The producers, although none were Veterans, necessarily, did a fine job in interpreting the script. As I have watched "GMVN" 20 or thirty times or more I never get sick of watching it. Why? Because it keeps my 50 year memory alive and on the front burner.
From bombs bursting to Vietnamese peasants to Hueys buzzing around, nothing changes in my mind.Of course I can identify with soldiers in uniforms and the M-151 Jeeps and Deuce-and-a-half trucks take me back to 1967. The Vietnamese scene was obscure. From the South China Sea to jungles and Agent Orange, too many American boys lost their lives; many more was maimed. I was lucky all the way.
As far as TET goes, I have vivid memories of traveling across Saigon in a bus that was escorted by a machine gunner in a Jeep. I called my folks from the Philippines saying "I am glad to be out of the Hell Hole" and I was.
My year in Vietnam was sophisticated. I taught English to Vietnamese, befriended the Australian medics, served 7 doctors and dentists, got my nose broken, was in a Jeep accident as a Jeep passenger and lived to tell it all. Fifty years later I keep my memories in tact. My one year, nine months and two days was far more educational than earning a masters degree and even a PhD!
LBJ
THE WALL
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