REVELATIONS

We all know what resulted from our inability here at home to make the proper and just decisions to end the Vietnam War with a victory on our side. We learned a lot from that loss. I personally believe we could have won that war with a total commitment here at home. What would we have won though? Freedom for the Vietnamese people? I doubt it, really. Capitalism? I doubt that either. Although winning would have meant some kind of stability for that country, it would have probably continued on and on until the final result you see now. No we were right in pulling out of there when we did. We should have never gone to war in the first place. We did though and as soldiers we did our duty. To us we were just that, obedient soldiers wanting to do a good job for our country's sake.
I was proud to be a soldier. I never once felt ashamed or was embarrassed to be able to relate from my experiences. We weren't drug-crazed soldiers killing innocents from civilian villages. We were a well-disciplined group of men from different parts of the country and from different backgrounds and ways of life. We pulled together to get the job done. Naturally, we wanted very much to live and get home as soon as possible.
Every day was a trip through another door with a black hole and we never knew what we'd find on the other side. Life is like that today. Every day I wake up I'm thankful that I made it to the next one. I love life and I live it day by day. I find it difficult sometimes to relate or to mention my buddies I knew in Vietnam who didn't make it home alive. And it is with grieving remembrance that their memory should not be cast aside as dying in an unpopular war. It is with respect and gratitude that I pay tribute and honor to their families by dedicating this book's publication in their name.

Richard Shaffer
Martinsburg, WV

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