Anniversaries

[fabrisse]

My brain keeps certain anniversaries whether I intend to or not.

Today is one of the happy ones. Dad came back from Vietnam 35 years ago today. I greeted him at the airport with the words "We just heard on the radio, Da Nang fell."

By the end of April, there were emergency evacuations and people hanging from helicopters to get out. His secretary, Lonnie, was one of the few adults killed when the orphan plane was destroyed. It was a rough several months for him, for all of us.

But the important thing is, he made it home.

Comments

[innerslytherin]

Dad and I were just talking about the Tet Offensive today. Obviously that was much earlier than the fall of Da Nang, but I often think of you while discussing Vietnam, for obvious reasons. And lately I've been reading about the war (Up Country and By Duty Bound, fiction and nonfiction alike) and have two more on my list to read soon.

I'm so glad your father made it home. You would have been in your early teens, I think? I can't remember for sure. But you would have been old enough to have been worried sick for him, I'm sure.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Going on 14 when he got back. My sister was 11. It was a hell of a year in so many ways.

I spoke to him a little earlier tonight. He swears he's still not over the jet lag.

In some ways, he's not. His cancers have been linked to Agent Orange exposure, for instance.

But he's teaching and he's loved by many, many people.

[innerslytherin]

Well, I know the war in Vietnam was an unpopular one, but I am grateful for men like your father who were willing to serve their country in any way they could. I think it's sad that it's still having such an adverse effect on so many people.