It was December 22, 1971. I was at the end of my deployment to Vietnam while in the United States Army, and I was eagerly contemplating my return to the United States. Over the course of the year of my deployment to the combat zone, I had witnessed and experienced many things that were alien to my life in America. I saw real poverty for the first time in that unfortunate and ravaged nation at war, as well as disease, death, and the sheer evil associated with conditions in any combat environment. This experience in my young life brought home to me the reality of just how fortunate we all are in this country. We have freedom and liberty in abundance, material comforts foreign to many other societies, national security—to name but a few of the blessings inherent in the United States. My tour was, indeed, a world-class wake up call about what a wonderful nation we are so fortunate to live in.
I was standing in the Bien Hoa Air Force Base departure terminal on that December night in anticipation of the order to board our “freedom bird” sitting on the flight tarmac about a hundred yards away. There were 250 of us lined up in the terminal, and I could tell my fellow soldiers were just as anxious as I was to claim a seat on that beautiful aircraft destined for our cherished and beloved country. You could just feel the excitement, nervousness, and anticipated joy in that line. Suddenly, the order was given for us to leave the terminal and file onto the tarmac on that dark but glorious night. As I took my assigned seat and buckled in, my mind began to worry a bit. What if the enemy decided to shell this air base just as we started taking off? Would all our dreams of returning to our home be crushed? But I shook this thought from my mind as the sound of the airliner’s engines revving up reached my ears.
