A Vietnam Veteran's Memoir

As Written

As Edited

It is impossible to understand the implications, significance, and aftermath of Operation Hastings, without first looking at the history of this region and that of the North Vietnamese who infiltrated through the Demilitarized Zone during 1966. 

            The History of Vietnam is lengthy and complicated. One could spend many years studying it. I am only providing a brief overview of it’s past. When I was sent to Viet-Nam I knew nothing of its history. I barely knew where on earth the country was. All I knew was that we were told that we were fighting communism and providing military assistance to South Vietnam’s government, in its fight against the Viet Cong.  I’ll venture a guess and make the following statement – Few people sent to this far off country, who were placed in harms way, knew more then that. 

     Questions about my first mission in Vietnam as a young Marine on a reconnaissance team pestered me throughout the mission, for the entire four years of my service and continued to do so even after my discharge and return home in 1968. Briefly, there had been reports that the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was crossing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into South Vietnam. Our task was to discover if this were true. And if so, what were their numbers and strength? Not only were the reports accurate, the invading forces were large enough to alarm the Headquarters Command. They quickly put together Operation Hastings to engage the enemy and either destroy them or push them back into North Vietnam. Our reconnaissance continued throughout this operation, which began on July 15, 1966 and was declared an unqualified success when it ended on August 3, 1966–even though we continued to report the presence of large contingents of NVA troops south of the DMZ.

Reflections

I was privileged to work with one of this country’s Vietnam veterans and one of the nicest individuals I’ve ever not actually met in person. He has a fascinating story and had written several chapters plus a great Introduction that set the stage for that story. My edit is based upon my belief that many people don’t read Introductions, and, in this case, a reader who skipped that section might find Chapter One a little confusing. Therefore, my edit of the first paragraph of Chapter One provides the necessary background on the author and his purpose in writing the book without repeating all the information included in the Introduction.