July 1984WE NEVER RELATED STORIES to each other. You know, not like we’re doin now. We’re all doin it now. Tellin our war stories. But then, when we were still in the Corps, or whatever branch, we never did. The extent was, “Hey, what outfit you in.... Yeah, I think I worked with you guys out in the A Shau....” Or, “Yeah, I was too. Were you there when the typhoon hit?” That was it. But now ... now it’s time.
I know homecomings were really different. I mean, nearly 2.6 million Americans—men and women, 99.54 percent men but women too—served in Nam between 5 August ’64 and 7 May ’75. Official dates. Eight hundred thousand more served in the Southeast Asia theater. Three point four million Americans ... or as Bobby’d say it, “representing fifteen percent of all American families.” And each f
