maybe

Jim, I think in most cases, it was just plain old fear. Panic causes us to do things we wouldn't ordinarily do. We Americans has been fighting their war for so long, they didn't see the need to try themselves. When put to the test in '75, they were still green, just like you and I were in the beginning. Even then, the US came back, not to urge them to fight, but to roll out the red carpet to the US. Fleeing seemed logical.

In the case of senior leadership, I think we call it cowardice. I mentioned in an earlier e-mail that I wonder how Nguyen Cao Ky, former South Vietnamese Air Marshal, feels now, considering his potential as a leader, his statements that he would never leave, and his subsequent fleeing like all the rest, with his gold and ill-gotten goods. Is the 7-11 he now manages in California worth the shame he must surely feel?

Most of these kids who respond have no idea what you and your buddies went through, how tough it was, or the suffering we endured on return. I remember being spit on in Cleveland, Ohio when I went back on leave in late '75. Made the mistake of wearing my uniform of which I was quite proud. But he was quite a bit bigger than me, and discretion being the better part of valor, I chose to walk away. Never went back to Cleveland, though, except to see my dying father. Don't plan to go back, either.

I am now a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. I'd like to hear your stories if you could share them. So much of what people know about Vietnam is from political books and not from those who were there. I am a Vietnamese linguist and know quite a bit about the war, but could always use new perspectives.

Your e-mail is thought provoking.