40 years ago today we finally left .

[mkr8683]

My Dad, a three-tour Army infantry veteran of Vietnam and Texas National Guard artillery veteran of Afghanistan, had the exact same reaction when I told him I joined. Except he had that "I'll kick your ***" look when he asked if I had joined the Guard, and I replied no, regular army. His next question was "WHY INFANTRY?!?"

I remember reading in Bernard Fall's book about the FIW about a sign that had been placed by the communists on the road near Dak Ya-Ayun where Groupement Mobile 100 was wiped out. The sign didn't say anything about the capitalist pigs or foreign pestilence. It simply read, "On this location, French and Vietnamese soldiers died for their countries."

Here's to all Vietnam veterans, on both sides, and all countries.

Matt