BROTHERS IN COMBAT: VIETNAM WAR STORIES THAT DEFY HISTORY

Insights into “Vietnam Uncensored”

Of all the things we doubted in the jungles and on the battlefields of Vietnam, one thing was clear: each day began with death waiting for us. Whether we sat in some “safe zone” or not, the enemy was always there, relentless and without mercy.

We didn’t know the lies our politicians told or their contempt for the men they sent to die in a war they never understood. We didn’t care about the protests back home. We weren’t there for politics.

We stood proud, not for the cause, but for the man next to us, for the brotherhood we had sworn to. Clearly, the war had no real purpose, but we carried on anyway. We did our duty because that’s what we promised.

Anxiety showed on our faces and in the manner our hands shook or the way we stared into the distance. But it never stopped us. We didn’t have time for fear. We needed to keep moving and fighting.

We were not heroes. We didn’t need to be. What we did was just what we did — survival. It was courage, yes, but it was also routine — an extraordinary routine.

Years have passed, and I know that serving with those men, men of honor and sacrifice, was a privilege. That will never come again. I cannot say we liked the war. No one could. It was brutal…