When I heard there was a chance for me to go where my Mike was when he was killed I wondered how I could and why would I want to go. The thought would not go away, so I told Bill I wanted to go. He was so surprised – because he had never taken a widow. Mike and I were only married 2 years to the day when he was killed and I wanted to see what he saw and walk on some of the earth he had walked on. I knew I would not see the Vietnam he saw (no bombs, fires or people shooting at me). The closer the time came the more nervous I became, not sure how I would react, but felt certain this was what Mike would want me to do.
I spoke no foreign language and had never out of the US - So WHAT A TRIP. I made all the connections (ALONE). There was Bill waiting for me by the luggage carousal. It’s the middle of the night in Ho Chi Minn City. We get to our hotel and the arrangements are made for when to meet for breakfast.
The first two days of my trip were dedicated to finding where Mike lost his life. I saw so much of the country side and how very poor the country really is. It is a beautiful country, not the swampy, jungle over grown shown in the movies. The people were very nice – every time they found out why we were there – they would tell me “very sorry Madame”. We spoke to a monk that Bill knew and he sent us to the “party headquarters”. Our guide “Vu” went into “party headquarters” and was able to arrange for a guide to assist us in finding my Mike, we were to meet the next morning and the guide would go with us.
We arrived at the appointed place and time and out came a gentleman in his mid 40s, he was carrying a made. Off we went to find the Magistrate General for the Chu Ci providence. After we have this gentleman in the van off we when to three separate location. The Vietnamese like our own vets are getting older and dying. It appears all their records are verbal and passed up the chain of command. The first place we were told had been an encampment and had both American and Vietnamese killed and buried (later they were separated and there was someone who could help locate were the Americans were buried). Then the second was just a nice walk and interesting, but no Mike. The third and last was the right place, I knew when we were walking up to the area. They are explaining about the battle and that type of information. I walked away out into the open field area and felt Mike put his arms around me and say “I knew you would come”.
We had a visit then I rejoined the guys and turned my camera on in time to hear “American went into the tunnels and we killed him, the man who killed him is dead but his son will know where they buried him”. We all looked at each other and could not believe what we heard. We had never told them that a member of Bill's squad listed as M.I.A. was the only one that never came home. What an opportunity to offer closure for several families. As we are walking out of the area there was a gentleman sobbing in his house, they explained he was in the war and was suffering from PTSD – he just kept saying he was so sorry. Bill, Vu and the others tried to show him some comfort. |
