My father served our country proudly during the Vietnam War and he shared only a few stories about his time over seas, as he called it. Just 17 and fresh out of high school, a young man from a small town in West Virginia enlisted voluntarily when many young men were being drafted. His first day in Vietnam, he stepped off the plane into a world he could only imagine and bought a Coca-Cola from a young teenage girl. She kept his change and when he realized it, he politely reminded the young lady that he had given her a five dollar bill. They laughed and she give him his change and in that moment, two young people from opposite ends of the Earth made a connection that lasted 15 years and produced 3 very grateful children that will never forget the sacrifices that their parents made to bring them into this world. My father not only served his country for 4 tours of duty, he also returned to Vietnam and worked as a civilian for a year before retuning to his family in his hometown where he became a coal miner. Like many men that served our country bravely, he returned home to carry on a life of normalcy without ever reminding us what he had done to protect our freedom.

Sarina
Las Vegas, NV