Friday October 3rd 2008 - Vietnam. Just the name brings up a whole myriad of emotions and feelings for me. As far back as I can remember, that word has been associated with heavy emotions for me and for a lot of really close friends of mine. I remember seeing it on a map when I was young and it was called “French Indochina”, but really, it’s always been Vietnam for me.
My older brother Mark was part of the draft, but his birthday got a very high number so he didn’t have to go. Not so lucky for my friend David’s older brother Jeff. He got drafted and was the first person I actually knew that died in the war. He was the great older brother that used to load a bunch of us up in the family station wagon and drive us from Tigard to Beaverton because that’s where the closest McDonald’s was at the time.
We were in the 5th grade when I found out that Jeff had been killed in Vietnam. Pretty heady stuff for a bunch of 5th graders to digest. I remember seeing the war every night on the nightly news, wondering what it was about this country that made us be there, and why it was important for us as a country. I know, 5th graders aren’t supposed to be thinking about that stuff, but, it was 1967 after all...
I was a senior in High School when the war finally ended and I didn’t have to make the decision on what to do if my number (literally) came up, but to say it was on my mind would be an understatement.
In my life I have had many close friends (a little older than me) that are Vietnam Veterans. There is no way I can grasp what they were asked to do and what they have had to deal with in relationship to Vietnam. I’ve always felt a kinship with them, although I didn’t go, for some reason I’ve always had a connection. There are other things in my life that connect me with that country, so I’ve always had a strong pull from that part of the world.
Last winter I was having dinner with my oldest friend in the world Scot and he said he just returned from a month long vacation to Thailand. I mentioned to him that I’ve always been curious about that part of the world, but had never gone because the idea of being in that part of the world on my own seemed like a little bit more of an adventure than I was comfortable taking on. He said “I’m going back in October, so, if you want to go, let’s go. Think about it and let me know”. It took me about a day to think about it and here we are.
I fly out from PDX tomorrow to Tokyo, then to Bangkok for about 3 days. Then it’s off to Vietnam for almost two weeks of exploring. We have some basic plans, but are leaving room for “audibles” in case we want to change our minds once we get more information. It really is the trip of a lifetime for me so, I’m doing this for a vacation but to also strengthen my relationships with the people in my life that have the “Vietnam” connection. And to maybe finally get an answer to those questions I came up with when I was ten years old...
~ Brad Dolbeer
