thedrifter
05-24-08, 12:16 PM
Veteran Is Ready To Forget Vietnam
By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE
The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 24, 2008
Updated:
VALRICO - Tom Hall's life has taken many turns in the past 40 years.
Among other things, the Valrico resident married his wife, Peggy. He raised two sons, one a teacher, the other a sheriff's deputy in Columbia, Mo. And the native Midwesterner and his wife moved to Valrico in 1999, where Hall has been active in the Tampa Bay and national chapters of Vietnam Veterans of America.
One thing has remained unchanged since the day Hall boarded a plane in September 1969 and left South Vietnam and its struggles behind: the recurring nightmares and the gruesome memories that materialize anywhere, at any time, for no reason.
Like many Vietnam veterans, Hall said he has been living with demons that followed him home from the Vietnam War four decades ago, and he's ready to put them to rest.
"In the past two years, with the 40th anniversary of the war approaching, I started thinking more and more about my experiences in Vietnam and about going back there to find closure," Hall said.
"I remember watching the World War II veterans talk about going back to Normandy Beach and Iwo Jima, and the peace they found in that experience. I do believe that returning to Vietnam is going to finally bring some closure to some issues I've been carrying around."
Born in St. Louis and raised in Granite City, Ill., outside St. Louis, Hall said he knew his grades weren't good enough to earn him a college scholarship, and his parents couldn't afford to send him to college. A military career seemed to be his best option.
Hall was 17 when he joined the Marine Corps, following in the footsteps of an aunt and uncle who were serving in Vietnam.
He turned 18 in December 1967 and was on a plane headed to Da Nang, South Vietnam, in January 1968.
"I'd been through advanced infantry training, and I was a big fan of all the old John Wayne movies," Hall said. "I was young, naïve and looking for an escape from Granite City. I never really gave a thought to the fact that I was going into combat. You're so absorbed in training; it doesn't hit you until you get there. Then you look around and say, 'Wow, this is for real.'"
Since 1999, when formal talks between the U.S. and Vietnamese governments on the whereabouts of military personnel missing in action began, Hall has had several opportunities to return to Vietnam as a representative of Vietnam Veterans of America.
The talks bring former Vietnamese and American military personnel together to share soldiers' journals, identification cards and dog tags. They also exchange information about possible burial sites or mass graves in hopes of finding the bodies of missing soldiers.
However, health problems have prevented Hall from making the trip. Although he did not suffer serious wounds in battle like thousands of other American military personnel in the Vietnam War, Hall was exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange. He was exposed for two straight weeks as U.S. military planes blanketed the countryside with the chemical to kill vegetation used to cloak the enemy.
Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange have reported health problems, including cancer. Hall said his exposure left him with lower peripheral neuropathy, or damage to the nervous system. At times, the condition has caused paralysis from the waist down, forcing Hall to use a wheelchair.
Hall can walk now, although he has numbness in both legs. But he and his doctors at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa agree it's the right time for him to attempt a return to Vietnam to help banish some of the ghosts responsible for his 40-year battle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hall isn't expecting anything like the furloughs he used to enjoy with his fellow Marine buddies. The itinerary for his trip July 24 to Aug. 8 includes an intensive tour of some places he fought in fierce battles.
The tour, arranged by Alexandria, Va.-based Military Historical Tours, was organized by a group of former Marines. The nine other travelers in the group also fought as Marines in Vietnam.
"It's nice to know that I'll have some guys there who know what I've been through," Hall said.
For several months, he has been reading books by veterans and combing the Internet for information about the changes in Vietnam since he was there January 1968 to September 1969.
"I'm eager to find out if my memories are a reality or if it was all just a figment of my imagination," Hall said. "Maybe I'll just be opening up a can of worms, bringing back memories best forgotten. But in 40 years, surely the country has had to make some progress."
His first impression of Vietnam remains one of his most vivid memories, and he wonders whether he will have the same sensation this time.
"I'll always remember the heat and the smell when we landed," he said. "I know it will be hot. It's always hot in July in Vietnam. But I'm curious to see if it smells the same."
A fellow veteran who returned to Vietnam warned him that he would see war memorials and monuments depicting America as the aggressor.
An amateur photographer, Hall plans to bring home images from the same locations where he took photographs during the war for a side-by-side comparison. He'll also keep a journal during his travels.
Among the sites he is especially eager to visit is Hue, the site of the Citadel, the old imperial palace Marines took back from the North Vietnamese in a bloody siege.
"An Hoa will be tough, too," he said. "I might have to relive some pretty bad memories there."
Seventy-seven fellow Marines died in An Hoa during a sapper attack in which Vietnamese suicide bombers infiltrated the American camp and set off explosives, killing as many enemy military personnel as possible.
Although thousands of veterans have returned to Vietnam since the war, Hall said the journey is bound to be personal for every traveler.
"It's one of the tragedies of war that the men and women who fight are left to deal with the ghosts afterward," he said. "I expect 40 years from now, you'll see a lot of men and women making similar trips to Iraq and Afghanistan seeking closure."
Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.
Ellie
By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE
The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 24, 2008
Updated:
VALRICO - Tom Hall's life has taken many turns in the past 40 years.
Among other things, the Valrico resident married his wife, Peggy. He raised two sons, one a teacher, the other a sheriff's deputy in Columbia, Mo. And the native Midwesterner and his wife moved to Valrico in 1999, where Hall has been active in the Tampa Bay and national chapters of Vietnam Veterans of America.
One thing has remained unchanged since the day Hall boarded a plane in September 1969 and left South Vietnam and its struggles behind: the recurring nightmares and the gruesome memories that materialize anywhere, at any time, for no reason.
Like many Vietnam veterans, Hall said he has been living with demons that followed him home from the Vietnam War four decades ago, and he's ready to put them to rest.
"In the past two years, with the 40th anniversary of the war approaching, I started thinking more and more about my experiences in Vietnam and about going back there to find closure," Hall said.
"I remember watching the World War II veterans talk about going back to Normandy Beach and Iwo Jima, and the peace they found in that experience. I do believe that returning to Vietnam is going to finally bring some closure to some issues I've been carrying around."
Born in St. Louis and raised in Granite City, Ill., outside St. Louis, Hall said he knew his grades weren't good enough to earn him a college scholarship, and his parents couldn't afford to send him to college. A military career seemed to be his best option.
Hall was 17 when he joined the Marine Corps, following in the footsteps of an aunt and uncle who were serving in Vietnam.
He turned 18 in December 1967 and was on a plane headed to Da Nang, South Vietnam, in January 1968.
"I'd been through advanced infantry training, and I was a big fan of all the old John Wayne movies," Hall said. "I was young, naïve and looking for an escape from Granite City. I never really gave a thought to the fact that I was going into combat. You're so absorbed in training; it doesn't hit you until you get there. Then you look around and say, 'Wow, this is for real.'"
Since 1999, when formal talks between the U.S. and Vietnamese governments on the whereabouts of military personnel missing in action began, Hall has had several opportunities to return to Vietnam as a representative of Vietnam Veterans of America.
The talks bring former Vietnamese and American military personnel together to share soldiers' journals, identification cards and dog tags. They also exchange information about possible burial sites or mass graves in hopes of finding the bodies of missing soldiers.
However, health problems have prevented Hall from making the trip. Although he did not suffer serious wounds in battle like thousands of other American military personnel in the Vietnam War, Hall was exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange. He was exposed for two straight weeks as U.S. military planes blanketed the countryside with the chemical to kill vegetation used to cloak the enemy.
Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange have reported health problems, including cancer. Hall said his exposure left him with lower peripheral neuropathy, or damage to the nervous system. At times, the condition has caused paralysis from the waist down, forcing Hall to use a wheelchair.
Hall can walk now, although he has numbness in both legs. But he and his doctors at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa agree it's the right time for him to attempt a return to Vietnam to help banish some of the ghosts responsible for his 40-year battle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hall isn't expecting anything like the furloughs he used to enjoy with his fellow Marine buddies. The itinerary for his trip July 24 to Aug. 8 includes an intensive tour of some places he fought in fierce battles.
The tour, arranged by Alexandria, Va.-based Military Historical Tours, was organized by a group of former Marines. The nine other travelers in the group also fought as Marines in Vietnam.
"It's nice to know that I'll have some guys there who know what I've been through," Hall said.
For several months, he has been reading books by veterans and combing the Internet for information about the changes in Vietnam since he was there January 1968 to September 1969.
"I'm eager to find out if my memories are a reality or if it was all just a figment of my imagination," Hall said. "Maybe I'll just be opening up a can of worms, bringing back memories best forgotten. But in 40 years, surely the country has had to make some progress."
His first impression of Vietnam remains one of his most vivid memories, and he wonders whether he will have the same sensation this time.
"I'll always remember the heat and the smell when we landed," he said. "I know it will be hot. It's always hot in July in Vietnam. But I'm curious to see if it smells the same."
A fellow veteran who returned to Vietnam warned him that he would see war memorials and monuments depicting America as the aggressor.
An amateur photographer, Hall plans to bring home images from the same locations where he took photographs during the war for a side-by-side comparison. He'll also keep a journal during his travels.
Among the sites he is especially eager to visit is Hue, the site of the Citadel, the old imperial palace Marines took back from the North Vietnamese in a bloody siege.
"An Hoa will be tough, too," he said. "I might have to relive some pretty bad memories there."
Seventy-seven fellow Marines died in An Hoa during a sapper attack in which Vietnamese suicide bombers infiltrated the American camp and set off explosives, killing as many enemy military personnel as possible.
Although thousands of veterans have returned to Vietnam since the war, Hall said the journey is bound to be personal for every traveler.
"It's one of the tragedies of war that the men and women who fight are left to deal with the ghosts afterward," he said. "I expect 40 years from now, you'll see a lot of men and women making similar trips to Iraq and Afghanistan seeking closure."
Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.
Ellie