Proud to Serve — Again: US Veterans Return to Vietnam

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For many American veterans, the war in Vietnam is an on-going story. A surprising number have chosen a path that has taken them back to Southeast Asia on a quest to help and to heal the

people whose lives were devastated by the war. Here are some of their stories.

Ray Wilkinson as a Marine, left, and in Dong Ha, Vietnam. Courtesy of Ray Wilkinson and Stefen Chow Teaching Where He Once Fought

Three years ago, Ray Wilkinson, 70 years old and looking to cap an adventurous life by doing volunteer work overseas, asked the Global Community Service Foundation if it had a spot where he

could be useful.When the group offered him a posting as a teacher in “a small obscure town called Dong Ha” in Vietnam, Wilkinson knew fate had found him. That was the village where he had

landed as a U.S. Marine Corps combat correspondent half a century earlier.For Wilkinson, the return was more an act of affection for the country than to work out any lingering guilt or

trauma left by the war. He admits to being “in love with Vietnam” since first arriving there. “And now I was in a position to give something back, to pass on some of the extensive knowledge

and experience I have gained in life. So why not here?”Last year he became a full-time volunteer English teacher at the Le Quy Don high school for gifted students in Dong Ha. Wilkinson

acknowledges that “the thought of standing up every day in front of a classroom of teenagers was rather terrifying.” But now he enjoys teaching. “These kids definitely keep me younger,” he

says.Wilkinson’s life after his tour of duty has been full of excitement. He stayed in Vietnam as a correspondent for UPI. That led to postings in Cairo, Paris, Beirut, Nairobi and Beijing.

He globe-trotted with Newsweek for a dozen years, covering the biggest international stories. From 1993 to 2006 he was a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

traveling to places like war-torn Africa. He then spent another seven years with a large Japanese development organization.

As a Marine, Wilkinson fought in two of the bloodiest battles of the war—the sieges of Khe Sanh and Hue. He visits Hue often. “It sends goose pimples up my body. It’s bigger now but hasn’t

really changed much from 1968. Every time I go to the Citadel or along the main Le Loi street, my mind goes into turmoil. Was I really a Marine here? It seems like yesterday—and then it

seems like a million years ago.”

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A trip to the notorious village of My Lai 30 years after he had served in Vietnam changed Chuck Theusch’s life forever.