.
We live in a very dangerous world right now. China is a much more dangerous enemy than any we have ever faced before. It is critical that we, as Christians, pray for our leaders that they won’t underestimate our enemies. They need the wisdom of Solomon and godly discernment not to be fooled again.
Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis
