Memories of Vietnam War linger

I remember… It was miserable, every day we would go on patrol or on a mission. We would be wearing the same clothes day after day, going in and out of rivers, pulling leeches off our bodies and burning them with a cigarette.

We were lost on time and had no cigarettes, food or water for about three days. I dream I was in Puerto Rico enjoying a summer night, then wake up in that hell hole. When they finally found us, they dropped some water and food. Those cans of lima beans that we hated, they tasted so good.

And every day we knew we may get killed today. We may get killed tomorrow, but if we could make this one year, we could be “home.” We wanted to make it home so bad, but some of us didn’t… Like my good friends Manny Alicea and Angel Rodriguez. Thank God I made it. Thank God my brother made it, even though he was wounded, he made it. (Love you, brother)

We fought for our country. Many died for nothing, it was a waste. But we did what we had to do, we are soldiers and that is what soldiers do.

When my brother Israel, came to visit me three years ago, we fought side by side in Viet Nam, 1965, I took him to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial we both cried, for our friends and for us.

On first stepping into the grounds, I began weeping uncontrollably. No thought, no memory. I believe with my first steps the ghosts were putting their arms around me. I could not stop weeping, neither could the ghosts.

Eric Medina

Lorain